Help Bleeding/Air problem?

[Churchyoil]

Morning all,

I have recently moved into my first house and have been having problems with my central heating. My current oil setup is a floor standing boiler in an outside building and a cold tank in the loft and a hot water tank and red pressure tank in the cupboard. From what i can tell i have two pipes go from the outbuilding to the loft then goes off to the tank cupboard. When i moved in i noticed that the pressure gauge on the red vessel was reading 0 so i tryed to use the external fill tap to add pressure but it didnt work. After replacing a blocked pressure "grey" valve i then filled the heating system back up and bled all my radiators. When the heating is on they are lovely and hot all over but this is where my problem starts. Now and again i get a loud noise from the boiler/pump which sound like the pump is loosing water and is trying to move air and you hear bubbles in the pipes now and again.

How can i drain this air in the system as when i bleed the rads all i get is pressured water no air... therefore i think the air is in the loft part.

Thanks in advance any help will be greatful.

Oh i also had the system running for a hour a day for around a week before i noticed the red vessel had no pressure.

 

[Churchyoil]

anyone have any ideas thanks

 

[calorific]

anyone have any ideas thanks

Give it time. Not all the pros on here work on oil systems and those that do may well be out at work. You'll get help soon enough

 

[calorific]

anyone have any ideas thanks

Give it time. Not all the pros on here work on oil systems and those that do may well be out at work. You'll get help soon enough

In the meantime it may well be worth your while getting a few photos uploaded and the name/model number of the boiler.

 

[Churchyoil]

Thanks for your advice ill get some photos and info about the pump and boiler.

 

[Churchyoil]

I have just found this in the loft so i started the boiler for c/h and the right pipe i believe is the supply to rads from boiler as it became hotter before the one on the left which i think maybe the return.

What are the bits on the top the one on the right says 10bar 115degree on the top.

 

[jackthom]

I have just found this in the loft so i started the boiler for c/h and the right pipe i believe is the supply to rads from boiler as it became hotter before the one on the left which i think maybe the return.

What are the bits on the top the one on the right says 10bar 115degree on the top.

They're just what you're looking for to bleed the air out of what is probably the highest point in the heating system.

The one on the right is an automatic bleed valve which could possibly be stuck or blocked.

With the heating turned off, I'd be inclined to carefully loosen the knurled screw on top of the left hand valve to see if any air comes out.

Then the right hand unit could be loosened at it's lower connector to try and manually bleed that pipe.

 

[Churchyoil]

ah i may of made a mistake i have undone the black fitting on the top of the right hand valve and air pressure was relised. Not sure if i have damaged that valve or released the air in my system.

Whats the 10bar 115 degree mean am i right in saying thats its the operating air pressure but surly thats to high for that valve.

 

[Churchyoil]

the little black cap on the r/h pipe was finger tight so i unscrewed that and air pressure was released. Not sure if i have damaged a preset value in the valve or released air out of my system

 

[jackthom]

I think the 10bar and 115 degrees are just the absolute maximum working pressure and temperature for the valve.

I'm reasonably sure the black cap isn't an adjustment so don't worry about unscrewing it. If air came out when it was loosened it probably means the vent hole in the cap is blocked or the float valve is stuck up against it when it's screwed back in.

 

[Churchyoil]

ok thanks, im just wondering that if this is an automatic air valve how come it had pressure behind it or that i seem to have air in my system because of the pump hunting and air in pipe sounds when my rads work fine. Isnt this valve ment to remove the air from my system or am i getting confused. Thanks

 

[Churchyoil]

I think the 10bar and 115 degrees are just the absolute maximum working pressure and temperature for the valve.

I'm reasonably sure the black cap isn't an adjustment so don't worry about unscrewing it. If air came out when it was loosened it probably means the vent hole in the cap is blocked or the float valve is stuck up against it when it's screwed back in.

Whats this valve ment to do, could it be worth replacing it. Would this explain my air going through the pump causing a hunting for water sound.

 

[jackthom]

ok thanks, im just wondering that if this is an automatic air valve how come it had pressure behind it or that i seem to have air in my system because of the pump hunting and air in pipe sounds when my rads work fine. Isnt this valve ment to remove the air from my system or am i getting confused. Thanks

The valve is supposed to remove air from the system automatically but it looks like it hasn't been doing it properly.

I would try a few times, maybe over the next day or two, to remove the air yourself by unscrewing the caps at the top of both valves and see whether this fixes the gurgling in the pump.

The large screw on the front of the pump can usually also be loosened to help release air trapped inside the pump.

 

[Churchyoil]

thanks ill keep bleeding these hopefully that will remove the last of the air. Will the air effect my pump as it sounds like it will break. Thanks

 

[jackthom]

It could possibly damage the pump if left in that state for some time.

You should be able to get things running normally by bleeding those valves manually. If that does the trick you can then maybe think about replacing the automatic vent valve with a newer version. They aren't really very expensive.