Heating off but one hot radiator?!

[unkle]

Something very strange!

Heating is switched off (but hot water still on) all radiators are stone cold as you'd expect - but one, the bathroom is red hot!

Any ideas?

It's an old ideal Mexico boiler that otherwise performs very well. I believe it is gravity HW and pumped CH. No room or tank stat or 2/3 way valve. But somehow heat is getting to one rad?!

 

[waterworks]

Bathroom rad probably used as a bypass.

 

[stevehayes]

a while ago i know the bathroom rad in some cases were installed on the primary flow and return to the hot water cylinder, so in summer when no heating was required in the whole house, but hot water obviously was, then there was still hot water in the bathroom.

 

[stardanny]

Bathroom radiator is tee off gravity HW pipes. It get hot when timer switch on hot water.
You could change radiator to a towel rail, keep towel warm.

In the old day, this is common for coal back boiler/coal freestanding boiler and radiator act as a heatsink.

Dan

 

[unkle]

Cheers, makes sense.

And actually the more I think about it the more sense it makes - drys the towels!!!

Assume I can just turn the rad off without causing any harm?

 

[stardanny]

Yes, no harm at all. May make hot water a little hotter.

 

[unkle]

Yes, no harm at all. May make hot water a little hotter.

Assume thats the response to turning the rad off?

Strange think is normaly thats the least hod radiator with the heating on (needs flushing I think)

 

[D_Hailsham]

It's an old ideal Mexico boiler that otherwise performs very well. I believe it is gravity HW and pumped CH. No room or tank stat or 2/3 way valve. But somehow heat is getting to one rad?!

So the only way of controlling the room temperature and HW temperature is by turning the boiler stat up and down ?

It would be worthwhile converting to a C-plan, shown below, unless you intend replacing the boiler very soon.


View media item 73 View media item 827

 

[unkle]

You are correct!!

I did post about that a week or so ago, I will be adding a room & tank stat c-plan stylee!

I'm becoming more confident with plumbing, yet to tackle much by way of electrics (usual lights/sockets changes etc) to any great extent.

I have the original boiler/programmer installation manuals and who ever installed it has kindly changed the diagram to show where he wired due to no room stat (live wire goes straight to CH Live from pump rather than via room stat). Adding the tank stat seems to complicate matters as a whole new terminal block added!

Thats said the boiler is circa 25 years old - appears to work perfectly as installed (i.e. no stats) so in a way am loathe to replace it but know that at some point the old girl will die...

In 1995 I bought a brand new house - from about 1999 onwards the boiler was no end of trouble.

It appears the old saying............"they don't make them like they used to" again!