Need Help Knowing How to Adjust Radiator Valves in Each Room

NorthernComfort

Hi There,



My Boiler Technician told me about this site. I'm a clueless young lady who needs some help knowing how to adjust the valves on the radiators in each of my rooms. The upstairs is much colder than my downstairs (and the units in each room upstairs are much smaller as well). I thought my boiler guy had used a wrench to hold the lug thing and then twisted the knob with another tool, but I don't want to mess anything up. This is my first time owning a house with a boiler so any tips would be greatly appreciated, especially as temps are dropping tonight.



Thanks so much!

Paul48

Hi

Can you tell us a little about your system......one-pipe or two-pipe? What type of vents do you have on the problem radiators? Can you post some pictures?

NorthernComfort

Need Help Knowing How to Adjust Radiator Valves in Each Room

Oh no! I don't really know how to tell how many pipes or type of vents. I'm so sorry I'm not much help I did take pics and attached them below. Thanks in advance for any help.

Rod

Need photos

Hi - As Paul said , pictures really help!!  Take a picture of one of your radiators so that it includes the whole radiator.  We could also use a picture of your boiler including the piping connected to it. Take the picture from back a way as this helps us trace out your piping. We can zoom in if we need to see more detail.

It would also help us is you could give us any make and model numbers of the valves on your radiators. If you can't find a make or model number, post a photo of the valve.

The more info we have about your system, the better we can help you.

- Rod

Rod

Need Pictures of Fittings

Thanks for posting the pictures of you radiators. Could you tale a closeup of the fittings I have marked with arrows? We're especially interested in the fitting in the left of the picture.

Identifying these will help us determine what type of system you have. If you have any odd fittings in the system piping it might help to have a picture of those also.

- Rod

Paul48

It's OK

Don't be intimidated. You can and will get help here. Can you take a close-up shot of the pipe on the opposite end of the radiator from the valve. Just want to make sure you have a steam system.

Paul48

LOL

Same page!

NorthernComfort

Hope I got what you asked for

Hopefully I provided everythig that you requested. I took pictures of the downstairs radiators since they are bigger and easier to take pics of. The boiler is an old Utica, model A39100 I think. Thanks so much!

Rod

LOL

LOL- The phrase that comes to mind is "Great minds think alike!

- Rod

NorthernComfort

Here we go

Okay my great minds,



Let me know what comes next...

nicholas bonham-carter

Vapor system

Don't worry about your present lack of steam knowledge, as you have come to the well of knowledge here.

You have a vapor steam system, designed to run on very low pressures-some call them the Cadillac of steam.

You might perform a little test tomorrow. Put several pats of butter on identical plates in the fridge, and turn down the system for an hour or so, to get the radiators cold. Put the plates with identical butter pats on several radiators upstairs, and one on the radiator where the thermostat is.

Turn up the thermostat 10 degrees above normal, and observe how quickly the butter melts on each radiator, keeping notes of the timing, as you want to find out if any radiators are slower to heat up than others.When a system like yours is in balance, all the radiators will fill with steam simultaneously, and the butter will melt uniformly. Don't bother about air temperature at this time. Keep the butter plates in the fridge for another test, or make tea and have it with buttered toast!

Later on, we will tell you how to get the system running as well as it did when first installed.--NBC

NorthernComfort

The Caddy Shack?!

Who knew I had a caddy? I guess you did The butter test sounds fun but is there anything I can do tonight to get more heat to the upstairs? There is a clear difference in warmth when you go downstairs and it's snowing tonight so I would love to warm it up on the second floor. There is heat up here but this lady wants more. Thanks!

Paul48

Where

are you located? You have a hot water system, and the radiators on the 2nd floor not heating are probably nothing more than needing to be bled. I am concerned about the exhaust vent coming off that boiler, and suggest you get a qualified tech in there to go over the system.

Paul48

nb-c

Did I mistake a LWCO for an old circ? Those radiators have bleeders on them.

Rod

You have a Hot Water System

NBC- Check out the picture of the boiler attached below. I thought vapor at first too but it is definitely a Hot Water system!

-Rod

NorthernComfort

Dear Paul,

I am in Northern Ohio. I had a technician insert keys into them and "bleed" them out. He also adjusted them with 2 wrenches and there is heat in the upstairs but clearly a difference between up stairs and down. 

