Fitted the wrong way round?

[richrolo]

Hi we moved into a new house about 12 months ago and have had problems with 2 of the radiators. These are in the over garage extension, which are one in the bedroom and one in the en suite. They are the last 2 radiators on the system. On investigation tonight and rebalancing the rads I have got them warm. One thing that is apparent is that the pipes on the lock shield sides are very hot and the ones on the trv side are stone cold. All the other rads upstairs are hot on the trv side and slightly cooler on the lock shield side. Is it that they have fitted the pipes in the 2 end rads the wrong way around or could there be a blockage somewhere before the last 2 rads? Or something else?

Any ideas would be gratefully received.

Thanks R

 

[Dan Robinson]

Depends on the valves and/or the differential pressure.

Post a close up picture of the valve bodies so we can see if they are bidirectional.

 

[Newboy]

Or TRV pins stuck?

 

[Dan Robinson]

Or they've tapped off another 15mm run feeding adjacent rads and are asking too much of the pipe work,


A classic builder's bodge.

 

[JBPHS]

If TRV pins are ok, and pipework to rads are correct, I would swap the TRV to the end where the heat flows into the rads. Que smart Alec's stating that bi-directional valves work on either end, agreed they do when new. As the TRV's age, I've found that they tend to loose that bi-directional functionality. I always prefer the water to enter the TRV in the end opposite to the TRV head. If the TRV is installed with the head in the upright position, I fit them on the Flow into the rad. If the TRV head is installed horizontally then I fit them on the Return. I usually install Yorkshire Mistral TRV's mainly due to their substantial pin. Installing TRV's like this also eliminates them 'hammering' whilst opening or closing.

James.

 

[swbjackson]

If it's an extension chances are the two rads have just been tacked on the end of the system with no thought for design. It's a common theme when radiators have been added in an extension.

 

[richrolo]

Thanks for all the responses. I have followed the pipes up to the point they leave the extension (straight forwards as it's runs lagged along the garage ceiling. One pipe (return pipe)is definitely warmer at all points than the other. Back into the existing house I have put my hand on the pipes that go into the other upstairs rads. The trv end pipes are all warmer than the lockshield ends.