Balancing problem..

[Cowboy10]

After several months, I finally decided to put the heating on today, after much nagging from the wife.

Bottom of the front room Rad was cold, but the top hot, so removed the rad & hosed it through for sludge - there was none. I re-fitted the rad, but the problem is the same!

I had a new rad fitted in the box room above about a year ago, & the guy sorted out the balancing & said it was all OK - but the problem came back after about 3 weeks.

I noticed earlier that although the boiler was on high (Valiant Turbo Max), the box room rad was barely warm. One of the pipes going in was hot, whilst the other was cold. For some reason, the balancing valve is on the left hand side, & the Temperature valve on the right. (They aren't TRV, just regular valves).

All other rads in the house are the opposite - Balancing valve on the left, & the temp valve on the right.

Then I've noticed the front room is exactly the same, except the temperature valve is hot, but the balancing valve is cold.

The pipes are all boxed into the skirting board, so I have no idea of what pipes run where - It's a rented place too, & the landlord doesn't appear to have any idea either.

I've just fully opened the balancing valve on the bedroom rad, & everything is warm & toasty there.

But doing the same in the front room does nothing - Balancing valve fully open, or closed. Hot at the top, cold at the bottom, despite the temp valve pipe being hot.

The boiler is situated downstairs, & I believe it feeds the kitchen one first, then upstairs & Finally back downstairs to the front room.

I suspect the Front room is the last in the chain - would that make sense?

I did notice when removing the front room rad although the water was clear, there was a little excess water from the balancing valve, which was a kind of black oily water - could I have a blocked valve?

Any advice much appreciated, need to keep the wife nagging about it lol

Thanks in advance,
Lee

 

[Gasguru]

Probably find the balancing valves (the lockshield valves) are open too much nearest the boiler. Some lockshield valves are perhaps only a couple of turns from fully closed to fully open and they may only require opening an 1/8 of a turn if they're on a small rad nearest the boiler.

Be aware that many radiator valves are cheap and nasty and adjusting them can result in instant water leaks...and you landlord could charge you for sorting out his system.

Sludge in a radiator is only confirmed if you have around a 10 to 20 degree drop between the pipework AND the centre is still cold at the bottom. More than a 10 to 20 drop across the radiator is a balancing issue. An insufficient temperature drop across a rad is also a balancing problem and the flow needs to be reduced.

99% of radiator problems I see are NOT due to sludge in radiators....almost always balancing.

 

[Agile]

I've just fully opened the balancing valve on the bedroom rad, & everything is warm & toasty there.

Thanks in advance,
Lee

Don't you realise you have now upset the balancing and your landlord will now have to call a professional to rebalance it?

Hopefully he will deduct the cost from your deposit?

Tenants should never disturb heating or plumbing systems!

Tony