Hot water boiler. One zone not working

Kate123

Hi experts! One zone on my hot water boiler is not working -mster bedroom. From reading the site, it may be frozen pipes or air? I have the zone open and copper pipe is cold so no hot water going to the zone. Here are some pics. Any help super appreciated.

rick in Alaska

If I am understanding how it is piped, you can turn all the valves off on the supply and returns for all zones except for the master bedroom, and the orange valve just above the pump, and you should be able to purge water through the bedroom loop, and have it come out the garden hose drain valve just above the orange valve. I can't tell where the boiler water feed comes in to the system at, so that could make a big difference.
If it is piped the way I think, then either a lot of air, or water will come out the drain valve. If nothing comes out, then something is plugging up that zone. Either it is frozen, or the zone valve is stuck inside. If a lot of air comes out and then clears up, then it should be ok when you put it all back together again.
Rick

Kate123

Great I'll try that can you tell me which is the supply valve?

Kate123

So I think you mean all the valves on top of the zone controls?

Kate123

And the yellow lever looks to be main supply out of the boiler into the zones

Kate123

Ok just did that. Very little cold water came out. So that means frozen pipe?

Kate123

Just tried another zone and nothing came out. What am I missing?

rick in Alaska

The valves above the zone valves are the ones I mean, and the corresponding valves on the supply for each zone. Did not see a yellow valve. Make sure you leave open the valves for the master bedroom zone, and if you don't get anything then, then give us some more pictures of the piping around the boiler, specifically the small pipe I see that is right on top of the boiler, and under the manifold. I need to see where both ends go.
Rick
P.s. Dinner time now, so will look at this when I get back

Kate123

Is it possible that this is defective? Or is the pipe so frozen it doesn't feel warm on the top part?

Kate123

Kate123

The blue valve is on top of the boiler close to the ceiling. There's a green valve a few inches on top of the boiler. Some sort of pressure release valve before and after it

rick in Alaska

Show me a picture of the gauge on the boiler.
Rick
back in an hour or so

Kate123

rick in Alaska

Make sure the orange valve by the back wall that is on the galvanized pipe before it goes to copper is left open, and the valve just below where your drain hose is is closed. Then open up the master bedroom zone and you should be getting water out the drain valve. If not, close the bedroom zone valve and try a different one. If you don't get water out of the bedroom zone, but you do get water out of a different one, then the bedroom zone has a blockage.
Rick

Kate123

Not sure which is the orange valve on the back wall. You mean this?

Kate123

rick in Alaska

Five pictures up. There is a green expansion tank with a Honeywell air separator on it, followed by a short piece of pipe, then an elbow going up to the valve. Leave that valve open when you are checking things out.
Rick

Kate123

Nothing came out in any zone

Kate123

Yup didn't touch the valve by the expansion tank

rick in Alaska

Just to make sure here. The hose you hooked up is not frozen or blocked, and you did open the valve that it is hooked to, and didn't get any water? If that is the really the case, then there is a possibility the gauge on the boiler is defective and you really do not have any pressure on it.
Sounds like you are going to need someone to show up there if that is the case.
Rick

Kate123

Hose works. Very little water came out of master bedroom. No water out of other zones...

rick in Alaska

It sounds like you have a pressure problem, and need someone to take care of it, along with a new gauge. That is assuming you did not turn off the blue handle valve that says boiler supply on it.
Rick

Kate123

Nope did not touch that. Other zones work though...

Kate123

Can you help me with the step by step? I moved the lever on the bell and it just kept filling water

