Hi,
I've been reading the advice issued on this forum avidly and have tried all suggestions concerning (the many) similar problems and plenty more besides. As a last resort I am posting in the hope that someone can shed light on the problem.
Firstly the layout
- 2 bed semi, 2 up 2 down with single storey extension at rear housing kitchen and bathroom
- Gas CH via back boiler (Gloworm) in living room. (Hot water completely separate water heater in kitchen)
- 2 rads upstairs, 3 downstairs (1 in bathroom)
- All rads have thermo valves apart from bathroom
- Cistern in loft with cold water riser and tap
- Pump under floor boards in living room about 2 feet from boiler
The problem
- 1 downstairs rad (in the same room as boiler) gets hot properly, bathroom does too
- All other 3 rads (2 upstairs and 1 downstairs in dining room) do not get hot. And I mean not hot at all. Completely at ambient temp, flow or return pipes not hot at all
- Last year both upstairs rads worked perfectly. However the downstairs dining room rad has never got hot since I moved in (it did used to get a tiny bit warm originally though)
- I think the rad in the lounge is the first off the circuit
- The bathroom rad is off a drop from upstairs and therefore has it's own drain cock
- I believe the boiler is working correctly (that is, stat calls for heat, boiler runs until return water is hot enough then stops. As water cools, boiler comes back on)
What I have tried already
- Bled all rads several times
- Drained whole system down twice
- Had all rads off wall and flushed through (suspecting blockage in rads). Water a little black but no sludge
- Have had lockshields and thermo valves off and blown air through return and feed pipes with a little bit of hosepipe. This blows out the drain cock after a little residual water
- Have run water (from garden) hose through return and feed pipes. This drains out of the drain cock clean water, and smooth flowing after a short gurgle
- Turned off all rads except one of the problem ones and ran system for a few hours with stat on max
All of these things have been done over a few weeks and without exception the result is identical. The living room and bathroom rad are hot (very) the others completely cold. Not even any convection heat on either of the pipes.
I am now completely out of ideas for what to try next. I first suspected air in rads, then sludge, then an air lock but feel I have investigated these and need to go to the next stage.
Any suggestions and ideas from people in the know would be very very welcome!
Cheers
Mark
I've been reading the advice issued on this forum avidly and have tried all suggestions concerning (the many) similar problems and plenty more besides. As a last resort I am posting in the hope that someone can shed light on the problem.
Firstly the layout
- 2 bed semi, 2 up 2 down with single storey extension at rear housing kitchen and bathroom
- Gas CH via back boiler (Gloworm) in living room. (Hot water completely separate water heater in kitchen)
- 2 rads upstairs, 3 downstairs (1 in bathroom)
- All rads have thermo valves apart from bathroom
- Cistern in loft with cold water riser and tap
- Pump under floor boards in living room about 2 feet from boiler
The problem
- 1 downstairs rad (in the same room as boiler) gets hot properly, bathroom does too
- All other 3 rads (2 upstairs and 1 downstairs in dining room) do not get hot. And I mean not hot at all. Completely at ambient temp, flow or return pipes not hot at all
- Last year both upstairs rads worked perfectly. However the downstairs dining room rad has never got hot since I moved in (it did used to get a tiny bit warm originally though)
- I think the rad in the lounge is the first off the circuit
- The bathroom rad is off a drop from upstairs and therefore has it's own drain cock
- I believe the boiler is working correctly (that is, stat calls for heat, boiler runs until return water is hot enough then stops. As water cools, boiler comes back on)
What I have tried already
- Bled all rads several times
- Drained whole system down twice
- Had all rads off wall and flushed through (suspecting blockage in rads). Water a little black but no sludge
- Have had lockshields and thermo valves off and blown air through return and feed pipes with a little bit of hosepipe. This blows out the drain cock after a little residual water
- Have run water (from garden) hose through return and feed pipes. This drains out of the drain cock clean water, and smooth flowing after a short gurgle
- Turned off all rads except one of the problem ones and ran system for a few hours with stat on max
All of these things have been done over a few weeks and without exception the result is identical. The living room and bathroom rad are hot (very) the others completely cold. Not even any convection heat on either of the pipes.
I am now completely out of ideas for what to try next. I first suspected air in rads, then sludge, then an air lock but feel I have investigated these and need to go to the next stage.
Any suggestions and ideas from people in the know would be very very welcome!
Cheers
Mark