Heating issue

markc1184 · 17-03-2019 4:36pm #1

Hi everyone. We have been doing some decorating work in my granny's house and have noticed that some of her radiators are not heating. There is a gas boiler downstairs along with a radiator in the hall, sitting room and dining room. The hall is the only rad heating. The boiler seems noisier than my own but I'm not sure if it is noisier than it should be. Upstairs there is 4 rads and 3 of these are only heating about half way up. I tried to bleed the rads upstairs starting at the 1 furthest from the boiler and it took ages for water to spray out of each although there was only a hiss sound for a few seconds. The one rad that wasn't heating just stays cold while the others heat up. The water cylinder in the hot press is warm and if you touch the pipe at the top or on the front it feels like water is bubbling through the pipes.

When I first tried bleeding the rads upstairs the rads downstairs heated up but the next time the heating came on they remained cold. I tried the same process again but they stay cold. When the heating turns on there is a lot of gurgling sounds from behind the walls were the pipes areand what sounds like water surging.There is also a lot of gurgling now and again when the rads are being bled. Is there anything more I can try myself or should I just get a plumber in to get it sorted? With it being a gas system she has does it need to be a specific type of plumber or are all plumbers gas trained?

If she does need a plumber should I turn the heating off completely? She has a couple of electric heaters so won't go without heat until it's sorted.

RebelButtMunch · 17-03-2019 4:37pm

markc1184 wrote: »

Hi everyone. We have been doing some decorating work in my granny's house and have noticed that some of her radiators are not heating. There is a gas boiler downstairs along with a radiator in the hall, sitting room and dining room. The hall is the only rad heating. The boiler seems noisier than my own but I'm not sure if it is noisier than it should be. Upstairs there is 4 rads and 3 of these are only heating about half way up. I tried to bleed the rads upstairs starting at the 1 furthest from the boiler and it took ages for water to spray out of each although there was only a hiss sound for a few seconds. The one rad that wasn't heating just stays cold while the others heat up. The water cylinder in the hot press is warm and if you touch the pipe at the top or on the front it feels like water is bubbling through the pipes.

When I first tried bleeding the rads upstairs the rads downstairs heated up but the next time the heating came on they remained cold. I tried the same process again but they stay cold. When the heating turns on there is a lot of gurgling sounds from behind the walls were the pipes areand what sounds like water surging.There is also a lot of gurgling now and again when the rads are being bled. Is there anything more I can try myself or should I just get a plumber in to get it sorted? With it being a gas system she has does it need to be a specific type of plumber or are all plumbers gas trained?

If she does need a plumber should I turn the heating off completely? She has a couple of electric heaters so won't go without heat until it's sorted.

If you let air or water out from the system you should make sure that it's refilling with water.

Is there a small tank I the attic for that?

markc1184 · 17-03-2019 4:41pm

RebelButtMunch wrote: »

If you let air or water out from the system you should make sure that it's refilling with water.

Is there a small tank I the attic for that?

Yes there is a small tank above the regular water tank. When I checked yesterday there was only about 1 inch of water in the tank. I held the ball cock until it filled about 1/3 of the way. I'm unsure really about how much should actually be in the tank. I will check again later to see if the level has changed.

RebelButtMunch · 17-03-2019 4:43pm

markc1184 wrote: »

Yes there is a small tank above the regular water tank. When I checked yesterday there was only about 1 inch of water in the tank. I held the ball cock until it filled about 1/3 of the way. I'm unsure really about how much should actually be in the tank. I will check again later to see if the level has changed.

The ballcock should regulate the level. Make sure that the level in that tank doesn't go lower than the pipes out to the rads

RebelButtMunch · 17-03-2019 4:43pm

http://www.richardgawenplumbingandheating.com/heating-systems.html

markc1184 · 19-03-2019 7:37pm

Just coming back to this. I've checked the water level in the tank in the attic again and it is still at the level I left it at. The same radiators remain cold while the others heat up. I have noticed that the pressure guage on the gas boiler is reading 0.5 which it says not to let it go under. The earliest I can get a plumber out is Friday so looks like I'll have to leave things to him. Should I turn the heating off completely?

K.Flyer · 19-03-2019 8:54pm

Turn off all the radiators except for the ones giving trouble making sure that the valves at each end of the radiators are fully open and run the heating system for about 30 mins.
That may help clear any air locks if you have one, but it is depending on how the pipework is configured.
If they heat up, leave run for a while longer and then open all the other radiators and see what happens.

markc1184 · 03-04-2019 5:46pm

Coming back to this again. I ended up getting a plumber in who sorted everything out and recommended a power flush at some stage.

My question though is in one of the spare rooms I noticed that he has left the thermostatic valve off of the radiator. Is it a case of just putting it back in place and tightening the collar onto the threads? It's a Myson valve. Can these be overtightened or mucked up in anyway?

Heating issue

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