Néw Pump and loops are weak in heat

brogama

Hi. This morning my circulation pump went out on my boiler for baseboard heat. After the tech installed a new pump he left with a hey- I got the pump on it’s running and boiler is heating you should have heat in a bit. Well, I sort of do...but not really. It’s a single zone four loop system. I can get heat out of each loop individually, it’s a struggle getting it out of all four at the same time. And, it’s just not as hot. I’m not freezing, but this doesn’t seem right. 

Big Ed_4

Zone valves ?

hot_rod

Does the boiler reach the temperature set point, possibly 180?
Could be it needs a better purge? That is a 3 speed pump, what speed is it on. Bump it up to a higher speed if possible.
Should be the responsibility of the guy that installed that new pump.

HomerJSmith

Put the pump on Hi and turn all the zones off but one. After a day, close that valve and open another and repeat the process for the other zones.

It might be a little air bound. Check the heat in each zone to see if it improves as you go thru the process above. Baseboard typically is set at 180 deg in the aquastat for the boiler temp.

If your baseboard has coin vents on each one, open each one, one at a time to remove trapped air. Make sure the supply water valve to the boiler is turned on so that you get a full fill.

When you have to drain down the sys to put a new pump in, it is a good idea to check the air charge on the bladder side of the expansion tank, making sure it is 12 psi.

brogama

Yes. The boiler reaches the temperature set point of 180 - I can see the temperature rise on the gage. (I am going to request the tech back) And, I’ll be sure to understand what speed the pump is set at. The system was drained because there are not are not any shut offs or bleed valves on the return (who does that?). The only drain is on the supply side at the end of those valves that control flow to each loop. I wish I had valves at the baseboards. I’m not sure how effective a purge is off the boiler drain?

Jamie Hall

If it was drained to replace the pump (I was hoping you wouldn't say that) it almost certainly needs a thorough purge -- and there is no way your plumber seems to have taken the time to do that. Get him back and get him to do it right.

SuperTech

I've had to deal with boilers that don't have proper purge station setups, or have a fill-trol tank that doesn't allow me to raise the pressure for purging.  I had to connect the boiler to the water heater and use it to push water through the zones, sometimes backwards. It works,  just make sure that the system pressure stays below 30 PSI while purging.  

brogama

@SuperTech I was thinking backwards would be a solution but I’m not confident on doing that or the hot water heater setup you mention. 

Zman

You should check the system pressure. There should be a dial gauge somewhere that reads PSI.
The black lever on the new circulator has the numbers 1,2,3. Slide the lever to 3 and see if things improve.

Zman

A photo from farther back would help.

brogama

Attached at photos of my supply side loops, my return pipe and the pressure and temp gage. @Zman the pump is already on three. 

brogama