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Old Horizontal Ceiling Radiators not warming up

annie2001
annie2001 Member Posts: 1
edited November 2023 in Strictly Steam
I just moved into this apartment and it’s been getting very cold this winter. There are 3 of these ceiling radiators, one works and the other two don’t heat up at all. I tried bleeding them by unscrewing the metal valve, it let some air out but no water. Will it start working or is there something else I should try? Also is the metal valve the right place to unscrew?

Comments

  • Jamie Hall
    Jamie Hall Member Posts: 25,311
    Those are one pipe steam -- they will never have water come out, you hope. First thing to check, though -- is the inlet valve, with the wooden handle, actually open?

    The silver metal thing is called the vent, and it is possible that it is not working. But -- don't unscrew it from the radiator if you are not sure that the boiler is off. If the boiler is on, you may get steam out, and that you do not want.

    Does the horizontal pipe under the radiator feeding it get hot?
    Br. Jamie, osb
    Building superintendent/caretaker, 7200 sq. ft. historic house museum with dependencies in New England