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Livingroom won't heat, bedroom will

booger123
booger123 Member Posts: 11
edited April 2015 in Gas Heating
I have a problem with my heat.. and I've been trying to do some reading on the subject to help myself before asking anyone for help, but I am lost. I have a hot water boiler system in my house, and the living room will not heat, however the bedroom will. My first issue was that the pilot would not stay lit.. it would light, stay lit for about 20 minutes then go out. I adjusted the pilot and the other thing that goes with it (I've forgotten the name of it now, forgive me.. the thing with the copper wire that sits in the flame).. it seemed that this piece was too far from the flame so it would not stay lit. I adjusted that and the heat stayed on all evening while I was asleep and was still on when I left for work at 6a. I returned home from work at 6p and it was back out. I've got it re-lit, after having to scrub it with a toothbrush for a second and so far it's stayed lit. Well, anyways, after getting the pilot issue fixed last night, I noticed that the heat in the living room was not heating up but the bedroom was fine. the pipes in the living room were still as cold as could be. I checked the pipes next to the boiler itself in the little closet, and the pipes from the bedroom to the boiler were hot to the touch, but the ones from the boiler to the living room were still cold as could be. So I'm guessing that perhaps there is air in the line somewhere from what I've been reading and I need to purge this air out.. however, I'm not figuring out HOW to do this.. so if anyone is patient enough,, would ya mind givin me a hand?.. I can post pics and whatever needs to be done. just tell me what you need!

Comments

  • booger123
    booger123 Member Posts: 11
    update: pilot went out, had to light it again.. just turned back off, will see how long until it goes out again.. I'm assuming this piece that I have to keep cleaning off needs to be replaced, and is a separate issue from the living room not heating issue..
  • Fred
    Fred Member Posts: 8,542
    edited April 2015
    That piece with the copper wire is a thermocoupler. It sounds like it does need to be replaced. You ccan get universal ones at Home Depot or almost any hardware. Measure the length of the copper tube/wire and get one that same length.
    Also, is this a gravity hot water system or a steam system? If steam, 1 pipe or 2 pipe? If it's steam,
    - If 1 pipe there should be a vent on the side of the radiator opposite the end with the pipe. That is probably stuck closed and may need to be replaced (only remove and replace it when the boiler is not running). That vent allows air to escape the radiator so that steam can enter.
    - If it is a 2 pipe steam system (a pipe on each side of the radiator) there should be a trap on the return pipe (either right where the pipe leaves the radiator and turns down or possibly in the basement on the pipe from that radiator. It may have failed closed and not allowing air to escape from the radiator. if so that trap will ned to be taken apart and cleadned or rebuilt/replaced.
    - If this is a hot water system, are there cast iron radiators? If so, there should be a key vent on the side, top of the radiator (round disc with a slot in it). You need to turn that open a little to let the air escape. when water starts to trickle out, close it again and it should be ok.
    - Someone else on this site may be able to offer more advice on bleeding the air out, if this is a hot water system with a circulator pump.
  • booger123
    booger123 Member Posts: 11
    posting pics.. give me 5
  • booger123
    booger123 Member Posts: 11
    where that orange bowl is in picture one is where the hot water goes from the boiler to the living room/ bedroom.. both pipes have a knob on them that say "Purge".. so I am guessing these are the spots I need to purge the lines at?
  • booger123
    booger123 Member Posts: 11
    @Fred.. if you are saying that you cannot help me, I do appreciate you taking the time to try. I think what you are explaining is the old register hot water ones? And as I don't know anything about any of this, I cannot tell you if it is a gravity or steam system as you asked.. But, as I said, I do greatly appreciate you taking the time to read and offer some help.
  • Fred
    Fred Member Posts: 8,542
    edited April 2015
    This is a hot water system. I'm not going to be much help to you on this. I would move this post to either "Gas heating" or Radiant Heating" to get faster response. Right now it is under "AC, Heat Pumps and Refrigeration"