NorthernComfort

Tell me it's not a Pinto!

Thanks for enhancing the photo. That's what she looks like. The vent pipe on top is not the right size for the system so it leaks a little carbon monoxide (and the surrounding pipes are a bit corroded from years of this). I bought the house about a month ago and will be getting it changed over to the proper duct/ vent pipe. If that doesn't fix the carbon monoxide, then I'm guessing the chimney liner needs replaced. It has a pump and the tech. made sure all of the dials and such on right side were correct and bled some water from a pipe on the left into a bucket as well. not sure if any of this info. is useful. 

Paul48

That

looks like an old heat reclaiming system in the exhaust, and look at the condensation caused by it. For tonight, close the valve on the radiator that's in the room where the thermostat is. As you look down at the knob, turn it clock-wise.Check the Find A Contractor section at the top of this page.It is criminal, that anyone would leave your boiler like that. Do not sleep without CO detectors in the occupied bedrooms.

nicholas bonham-carter

amphibious cadillac

looks like you nailed it right!

i must say when i replied, there were only the radiator pics posted.

now with the other boiler pictures, it becomes clearer.

for the other questions you may have, please use the "main wall" for hot water. you will soon have it working properly. if you visit the shop here, you will find a selection of books which would give you some helpful information on hot water heating in general.--nbc

NorthernComfort

It's Already Closed

Hi Paul,



I went to close the valve in the dining room, where the thermostat is. I tried to turn it clockwise and it's already shut all of the way, yet it is still giving off a lot of heat. Am I doing it wrong?



I'll certainly check out the contractors. The worst part is I've had 4 different contractors out already and you see the shape my boiler is still in. I have 3 c.o. detectors in the house, above the doorways as I'm aware of how serious this is.

Paul48

NoCom

Is it closed....If so, you should be able to turn it counter-clockwise to open it? There are some very good pros in Ohio. You haven't had one yet, because they would NEVER leave a system like that. The ugly appearance of the boiler,may not be correctable, but it would be safe and functioning correctly.

NorthernComfort

Valves Shut

I finally put two and two together... I had the upstairs floors refinished and the guys must have shut the valves up here when sanding and staining. The boiler contractor had adjusted each valve according to size prior to the floors being sanded. So I'm now trying to open them again and adjust (it's my third night in the house since the move).



I'm still learning here and in the dining room, I can't figure out how to shut the valve clockwise. Above the nut is a pin looking thing (instead of a knob). I tried to turn the pin but it doesn't move. See the original photos with the green walls. Hopefully now that the bedroom valves are open, it will start to warm up in here.



Thanks gentlemen for all of the help and validation that I need better technicians.

Paul48

Probably

what's left of a broken knob.Please, make the calls Monday, and if you can't get one of the guys listed on this site to come out, ask for them to refer you to someone.The CO is a serious concern, and needs to be fixed. 

NorthernComfort

Houston, we have heat!

I'm happy to report that after re-opening the valves (I'm guessing the floor guys shut them when redoing the floors), bleeding each upstairs radiator for good measure and patiently shivering, that it's warmly up nicely upstairs. This is how it felt when I first purchased the house, prior to lots of renovation. Thanks for all of your responses tonight and this will be the first night since the move that I'll be toasty once again.



Next on the list is getting the boiler ventilation fixed.

Dave in QCA

Sleeve valves Don't seal tightly

Glad you got the valves all open and everything is working well.



I have lived in numerous houses with hot water heat and find it to be quite comfortable, although slow to react if you turn the temperature up or down.  Best thing is to find a good comfortable set point and leave it alone.



The valves on your radiators appear to be original.  They were intended for gravity water, with out a circulator pump.  There is not tight fitting seat, only a sleeve that rotates inside a cylinder.  The force of the pump will usually still cause some circulation through this type of valve even when it is closed.  So... don't worry about that, just open them all the way.  If a room is too warm, closing it partially or all the way might help you balance the system but hopefully you won't have to do that.



From experience, the one house that I lived in that had a gravity system, the sleeve valves worked quite well at shutting down the radiator and letting the room get cold.  However, even these sleeves had a pin hole in them to allow a tiny amount of circulation to prevent freezing damage.