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Perplexed baseboard no heat, could it be air bound?

Cudavid
Cudavid Member Posts: 7
in Gas Heating
Daughter bought house, ranch, origional1950 ish, addition 1999. 2 zone Fhw, oil , boiler and mechanics look well done and a guess, 10 - 15 years old. Zone 1 is old house, zone 2 newer part. System has air scoop, Taco cartridge circulators,. zone 2 no issues, all modern baseboard.

Zone 1, old part 1/2 of house no issue, room to room from cold, can feel pipes heat slowly. heats area fine. Whole back side of house, 3 rooms in row, no heat, pipes not warm. All zone 1 is the older high , not continuous, built in wall, units. They are clean and appear to be cast iron / steel piped to the copper coils.

Unfortunate thing being cellar is all sheetrocked! may need to do some hole cutting!
Looked all over for valves, no luck. Center fireplace / boiler "closet" and we two supply and two returns back to boiler, so no bypass loop?
Ideas appreciated, thank you

Comments

  • EBEBRATT-Ed
    EBEBRATT-Ed Member Posts: 16,420
    Air bound is the most likely cause. Have you looked for air bleeders yet? There should be one on every convector.

    Make sure the zone valve for that oop is open if you have one and that the circulator pulp is running. A few pictures of the boiler and piping may help us figure out how to bleed it
  • Cudavid
    Cudavid Member Posts: 7
    Thank you, going up later this week, will take some photos
  • JUGHNE
    JUGHNE Member Posts: 11,271
    Picture of the pressure gauge also.
  • Cudavid
    Cudavid Member Posts: 7
    Will do, likely Thursday, tx
  • Cudavid
    Cudavid Member Posts: 7
    As a recap, ranch house, 2 zones, 1 works fine, 1 end of house, other end first 3 rooms great, last three on the loop, no heat




    Details as requested, thank you for your time.
  • hot_rod
    hot_rod Member Posts: 23,314
    No heat at all at the end of the loop, or not hot enough?

    If you get any heat, then it is circulating. Typically the last pipe at the last baseboard should be about 20 degrees cooler than the beginning. 180 going into the loop, 150- 160 at the far end.

    Do you hear any noise, gurgling in the pipes, that would indicate air and could slow or stop flow. The silver air vent in the first pic, is that cap loose? It needs to be open to vent air.

    Both pumps humming?
    Bob "hot rod" Rohr
    trainer for Caleffi NA
    Living the hydronic dream
  • Dave_134
    Dave_134 Member Posts: 5
    Hi, Thank you for your time.
    One zone works fine. second zone when off, all pipes cold. Call for heat, can feel pipes at floor in each room and feel the heat building in each pipe, allowing me to validated the direction of flow. 1,2,3, room no issues, next 3 rooms, bare minimum of delta / no heat. finished ceiling in basement makes hand tracing difficult.
  • EBEBRATT-Ed
    EBEBRATT-Ed Member Posts: 16,420
    You might bump the water pressure in the boiler up a bit. You probably have enough pressure for a Ranch but you should keep it about 15 psi.
    mattmia2
  • mattmia2
    mattmia2 Member Posts: 10,873
    Is this bay any chance a monoflo or separate supply and return mains type system at least on the old part of the system? What kind of expansion tank does it have? Does it have an automatic pressure reducing valve to fill it or is it manual feed? My guess is that the pressure is at 0 when it is fully cold and it is air bound, possibly because of an expansion tank problem.
  • Cudavid
    Cudavid Member Posts: 7
    Thank you, I am not close to daughters house, they called oil co, I told son in law the tips you offered, he would not be comfortable buying pressure up, I will see when oil co is coming and can drive up this weekend as needed. Will keep you posted!
  • Cudavid
    Cudavid Member Posts: 7
    90% sure has fill valve with arm that is lifted to activate, 75% sure no other piping buried in ceiling that would allow a bypass. No noted gurgling I have heard. Thank you
  • hot_rod
    hot_rod Member Posts: 23,314
    There should be two flow checks, the green valve to the right of the air purger. If not one pump could be pushing some flow out to the zone that might have a defective pump.
    Temperature is fine, pressure is adequate it could be a bad pump on the weak zone.
    Bob "hot rod" Rohr
    trainer for Caleffi NA
    Living the hydronic dream
  • Cudavid
    Cudavid Member Posts: 7
    Hi to all visited Daughters house and noted the system pressure was lower than Suggested( photo above). Tried add water valve, its dead, no flow. As son in law signed up for service package, suggested he schedule service call on the issue and advise on the valve issue. not my house, being careful not to stick my nose in too much.... They are going out , will keep you posted!
  • psb75
    psb75 Member Posts: 902
    A good basic service visit should be able to diagnose and fix the problem, IF they know what they are doing. Issues sound "in keeping" with turnover of a 1950's ranch. Your fill valve sounds like it has failed or is clogged. Expansion tank? You need proper pressure in the system and the expansion tank.

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