Radiator Help

[Fish]

I think I have air in my heating system!

Combi boiler with multiple rads all over the house and a towel rail in the bathroom. Some are not as hot at the top and rail is deffo not as hot as it used to be.

Also, my heating isn't coming on now automatically in the morning as the pressure has dropped and I have to flick the reset switch for it to fire up!

Is it just a case of bleeding the rad/s?

I can only see 1 drain on a rad in the hall, all the others don't have one!

Any advise, pointers welcome.

Thank you

 

[bigslice]

how many levels does your house have and what level is the boiler on?

 

[Fish]

how many levels does your house have and what level is the boiler on?

2 levels and the boiler is in the back upstairs bedroom.

 

[bigslice]

turn off the heating, go to where you 'top up the boiler' and top up till its at 1 bar. turn all radiators thermostats to full,
go down stairs and air radiators till water come out. go back to boiler top up till 1 bar and repeat upstairs.

 

[Fish]

turn off the heating, go to where you 'top up the boiler' and top up till its at 1 bar. turn all radiators thermostats to full,
go down stairs and air radiators till water come out. go back to boiler top up till 1 bar and repeat upstairs.

So to recap in simple-man terms.

Turn off heating (does it need to cool down?)

Make sure the pressure is at 1 bar.

Then turn all radiators to full.

The single radiator in the hall has the pipe underneath it with the only drain nozzle, put a pipe on that and open it until only water comes out.

Close tap, put pressure back to 1 bar.

No nozzle on any rads upstairs so does it not all drain to the bottom one in the hall?

 

[bigslice]

let the heating cool down, before topping up. when you air the rads its at the top of the radiator to the side and sometimes on the back. GET a radiator bleed key.
DONT use the drain at bottom of rad cos that will drain the system.
http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rc...00VXItsf0vOLLPEyM3ZhmPg&bvm=bv.42965579,d.d2k

 

[Fish]

let the heating cool down, before topping up. when you air the rads its at the top of the radiator to the side and sometimes on the back. GET a radiator bleed key.
DONT use the drain at bottom of rad cos that will drain the system.
http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rc...00VXItsf0vOLLPEyM3ZhmPg&bvm=bv.42965579,d.d2k

OK thanks, I understand better now and have seen all the keys at the top end of each rad.

I suppose the principle is that you undo each key on each individual rad and the water rises pushing the air out?

I was wrongly concentrating on that drain nozzle!

Thank you, off out to get a rad key and will report back later

 

[williamalex1]

Be careful, don't loosen the bleeder too much, as its usually really black dirty water that comes out after the air . Hold a old rag or towel where the air is coming out with one hand . With your other hand be ready to shut the bleeder as soon as you get water. It could get messy if your not careful .

 

[Fish]

Be careful, don't loosen the bleeder too much, as its usually really black dirty water that comes out after the air . Hold a old rag or towel where the air is coming out with one hand . With your other hand be ready to shut the bleeder as soon as you get water. It could get messy if your not careful .

OK thanks, the little bleeders a bugger then

 

[williamalex1]

OK thanks, the little bleeders a bugger then

that was another thread

 

[sev112]

Ok where we used to live, we had bleed valves where you inserted the rad key and hey presto

On the rads in our 10year old house, however, we have what look like standard flat screw heads ?!

Do I just loosen them with a flat screwdriver ?


Separate point
1 bar - have no idea where there is a pressure gauge.
Top of water ????
Boiler is in big white boom with the buttons on the outside and a big sign saying don't open?

Hints appreciated

 

[Deleted member 1740]

Ok where we used to live, we had bleed valves where you inserted the rad key and hey presto

On the rads in our 10year old house, however, we have what look like standard flat screw heads ?!

Do I just loosen them with a flat screwdriver ?


Separate point
1 bar - have no idea where there is a pressure gauge.
Top of water ????
Boiler is in big white boom with the buttons on the outside and a big sign saying don't open?


Hints appreciated

Sev, a flat headed screwdriver will do the trick.

Look underneath the boiler some times the pressure gauge is there.

What make is it?

 

[Slime]

Find out what make it is, then go online & download a manual.
Re-filling a boiler to 1 or 1.5 bar should be straightforward once you have found the filling loop, usually underneath the boiler.
If unsure, DON'T GUESS, not this time of night anyway. Wait until the morning when plumbers merchants will be open or maybe you can phone a local plumber for a bit of advice.
Good luck,

Slime.

 

[Fish]

Thanks for all the help earlier, I went around all the rads with a key and bled them.

Most were OK and it was water immediately but 1 upstairs was hissing and spluttering for ages!

Everything came on, on its own this morning so the pressure held, the only thing I couldn't bleed was the vertical towel rail in the bathroom, that didn't have a rad key but does have a nut at the top on one side with one of those split spade type screws going into it, I suppose that may be the bleed?

The rail is the only rad that isn't hot right to the top and you can hear water trickling inside so I guess that still has air in it!

 

[bigslice]

use a flat screwdriver

 

[mikevet]

Sometimes happens to me that bleeding the rads is not sufficient. It can also be that the ballcock on the little header tank (probably in the roof) has stuck and the water in the system has slowly evaporated so that the header tank is empty. If the water gets too low it can result in the heating system pump suddenly becoming very noisy. Release the stuck ball cock and the system fills up again.

 

[Whereditgo]

That would be on an 'open vented' system, with a feed and expansion tank in the loft. If the system has a 'cold fill loop' then it's a pressurised system and needs filling to 1 bar when cold. The pressure will then rise as the system heats up.

The cold fill loop should be disconnected after topping up to comply with water regulations.