Uponor stainless manifold- how to work the purge/fill valves?

Bucky

**DUMMY ALERT!!!**

Hi guys, I just replaced my WM branded manifold with a shiny new Uponor stainless pair. (the tiebreaker in my selection was that this most closely fit the size of the prior manifold, so less plumbing!) . 4 loops, not a monster. Hooked up my 8 pex connections and now I'm trying to purge each loop as per the instructions. Hooked up fresh water to the supply manifold and a drain line to the return. The instructions say "5. Use the square tool on the cap of the hose bib fill port to open the fill valves on the supply and return manifold.". The cap does have a square tool that fits some sort of valve stem on the topside of the manifold, but turning that seems to do nothing. I turned infinitely 'lefty', and nothing. I did notice the hose port does swivel, and if I position it parallel to the manifold body I do feel a little 'opening', but still nothing flows into the manifold.

So there's gotta be something really stupid I'm missing. There is another thread here about this from 2010, but there doesn't seem to be a resolution (and the original poster is no longer a member ).

Gonna get cold this weekend- I gotta get my floors warmed up!!!

Thanks!!

Bucky

Bucky

AAHHHH Yes, dummy alert indeed!! The *proper* valve stem is on the BOTTOM side of the manifold (like right on the hose connection!) DOH!

In related news, the purge water was FILTHY BROWN! The system has been in for 12 years. Should I make it an annual/occasional maintenance item to flush the loops to get rid of the gookus? Or doesn't it matter in the least??

Thanks again!

SWEI

Sounds like oxygen ingress. What kind of tubing is used, what kind of air elimination device, and is there an auto-fill hooked up?

Bucky

It's Weil-McLain Qual-Pex (with oxygen barrier). There's a spirovent Jr. and yes, I'm using auto-fill via that (took me a while to figure out how to use it properly!). It's only one of four zones off of a primary/secondary loop, the others being an indirect DHWH, the cast iron radiators that server the bulk of the house, and a heating coil in a SpacePak hi-velocity system. I *think* I solved my air problem last year- there was a leaky radiator that leaked into the basement and happened to be right at the bilco door. There's typically rainwater seepage on the floor there (it's a 1790's house!) so I never really noticed the radiator was leaking until it started a real good stream into the basement.

I tried injecting some boiler cleaner into the system but I don't think I was very successful- I think I ended up purging it all right back out. I used a small xfer pump to siphon the cleaner into the manifold fill valve, but I ended up dumping 3 gallons out for the one gallon I took in, so I had to purge each loop with fresh water again. I have ~700 ft. of 3/8" over four loops, so I should have about 3 1/2 gallons of capacity. Oh well, I think over this heating season I'll devise a better way to inject a good amount of boiler cleaner into the system next fall. There's no good way I can figure out right now...

Thanks!

SWEI

What happens if you turn off the auto-fill for a week?

Bucky

I don't know! But now that heating season should be in full swing tomorrow, I'll give it a shot and see if I lose any pressure. Good idea! I'll report back....