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No heat upstairs, bleeding with no purge stations?

thechad
thechad Member Posts: 1
edited October 2016 in Oil Heating
Hello Everyone,

Weil-Mclain boiler.
Down stairs heats fine.
Upstairs is not getting heat from the baseboards.
Baseboards have bleeders on them, the boiler system does not have purge stations.
Two zones, one zone for the basement, and the other zone does both the the first floor and the second floor.

How do I purge air from the system when the system doesn't have purge stations? I tried bleeding at the baseboards upstairs, I get a little air out here and there, but after hours of doing this is doesn't seem to help.

Today I noticed that the pressure on the boiler gauge, with the furnace off, is around 4-5. This is low, I know. I read that it should be 12-15. Could this low pressure explain why there is no heat getting upstairs?

If so, should turn the furnace off, lift the fill valve lever until the pressure reaches 12, close the fill valve, and bleed from the baseboards upstairs again?

Our 17 month old's room is the coldest, money is tight with only myself working, any advice is useful. Thanks!

- Chad

Comments

  • Jamie Hall
    Jamie Hall Member Posts: 23,170
    5 psi will only raise water about 12 feet. If that really is your pressure, it's no wonder you can't get heat upstairs. Try your idea about lifting the fill valve lever to get at least 12 psi and see if you can bleed any air out. And then sit down and figure out why the pressure was so low...
    Br. Jamie, osb
    Building superintendent/caretaker, 7200 sq. ft. historic house museum with dependencies in New England
  • STEAM DOCTOR
    STEAM DOCTOR Member Posts: 1,954
    Prv(water feeder) could be clogged. If you have galvanized piping (Silver color) leading to the "feeder" then the piping might be clogged. You can try to run a hose from water heater or utility faucet to drain on boiler. Raise pressure and see what happens
  • spd
    spd Member Posts: 23
    Chad, did you fix the problem? Can you share your story? Otherwise, I'd love to give you more tips!