Hydro Air Help!

Empire_2

Check that you have 12 psi or so on the boiler itself. Just my thoughts....

Rodney Summers

Hydro Air problem help needed

I have a Hydro Air system with an air handler in the basement for the first floor and a second handler in the unheated attic. Last night I noticed that the second floor was getting cold but the first floor was fine. The supply and return loops for the hydro air to the attic are not hot. The thermostat upstairs is calling for heat and all that comes out of the heat vent is cool air. I'm thinking that perhaps a control valve or the hydro air fluid level are culprits. Does anyone have suggestions on how to diagnose this problem?

Steve_35

Any chance

you have a frozen pipe? Can you move water through the loop? Zone valve open? Circ running? Air lock?

Wayco Wayne_2

My first thought

is low water pressure. Make sure the pressure reducing valve is feeding and maintaining enough pressure to raise the water level high enough to reach the attic coil. Last week had the same thing on a service call. I didnt have a PR valve on the truck and it was after closing time for the supply houses. To get them going I hooked up a hose to the boiler drain, bled all of the air out of the hose, and then pressurised the system with house pressure up to 12 psi until I could get back with the part the next day. They were grateful. WW

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Unknown

What is the

temp of the feed to Hyro-air unit? It should be 150 degrees at the unit. Think about insulating the feed pipes to the HA unit. Also are your air ducts insulated? Cold attic air can reduce pipe temps and duct temps pretty rapidly.

David_5

Call your service company

They will diagnose it for you quickly.

David

tnt

Thanks to everyone who responded...

Wow, I am grateful to everyone for all their suggestions. Since it is Sunday and I am a DIY type person, I want to give it go a before calling in the professionals Monday morning. The lines do not appear to be frozen since I can flex the plastic flexible pipe with ease. The pipes themselves are cold to the touch, but not *freezing* cold.
I think my problem is an "air lock". The upstairs zone valve is getting 120V and I can hear that the valve is flowing when I put my ear up to it. The boiler pressure checks out at 12 psi. The pipe feeding the zone valve is too hot to touch. However the supply line a few feet beyond the zone valve remains cool. So my question is this - how do I bleed air out of the line to eliminate the air lock? There is a hose drain at the bottom of the boiler, but it doesn't make sense to me to use that for that purpose. Is there something I should do at the upstairs air handler?

My supply and return plumbing looks like this:
1. Taco Cartridge Circulator (receiving 120V, open)
2. Shutoff valve
3. Hose bib
4. Flexible pipe goes up to attic, AH and then returns...
5. Shutoff valve
6. Taco 218 flocheck
7. Extrol Expansion Tank
8. Boiler

I did notice the the expansion tank is empty when I tapped it. Is this normal? Also, there is a cylinder on top (perhaps a pressure relief valve?) that is steaming slightly and is covered in greenish antifreeze gunk. Sorry for any useless details, but I don't know what to look for. If anyone can tell me how to eliminate the air lock, please let me know!

tnt

I think I have an air lock problem...

Wow, I am grateful to everyone for all their suggestions. Since it is Sunday and I am a DIY type person, I want to give it go a before calling in the professionals Monday morning. The lines do not appear to be frozen since I can flex the plastic flexible pipe with ease. The pipes themselves are cold to the touch, but not *freezing* cold. I think my problem is an "air lock". The upstairs zone valve is getting 120V and I can hear that the valve is flowing when I put my ear up to it. The boiler pressure checks out at 12 psi. The pipe feeding the zone valve is too hot to touch. However the supply line a few feet beyond the zone valve remains cool. So my question is this - how do I bleed air out of the line to eliminate the air lock? There is a hose drain at the bottom of the boiler, but it doesn't make sense to me to use that for that purpose. Is there something I should do at the upstairs air handler?

My supply and return plumbing looks like this: 1. Taco Cartridge Circulator (receiving 120V, open) 2. Shutoff valve 3. Hose bib 4. Flexible pipe goes up to attic, AH and then returns... 5. Shutoff valve 6. Taco 218 flocheck 7. Extrol Expansion Tank 8. Boiler

I did notice the the expansion tank is empty when I tapped it. Is this normal? Also, there is a cylinder on top (perhaps a pressure relief valve?) that is steaming slightly and is covered in greenish antifreeze gunk. Sorry for any useless details, but I don't know what to look for. If anyone can tell me how to eliminate the air lock, please let me know!

Wayco Wayne_2

Make sure the needle on

the gauge isn't frozen stuck. I have a gauge attached to a hose connection I can screw on the boiler drain if I don't trust the gauge on the system piping. WW

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tnt

Pressure in the expansion tank is 12 psi

The boiler gauge doesn't seem frozen but I measured 12 psi in the expansion tank directly with a tire gauge. After looking at my plumbing, I believe I described my supply/return backwards. The zone valve appears to be on the return side which feeds *into* a black pipe which goes into the bottom of the boiler. In any case, this seems to be beyond my scope since my attempts to bleed air via hose attached to the hose bib were unsuccessful. I suspect that the pipe/coil may be frozen inside the attic AH. I have a service call first thing Monday AM.