Heating gone except in half a radiator

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West Lothian
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Running an old Apollo system in a third-floor flat. System has been knocking a lot recently so being smart I thought I'd bleed the rads. No air came out apart from rad closest to boiler, which had a ton in it. I did not realise you need to turn off the pump tho, silly me.

Today I woke up and found i had no heating and hot water is only mildly warm. The only radiator with any heat is the one closest to the boiler, and it's only hot at the top. All other radiators are almost stone cold.

What's the verdict? Airlock? Sludge? Help!
 
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I believe so, everything sounds ok in the boiler cupboard and I replaced the pump last year when the old one packed in (with the aid of a plumber friend). I hear all the right noises, boiler was repaired several months ago by a British Gas engineer who replaced the thermocouple housing (it was buckled and rusted to hell) and the controller and thermostat look and sound ok. I can only think of a blockage or airlock as the problem, but i have no idea what to look for on the boiler and no idea if it's a feed/return or single pipe system.

I keep hearing about a feed/expansion tank with bleed valve. Any sites that might cle me in on what to check or look for? My tank is crammed in a large airing cupboard since I'm in a flat, but it's 70's vintage stuff and I have no idea what to look for.
 
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Sure the pump's still working?
Can't see the relevance of feed/expansion/bleed valve right now. Air in the rads?
 
checked the pump, still seems to be working and I can hear what sounds like water moving through it. I dont believe it's a pressurised system given the age of it.

Got a few rattles and bangs last night between the boiler itself and the tanks, and I can feel the heat beneath my floor where the pipes run between the two (which is normal) so I think it's heating the water to the normal temperature. However my radiators are barely above ambient and my hot water is more tepid than hot. I bled off a little water from the radiator closest to the boiler and damn, it's like brown sauce.
 
If it's clogged with sludge and the pump is unable to circulate it, then you are likely to find the pump casing is very hot (too hot to touch, and hotter than the water going through it).

Can you see a drain cock anywhere? You could start by draining out some of the muck. If you have enough clean water to circulate, the pump will then probably start to loosen a bit more sludge. You will have to do it more than once. If you close off all rads but one, the flow will have a better chance of getting through that rad, do them one at a time. When you think you've got the loose stuff out, refill with a bottle of CH chemical cleaner (Sentinel is good) available from any plumbers merchant or DIY shed, and circulate it as described on the instructions. After draining and rinsing, refill with a bottle of corrosion inhibitor added to stop it getting worse.

The is also a treatment called Powerflushing, which brings a big pump to your house and squirts the water round hard to wash out a lot of soft sediment. It will also wash a lot of money out of your pocket and into the plumber's.
 

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