Which pipe is the flow an which is the return?

johneym

Folks,

this may seem like a silly question to those of you in the know.
There is an upper pipe and a lower pipe going from cylinder to stove boiler.
I presume the lower is the flow and the upper the return? As water rises when hot?
The circulation pump is on the lower pipe.

Thanks a lot,

Johney

kscobie

the top pipe from the stove to the top coil connection on the cylinder is the flow, the bottom cylinder connection to the lower stove connection is the return

johneym

Thanks kcosbie,

when I light the stove its the top pipe that gets very hot very quickly, the lower one remains cool for quite a while. Is this normal?
The house has very bad plumbing.

Thanks a lot

kscobie

the distance from the stove to the cylinder would be a factor, but everything sounds ok from your description, would there ever be a banging sound?

Sparkpea

johneym wrote: »

Thanks kcosbie,

when I light the stove its the top pipe that gets very hot very quickly, the lower one remains cool for quite a while. Is this normal?
The house has very bad plumbing.

Thanks a lot

The return pipe will remain cool/look warm until all the cold water in the system has circulated back to the boiler and been reheated.

johneym

yes, lots of banging etc. I need to sort out the system and try to overhaul it completely.

meercat

connect a pipe stat onto the pump and this will automatically operate when there is hot water in the system preventing pipes banging.
place stat on top pipe