Issue with upstairs rads

coxy123

Hi,

I have seen some postings previously in connection with upstairs radiators.

My problem consists of the following:

A gas-fired CH system, with a sealed system. Up-stairs radiators only heat up at the bottom of radiator, not at the top.(All downstairs are perfect)

What I have checked/done:

Tried to Bleed the rads but no water or hissing sound present.
Checked the water tank up-stairs - this is full and ball cock is working.

**Problem appears to be with pressure gauge - the one on the boiler is not going above the 1 bar of pressure, while the gauge on the water cylinder acts the same - nowhere near the 1 bar of pressure(have tried to get this moving by turning a nut on the top of gauge in + direction to open up but this does not seem to work-tried this while heating was on).

Any ideas to get this gauge going other suggestions would be appreciated.

Tks.

Qwerty?

There should be a stop cock before the pressure gauge, or at least there was on my old system, had to leave it on a while for the pressure to build up.

JamesM

Qwerty? wrote:

There should be a stop cock before the pressure gauge, or at least there was on my old system, had to leave it on a while for the pressure to build up.

That's right. If it is a sealed system, the tank in the attic has nothing to do with the heating system. You have to find that stop cock. From what you are saying about the rads, there is not enough water in the system.
Jim.

coxy123

I have not noticed the stop cock - I presume this could be anywhere along the pipe-feed to the gauge attached to the hot water cylinder? I will look again this evening. Is there definitely a stop-cock there? Tks. for help so far.

secman

I also have a sealed system and at this time of the year when I am putting heating on , i usually have to open teh stop cock to get more water into the system as the highest rad in the house ( in attic conversion) will not have enough water in it. Usually only have to count to 10 and then close it. Then I open the vent and it hisses away until the water flows.

coxy123

Where is this stop cock found?Is it easy to locate - I am not sure where this is located at all. Secman, where is your's located?? Tks.

secman

HI there ,

Our stop cock for the central heating system is in the hot press , on one of the pipes , more than likely yours is somewhere there. Ours is like an outside tap, if you know what I mean, as the original gate valve type one couldn't hold the pressure that build up during the night.

JamesM

secman wrote:

HI there ,

Our stop cock for the central heating system is in the hot press , on one of the pipes , more than likely yours is somewhere there. Ours is like an outside tap, if you know what I mean, as the original gate valve type one couldn't hold the pressure that build up during the night.

It is somewhere between the domestic water system (or maybe the mains) and the heating system. It is almost certainly there - on some very old systems, Dublin County Council inspectors insisted that it be disconnected and only connected when filling the system. If this was the case, it would surely have shown up by now. The stop cock is usually close to the cylinder or close to the boiler.
If you bleed the upstairs rads and get some air and then nothing, then there is not enough water in the system - find the valve
Jim.

coxy123

The only thing I notice beside the boiler is a red wheel attached to pipe work. I do not see any tap beside boiler - I only see the gas inlet pipe for turning on and off. It's possible that the pipe is overhead the water cylinder in the attic. Will let you know how this goes. Tks.

coxy123

The gauge is actually an automatic filling valve but seems to be seized as I cannot get pressure bar indicator to move - even by hitting the valve. Any other ideas apart ffrom swapping out? Tks.