    My advice on the thermocoupler still holds true.
    EDIT: Sorry I can't be of any more help.
  • booger123
    booger123 Member Posts: 11
    lol okay thanks again for your help.. and yes that does need to be replaced, was just replaced last year.. I didn't know I posted in the wrong spot.. thanks again.
  • booger123
    booger123 Member Posts: 11
    also, pipes above the boxes in picture #2 are both hot to touch, pipes below box marked bedroom are also hot to touch, pipes below box marked living room are cold and the pilot hasn't gone back out since my previous post above stating that I just re-lit it
  • Charlie from wmass
    Charlie from wmass Member Posts: 4,318
    is the lever on the bottom of the box for the bedroom moving as the thermostat calls for heat? If you grab a flash light you can compare it to the living room Zone valve.
    Cost is what you spend , value is what you get.

    cell # 413-841-6726
    https://heatinghelp.com/find-a-contractor/detail/charles-garrity-plumbing-and-heating
  • booger123
    booger123 Member Posts: 11
    @Charlie from wmass no it is not and will not move when trying to move it to manual. Bedroom one moves fine.
  • Charlie from wmass
    Charlie from wmass Member Posts: 4,318
    Then the valve motor needs replaced if it will not move manually .
    Cost is what you spend , value is what you get.

    cell # 413-841-6726
    https://heatinghelp.com/find-a-contractor/detail/charles-garrity-plumbing-and-heating
    RobG
  • booger123
    booger123 Member Posts: 11
    Okay, thank you for your help. I was going to try to fix this issue myself, as I am a renter and will try to fix something myself before calling my landlord to fix something and cost them more money, (they are okay with this, they appreciate it in reality. they like to collect the money and not dish out their own).. However, I think I will be calling them tomorrow to let them know that this needs to be replaced. I've lived in this house for 4 years, and they have never done any sort of maintenance on the boiler itself, with the exception of replacing the thermocouple as was mentioned above that needs to be replaced again. So, with this system, should I be removing the air every year before winter begins and I fire it up again?.. I'd love to be able to find something of a manual of sorts along them lines to read up on this boiler but, as I am a female, I am lost when it comes to anything about a boiler and such but love to learn new things and be able to do it myself. Anyways, thanks again for all of your help to the both of you. Much appreciated.
  • rick in Alaska
    rick in Alaska Member Posts: 1,457
    You really need to have your landlord call in a professional company to go over this thing and do maintenance on it. There are a lot of things that need to be looked at to make sure it is operating as it should and safely. I see burn marks on the lower boiler casing in one of the pictures which is showing the flame rolling out. Not a good thing at all.
    Besides, you do not want to have the liability if something goes wrong. There is also the possibility the insurance company would not pay out in the event of any problems if someone was working on it who was not licensed. Kudos to you for wanting to help the landlord out, but it could be a future problem for them.
    That being said, as Charlie said, the zone valve powerhead needs to be changed out on the dead zone.
    And this is most important!!!! Do not stop your quest for learning because you are a girl! My wife ran our plumbing store for 12 years and could answer most peoples questions when they came in. But the first few days we were there, she would just panic on any questions because she had no experience. I told her to be patient and just keep listening to people and asking questions. It takes time. You need to read any books you can get. Start on this site and read Dans books. They are very informative and very easy to understand. But, do not cut yourself short. I have faith in you.
    Oh yeah.... Booger????
    Rick
    Charlie from wmass
  • booger123
    booger123 Member Posts: 11
    Katie bug is a nickname of mine.. a cousin would call me katie booger so I use booger sometimes as a screen name :) thanks for ur kind words. The burn marks are because when Itook the thermocouple off I had to take that shield off that blocks the flame from rolling up and I kept I off because it was a pain in the *** to get off before I got the pilot back together.. so when I would relight it it would roll up. Its back on now but that is what that is from. But th whole thing looks a mess to me and looks as if a lot needs to be replaced and since I've lived here no maitenance had been dome and the girl wjo lived here before me I went to school with and says none had been done for the few years shr lived here as well.. so its beyond past due. But I figured all thar needed to be done was the lines perged of air and figured it would have been a fairly simple job to do myself. Since it involves something needing replaced, I wil not mess with it since they should be aware of something being bad to begin with. When they get the guy here to fix the heater I will have him go over any steps I need to know to keep it going. . So thank you very much for your support and encouragement :)
    Katie