Need Help with Very Old Boiler System

[Gonavy0806]

My house was built in 1930 - I'm not sure how old the boiler system is, but based on my research trying to get some questions answered, I think it must be quite old since I don't have all the bells and whistles in the equipment on my system.

I have a New Yorker Boiler, model FR. It looks like an FR-122 except for that there are no digital controls, so maybe the earlier model of that? Coming from the top of the boiler is a single pipe which then tees to provide hot water to two loops.

The first loop provides heat to my 8 radiators in the house. The second loop provides heat to 3 floor radiators in a room that was added on around 30 years ago. Each loop has its own thermostat-controlled valve. For the return piping, both loops come back together, then travels through an old Grundfos circ pump and back to the boiler.

I recently had the 8 radiators sandblasted and powder-coated and reinstalled them in the house. I mention that because there is a good chance I have multiple problems in front of me. But, here are my current symptoms:

1 - If the main part of the house is cold enough so that the thermostat relay is energized, I can trace hot water from the boiler to the first loop, to the attic, down the wall, through all 4 radiators upstairs and to the 4 radiators downstairs. However, the heat in the downstairs radiators stop about halfway down the radiator and the outlet pipe is not hot. Similarly, the return piping to the boiler is not hot either (both in the crawl space and directly next to the boiler). Additionally, the add-on room floor radiators do not have any heat whatsoever.
2 - If the main part of the house is warm enough so that its thermostat relay is not energized, the add-on room starts to warm up. The return water into the boiler is at least warm, but isn't hot and I have been in this condition for about 4 hours. It is uncommon for me to be in this scenario for too long since the main part of the house cools off so I find myself back in the first situation.

Maybe my circ pump isn't working? Maybe it's airbound? I'm really at a loss... I have much more information to offer if it will be valuable, but I can sure use some help heading down the right track.

Thank you,
Brian

 

[joe-90]

When you took the rads off to sandblast them you might find that all the sludge that was sitting on the walls has slumped down and is now blocking the water flow (unless of course you had them cleaned out at the same time and I'm talking bollex )

 

[Gonavy0806]

I suppose there could definitely be some sludge in there. The only work done was on the outside (sandblast/powdercoat/paint) and I left the old union nuts on the radiators which were either taped or bagged so that there was no paint residue on the union nuts.

When I got everything back, I replaced all the unions and installed new isolation valves for all 8 radiators.

I just went to "drain" the radiator to see what came out of the system and there is a good stream of clean water flow from the drain valve. If there is sludge in the system that needs to be removed, how can I do that?

I've heard about injecting some chemical cleaning agent as well, but I'm not sure where to add that either.

Thank you so much for any and all help!
Brian

 

[kevplumb]

depends on your system how you clean it

try home depot or lowes for cleaners

you could try closing the rads off then opening the valves one at a time

 

[joe-90]

depends on your system how you clean it

try home depot or lowes for cleaners

you could try closing the rads off then opening the valves one at a time

So I say it needs cleaning so you chuck insults around then suggest shops where he can get cleaners? I guess it's clear who the real dolt is eh?

Moderator
Abuse removed from quote.

 

[Gonavy0806]

depends on your system how you clean it


try home depot or lowes for cleaners

you could try closing the rads off then opening the valves one at a time

If I completely isolate a rad - is it true that everything downstream of that rad is isolated as well? Or is there some bypass piping in the wall that will continue hot water flow past an isolated rad?

Are you suggesting that a cleaning agent is a step I should take? I can definitely look into that, but I would have guessed my issue was more "serious" like a pump problem or airbound system or something.

Thanks again,
Brian

 

[Gonavy0806]

So, my main house thermostat just kicked on again, and sure enough my lower story radiators are starting to get hot (and they get hot in a short period of time - 15 minutes or less), so I'm guessing the circ pump may be working fine. But there still seems to be some clog (air or sludge or something)...

And, for some reason it stops allowing flow to the floor radiator loop even though that thermostat relay is still energized.

Brian

 

[Gonavy0806]

Any other advice - I'd appreciate it!