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No bleed valve on SunTemp baseboard radiator

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Lopaisate
Lopaisate Member Posts: 5
in Radiant Heating
Hi there. I have a dual zone Utica boiler system with SunTemp baseboard radiators. I recently had a problem with my boiler and we had to shut the system down, drain it, make several repairs, and then bring it back on line. Now that it's back on line, I have three radiators that can't get heat. I have bled all of the other radiators as I am supposed to and they are all working but the radiators that are cold don't seem to have a bleed valve anywhere.



In looking at them, they seem to be a continuous loop. The piping comes in, goes the length of the radiator casing and at the end (where there would normally be a bleed valve) it u-turns and the return goes under the outbound back towards the boiler. I have felt on the backside for any kind of valve and I haven't found anything.



All of the outbounds for the rest of the house are appropriately hot EXCEPT for the lines feeding these 3 radiators. The flow valves are all open, the circulators are getting flow, and the automatic vent is correctly installed. Any ideas on how to get the air out?

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  • Paul48
    Paul48 Member Posts: 4,469
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    Look

    For valves on the supply and return that would isolate that loop from the boiler. There should also be places to connect garden hoses.You would close the valves to isolate the loop from the system, then use 2 hoses. One connected to a faucet. One run safely outdoors. Make sense?
  • Lopaisate
    Lopaisate Member Posts: 5
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    Not sure if I understand

    There are the valves that shut off the loop from the boiler but there aren't any spigots specifically on individual outbound and return lines. The only spigot on the that portion of the boiler would drain the water from all lines, Is that what you are talking about? It seems like overkill to drain the whole system or shut off water to the rest of the house for one radiator. Considering I was just without heat for 2 days in Chicago winter it's something I'd like to avoid if possible. Is it common to not have bleed valves on baseboard radiators? Literally every other accessible radiator in the house has one except for these 3.
  • Paul48
    Paul48 Member Posts: 4,469
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    Radiators

    They should have made provisions for bleeding those baseboards.You may need to call someone to add the necessary fittings, and if there are valves, they won't have to drain the whole system.
  • Lopaisate
    Lopaisate Member Posts: 5
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    Agreed

    I don't know why they didn't for these particular ones. Perhaps they were added later. The ones with bleed valves all seem to have older looking copper pipes in terms of the petina. The ones in the basement and the one in the upstairs bedroom (which are the ones that aren't working) all look shiny and new-ish.
  • Lopaisate
    Lopaisate Member Posts: 5
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    Flo Control Valve

    I know that the basement line has a flo control valve. Would turning the flo-control valve counter clockwise to force gravity circulation get things going? As in, would that push the air through the pipes and back towards the automatic air valve to be released?
  • RobG
    RobG Member Posts: 1,850
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    If it worked before

    If it worked before, someone had a way to bleed or power purge the system. You may need to call a Pro and watch how he/she does it. Some pictures of the boiler and surrounding piping might help us to help you.



    Rob
  • Lopaisate
    Lopaisate Member Posts: 5
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    Fixed it!

    I looked around again and thanks to a helpful YouTube video and you guys pointing me in the right direction, I figured out what you were trying to describe.



    Turns out there are three spigots on the boiler unit. One for the whole boiler, one for the return lines in zone 1, and one for the return lines in zone 2. I hooked up a hose to the the spigot for the returns in zone 1, isolated the return for the problematic line from the others, and purged it (thankfully with no loss to heat in the house because it didn't take long). It had SO much air in it. I filled a 5 gallon bucket almost 3 times and it wasn't until the very end that I stopped getting air coming through the line. I don't think it would ever have worked itself out had I not done that.



    Then I turned to the basement line which, in the end, simply wasn't open all the way. It felt like it was but the valve was actually stuck and needed a hard turn to get it open the rest of the way. It was open enough to get water to one set of rads in that zone but not the other. I did a quick purge on that one just to be sure there was no air and then fired that up.



    All seems to be working now. Thanks for your help!

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