Recoocuring air lock.. Radiator needing bled daily

L4yercak3

This is a long one... But no one can seem to sort this for me..

I have a recoocuring air lock in a radiator... It increases, or continues to spread through system, if i do not bleed it.. I bleed it daily..

I have a gravity fed system... Grant vortex boiler...it is a split level bungalow and the boiler is in the garage.. The hot water and central heating are both pumped from the garage up into the house...

Here is what I have noticed

So when I turn the Hot water on water flows into my f and e tank ..the boiler clicks off after few minutes and water continues to fed into the f and e tank at a slower rate.

When boiler clicks on again, water feeds into f and e tank again at a higher rate.. Water does heat up a small bit..

I turn hot water off and turn on central heating...

Water gets sucked out of f and e tank and the level drops and then the boiler clicks on.. Water level rises again but water does not seem to flow in from pipe at bottom of f and e tank... The water heats up more now at this stage.
......................

A plumber advised me to do these observations but has not come up with anything.. Cylinder does not have a leak, so I am told,...... there are no leaks in pipes, according to a leak finder and I have been told this could be because its highest radiator in system....

I am at a loss trying to sort this... Can this be fixed?

Any advice would be great guys thanks.

JamesM

F & E tank ? Are you talking about the expansion tank in the attic ? If so is the water turned off to the ball valve in the tank ? Were you told to turn it off to see if the tank emptied - meaning that there might be a leak in the system ?

If there is air in the system, it means that there is not enough water in the system.

L4yercak3

Sorry James, yes the expansion tank..... Thanks for replying...

I did tie the ball valve up for over a week.. Water level dropped but did not empty..

What would I say to a plumber when trying to sort this out?

JamesM

I would release the valve and let the tank fill again. Try to run the heating for a while and see what happens - also bleed the rads and make sure the system is full. Later, let the system cool down and tie up the ball cock again and see if the level drops. If it drops significantly, you most likely have a leak somewhere.
The water going in and out of the tank probably occurs when the circulating pump turns on and off.

L4yercak3

It maybe dropped a quarter of a tank.. 2 plumbers have said it's not a burst pipe but what other leak would it be?
They could possibly be wrong

JamesM

A quarter of a tank in a few days is not a burst pipe, but could be a leak somewhere in the system. Check in obvious places like rad valves, the safety valve near the boiler, or sometimes the valves for the circulating pump. For a start, I try what I said and fill the system, run it for a while, turn on all the rads, bleed the rads, note how it heats. Then let it cool down and tie up the ballcock again once the water in the system has contracted. If it drops after that, you probably have a leak.

Where are Jimf, wearb, (even Tom 44) and the real experts - I'm retired and have forgotten most of what I once knew

Irishphotodesk

Have a Google for self bleeding radiator, it might help.

Wearb

It seems like it's pumping over. (Water coming from the pipe hooked over the tank)
Was it always like this?
Any new work done?
Boiler stove?
New circulating pump?


It should not pump over. That will sludge up your system eventually.

L4yercak3

Since I bought the house.... About 3 years now.... Yes, this radiator has always needed bled....

I put new boiler in..disconnected a back boiler (hot water only).... . Sourced a leaking hot water pipe and fixed it.... Put in a new radiator hoping it would fix issue..it didn't... . . Old boiler had no pumps but new one does...

A Plumber mentioned pumping over but how do you fix this and why would he not recommend fixing it? Some water did come out of the pipe hooked over tank when I turned hot water off and put central heating on when i was observing activity in tank...

I really appreciate help and advice guys thank you

Wearb

What is the circulating pump set to?
What strength is the pump? That will be in the numbers after its name.
Relative to your troublesome rads, how much higher is your expansion tank?

It could be a problem connected to above, but most likely a problem with how the expansion tank is plumbed.
But any of your plumbers would know all this. They would also know how to combine the expansion tank pipes.

L4yercak3

I will check this out and get back to you.. Thanks very much

stephenmarr

air could be drawn into the system.

google that

JamesM

L4yercak3 wrote: »

A Plumber mentioned pumping over but how do you fix this and why would he not recommend fixing it? Some water did come out of the pipe hooked over tank when I turned hot water off and put central heating on when i was observing activity in tank... /QUOTE]

I didn't pick up on water coming from the pipe over the tank. Wearb is right especially if there is more than one pump.

L4yercak3

Hi guys..

First of all thank you all for replies.. I have attached pictures of boiler set up and pumps if that helps..... I will get pictures of tank hopefully tomorrow.. Hope this helps