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Radiators in some rooms (in the same zone) not heating up well or at all

ffzero58
ffzero58 Member Posts: 5
in THE MAIN WALL

Hi all,

I need help on what next steps to take here. I appreciate any advice I can get.

I've got a rather old Weil-McLain that is probably from the 70 or 80s with two zones (1st floor/basement zone and 2nd floor zone). The baseboards in the basement I have closed those valves as we do not use it as a living space anymore.

image.png

Radiators look like these. Some of the bleeder valves are corroded and unusable, so I cannot bleed air from them. Of the bleeder valves that do work, some air does come out until the water comes - but it only improves the heat a little bit, it does not heat up as it should.

image.png

I am thinking of doing a zone by zone bleed of the system. However, I am somewhat confused as to what I inherited with this setup.

The flow is downward for both circulators as well as the city line connector in the middle.

image.png

The spout I need to hook up should be above the circulators, I'm told. I am confused as yo what this thing is and how to use it:

image.png

But I believe this is the spout I need for one of my zones.

Also, any tips on replacing the bleeder valves on these radiators? I've already tried pliers and twisting it off but it is crumbling.

image.png

Thanks again in advance for any advice.

Comments

  • Big Ed_4
    Big Ed_4 Member Posts: 3,076

    Be careful on the first convector in the photo , old and very fragile … Ask me how I know that :) … Two wrenches are needed to prevent the transfer of the torque to the convector .. It may come down to replacing the convector ..Just figure to add it in….

    There was an error rendering this rich post.

  • ffzero58
    ffzero58 Member Posts: 5

    So…. quick udpate. I could not help myself as having the rooms cold was getting to me. I decided to bleed the downstairs zone. I closed the blue valve and opened up the black. Got all sorts of air coming out but eventually the flow evened out and no more bubbles came out.

    image.png

    But now that I started the system back up, the pressure gauge is reading 20-25 psi, I am flying somewhat close to the sun here…

    image.png

    However, the good news is that the radiators that did not have any heat are starting to feel heat again, so the bleeding has worked somewhat.

    Should I be losing sleep tonight about the higher operating PSI or will it even out eventually once the boiler reaches operating temps? It has cooled down since I was running cold city water through the core.

    Thanks!

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