Kate123

Ok so the zone e just worked by itself so maybe it was frozen. I do notice there are more air bubble kno ks in the pipes so do I add water and when do I stop or how do I get rid of air in the pipes

rick in Alaska

Great! You should be able to do the sequence i mentioned earlier to get the air out. Just manually open the zone valve you are bleeding air out of, and make sure the others are closed.
Rick

neilc

do you have air vents upstairs, at your highest radiators?
(trying to establish boiler pressure here)
if you do,

turn the boiler off, so the circulator(s) is off also,
go to a high vent and crack it open,
you should get water(or air) pressure and a steady flow,
not high pressure like a sink, but a steady flow,
bleed all the air you can at all your rads,
bump the circulator back on for a minute, then repeat,

if you don't have pressure or flow,
or if the pressure fades away,
then you need to look at that boiler water feeder,

if you don't have rad air valves then we purge

Kate123

I have baseboard fins. I tried shutting off water supply and closing all zones except one and nothing came out. Then last night I noticed the pipes knocked and bubbled all night. I also tried to let a little more water in but didn't k iw how much to let.in through the bell lever..

neilc

ok, no vents, purge,
shut the boiler off, and all thermostats turned down,

in your first picture,
close all the ball valves above the zone valves,
close the yellow ball valve above the circulator,
run a hose from the bib above the yellow ball valve,

open the "master" zone ball valve and latch open the manual lever on the zone valve body,
open the hose bib,
a second person may be helpful here,
manipulate the fast fill lever on the feeder to keep the boiler pressure above 15, and up to 20~25,
let the water run until no more bubblage is heard, seen, or felt,
stick the hose end in a bucket to see bubblage, or not, to know when you're done,
when you are bubble free, briefly open the circ ball valve and check that there's no air to burp down there also,
air free? yes?
set the fast fill lever back down, and quickly close the hose bib,
it's up to you if you purge the other zones while the hose is set up,
if you do, shut the zone ball valve, and release the manual lever on the zone valve, then move on to the next zone, and repeat from above for each next zone,

in the end, check the boiler pressure, and if high, bleed off a little thru the hose bib til pressure is down to 12~15,

make sure all ball valves are open on the zones, and at the circ,
make sure all zone valve manual levers are released from the manual latch position,
restart the boiler

Kate123

Ok just did that thanks I did notice a drop here is that normal?

Kate123

Kate123

Drip 

Kate123

When the boiler boils it goes to 20 is that too high? Should I drain to 15?

Kate123

I've drained a few buckets still ges to 25 pesk boiled. I think the system keeps self filling water is that right? I'd that too hi psi?

Kate123

Is

Kate123

Ok when not boiling its 11psi. When boiling it gets to 25. Is this optimal or should I add water?

Kate123

Ok I'll try again tomorrow then. The manual bell filling is only a temporary fast fill right? Auto fill will get the boiler to the right level later? What is the right psi boiled vs non boiled?

Kate123

When I drained the boiler i probably drained too fast and the psi dropped to 7 so I filled to 12psi before turning the boiler back on. When I ran the boiler it ran up to 25 so I got scared and started draining again. What can I do tomorrow to make it right? THANKS A BUNCH!

Kate123

So you mean to open the bell all the way and not worry about psi until bled all zones and everything is shut? That wouldn't over fill the boiler?

Kate123

I was worried when I tuned the boiler back with the hi psi it would be bad for the boiler so I drained off buckets. Should I not have done that and let the boiler adjust on its own?

HVACNUT

As long as all zones are now working. 
Do you know how to light the pilot?
Shut off the gas.
Run all heat zones to drop the temperature in the system. A good half hour should work.
Then turn off all thermostats. 
Set the fill pressure to 12 psi.
The brass B&G feeder is usually pretty reliable.
If the gauge on the boiler  is correct, it should stop at 12 psi.
Mark or write down actual pressure when it stops feeding. 
Now close the cold fill valve before the Back Flow Preventer.
Light the pilot. 
Turn on all zones to 90° and watch the boiler go through three cycles of making limit (max boiler temperature).
The boiler pressure shouldn't get over 15-18 psi.
It's safe to leave the manual feed valve off for a day or two. Just keep an eye on the gauge.
If the pressure stays within range, open the cold fill valve and watch the gauge again for a few days.

The air eliminator is leaking so you can just tighten the cap. You have a Honeywell eliminator on the supply.
If that eliminator is working and there's air in the system, the pressure might actually drop because the fill valve is off. If that's the case, open the cold water fill just to bring the pressure back to where it was originally.