2 out of 4 Heating Zones Just Stopped Working!

FJNY

Hi Everyone,

I'm a new homeowner and live in the upstate NY area.  We purchased a house last year and I'm now having a heating issue.  As you can see from the pictures, we have a number of zones: Master, 1st Floor, Top Floor, Kitchen and W/C (still not sure what this one is).  We had our heat working fine the last few weeks and it suddenly stopped working in the last day or so.  Our Master and Top Floor zones still work, but the 1st Floor and Kitchen Zones don't. 

I've tried to read up on previous posts to try and troubleshoot, but haven't been able to solve the problem (partly because I don't understand the terms used).  I've determined that the pipes coming out of the silver boxes are either very hot (Master, Top Floor or room temperature (Kitchen, 1st Floor) so it looks like the problem starts there.  Would really appreciate any suggestions or ideas on how to fix this or troubleshoot it in layman's terms.

I've included some pictures but please let me know if you need any more info!

Thanks,

FJ

 

FJNY

More Pics

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kcopp

are the zones opening?

the levers of top of the silver boxes should be loose if calling for heat. Since it looks like a tankless water heater is the boiler is it firing when the t-stat calls? What are the emitters? radiant floor, baseboard, rads?

AirborneTrav

Bad valves?

There are a few possibilities here: the first is that those two loops somehow became air bound. If the system has not been opened up recently and has been working fine for a long time, this is very unlikely. You need to determine whether those zone valves (silver boxes) are open. As kcopp said, check the lever on top of the valve. If there is tension on it, it is closed, if it is loose, it is open. If my assumption is correct and it it's not open, pop the cover off and lightly touch the round drum in the center of the valve. If it is hot to the touch, this most likely means that you have power to the valve, but it is not working correctly. If you have an electric meter, you can verify the presence of 24 volts by taking apart that bundle of wire along the pipe, and finding the two yellow leads for that respective valve. Most likely, one of the yellows will have a single wire attached (coming from the thermostat) and one will be attached to a bundle of wires, which are common going back to the transformer. Remove the thermostat wire, place one probe on it, and another on the commons, and you should get 24-27 volts. If you do not get 24 volts here, your problem most likely lies with the thermostat. I'm assuming it's not a transformer issue, because the other zones are working, presumably off the same transformer. It does seem weird that both of these valves would go at the same time, but crazier things have happened. If it is in fact the valves, they are a common item at a plumbing supply house and can be changed fairly easily. Also, just a heads up, w/c might mean bathroom, as the term water closet is used for bathrooms in the UK.

unclejohn

It seems to me

That you have 5 zones of heat and there might be a thermostat or two that you can't find. Look for 5 wall stats and be sure they are all turned up all the way. All valves should open and that can be tested by the lever on the valve described in the other post. The 5th zone could be a indirect but it looks like "w/b" to me [west bedroom maybe] If you find 5 wall stats and crank them all the way up you should be able then to shut them off one at a time and then id stat to zone.



Good luck

Smith19

Zone valves

Zone valves (silver boxes) go bad. Especially the valves, and I say that because many people have each zone controlled by an actual circulator pump rather than a "silver box." I would recommend you replace all five valves with five pumps. They last longer, and I have never had any trouble with doing that. The way I see it, if you've got two zones down, replace the valves, or do all pumps. I think that your zone valves have just gone bad.



Now you've got a very nice set up there. Very nice boiler. Most homeowners never give their equipment in the basement a second thought, but if you want to avoid problems in the future, you really should have your boiler serviced and checked on a yearly basis by a tech. Maybe it seems funny, as your boiler fires with gas and thus is cleaner burning, but what you've got there will need some cleaning. Your boiler has a blower inside, which on one side takes in air and on the other it takes in natural gas. It mixes air and gas, and blows the combination into a mesh cylinder that is inside of a heat exchanger. The heat exchanger is a round aluminum enclosure that transfers heat going from the center of it to the water that heats your house and goes through the zones. This mesh cylinder has an ignition device on the outside surface, and will ignite a very clean burning flame from the blower and mesh into the heat exchanger. The heat exchanger is so efficient, that the exhaust gasses are cool enough to go through PVC pipe. That's why it's there in the photos. It's important have someone clean out that mesh cylinder and heat exchanger, as build up of different kinds of sediment can lower efficiency and screw up the whole thing down the road. No matter what your system's like, I always say service it some way some how.

SWEI

Zone valves versus zone pumps

One pump per zone was common on larger jobs ten years ago.  Now we use zone valves and smart circs.  Typically cuts 75% of the electric cost from pumping and costs less to install.

unclejohn

I agree

Keep the zone valves. Opening a can of worms with a lot of re-pipe and rewire. Keep in mine that that those valves can be replaced very very easily with out draining any water. The heads come off with two screws. Pumps will require running 110v circuits and pump relays and flow controls. And my money is on a missing tstat.

kcopp

I agree...

circ have their place. Most all systems are better served w/ 1 Alpha circ and zone valves. Energy saved can be dramatic.  Most systems that use all circulators are over pumped.

Still waiting for the Original poster to get back on what is going on.... Still looks like the "boiler" is really a tankless water heater. The extra pictures did not make it through. Need more info here.