Not all the radaitors are heating up.

[iqi]

I am having problems with my central heating system, some of the radiators are not warming up as the others. A friend has suggested this may need balancing as the radiators that are warming up a lot may be taking most of the heat and not passing through to others.

The radiators that are not warming up seem to have the pipe’s below getting hot but not the radiator. I have also tried taking the air out of the radiators but to no avail

Could anyone advise if balancing is the case, is it easy to do so or do I need to call out a professional, or would there be another problem.


Look forward to hearing from you.

Thanks
Iqi

 

[felix]

Do a simple test first. Turn off the hot radiators and see what happens to the cold ones. If they start heating up then balancing will help. If they don't then you have another problem.

Balancing isn't difficult. You should use a thermometer to do the job properly but your hand will do. Each radiator should have two valves on it. One of these is the one you use to turn it on and off. Make sure it's fully open. If it's a thermostatic one turn it up to maximum or, better still, remove the head. The other one is known as a lockshield valve but don't be put off by the funny name. It's just a tap with a cover on it that won't turn. Remove the cover and you can turn the spindle with a spanner - or with a knob borrowed from the other valve.

The idea is to close the lockshield valve on the hottest radiator until it feels the same as what was the second hottest. This won't happen instantly so give things time to heat up or cool down. When you have two (or more) equally hot radiators, close their valves by equal amounts until the next cold one comes up and so on. You can make small adjustments to any radiator as you go but make sure you finish with at least one lockshield valve fully open. Once you have an acceptable balance, put the covers back on.

PS: If you have a fan assisted radiator this will most likely be the one with the fully open valve. Since you can't easily get your hand on the heat exchanger, check the outflow pipe instead with the fan running.

 

[iqi]

Thanks very much Felix for your help, much appreciated - I’ll have to try this out tonight.