Radiator Balancing

[eddieriff]

Radiators have been playing up so drained and flushed a couple. Now having trouble with the balancing.
Followed all the usual instructions but downstairs being starved of hot water and are "just warm". As the sitting room is one of these "just warm" radiators, Mrs Riff is not best pleased.
The lockshields on the hot radiators upstairs are just about closed but they are still too hot to touch. It appears that the excess hot water is not being diverted downstairs to downstairs. Any thoughts?

 

[buck51]

Air locked

 

[eddieriff]

Air locked

Nope, bled them all.

 

[buck51]

Typical response from a DIYer who thinks they know it all !!!!!!

Just because you have water and no air coming out of the vents does not mean it is not air locked!!!!

And to be honest I cant be A*sed to tell you how to fix it go and have a read of the FAQs Mr know it all.

 

[kbdiy]

Just to give you a bit more of a clue, what he means is there is an airlock elsewhere in the pipework feeding those rads. Hard to give specifics without knowing how the pipes run.

 

[eddieriff]

Just to give you a bit more of a clue, what he means is there is an airlock elsewhere in the pipework feeding those rads. Hard to give specifics without knowing how the pipes run.

Cheers, appreciated.

 

[eddieriff]

Typical response from a DIYer who thinks they know it all !!!!!!

Just because you have water and no air coming out of the vents does not mean it is not air locked!!!!

And to be honest I cant be A*sed to tell you how to fix it go and have a read of the FAQs Mr know it all.

I am far from it a DIY know it all, just assumed that you meant the radiators, an easy mistake to make. Hopefully, you won't be ar*ed to return to my thread. Comments like yours I don't need.

 

[blearyboy]

bleed the pump

 

[selmar47]

Typical response from a DIYer who thinks they know it all !!!!!!

Just because you have water and no air coming out of the vents does not mean it is not air locked!!!!

And to be honest I cant be A*sed to tell you how to fix it go and have a read of the FAQs Mr know it all.[/quote

I think we could do without nasty comments on this website please! Not everyone knows everything-even you!

 

[eddieriff]

Hi there, Mr doesn't know it all and is not to proud to ask has returned. Still having problems with my system. Been a long haul to try to get the system balanced but it's just about done. I'm having a problem with the largest radiatior (typical) in the house. I've bled everything I possibly can, including the pump, had a good flush through with Sentinel 400 and is running now. The problem I have now is that this radiator is a doubler, the rear panel heats up hot, not as hot as it used to though but the front panel is only warm. I'm just wondering if this could mean that the Thermostatic Valve is not working or, as the radiator is at the end of the line so to speak, the pump is not working hard enough (can I turn it up) and possibly on its way out?

Any helpful suggestions will be most welcome.

Ian

 

[Armo74]

Have you tried turning off all the other rads to see if it gets hot?
What speed is your pump set at?
Do you have to constantly bleed your rads?
Was it ok before you drained down and re-filled?

 

[Bilabong007]

Hi,

I had an old round top radiator that had 2 bleed valves. The one for the back panel was visible and obvious, the one for the front panel wasn't so.

Just a thought

Graeme

 

[eddieriff]

Have you tried turning off all the other rads to see if it gets hot?
What speed is your pump set at?
Do you have to constantly bleed your rads?
Was it ok before you drained down and re-filled?

All of the upstairs lockshields are open a quarter turn.
The two downstairs radiators lockshields are fully open.
Turned down all of the upstairs radiators and the sitting room (large radiator) is a little hotter, but not much. The back panel is just about twice as hot as the front.

Can't tell you what speed the pump is set as I haven't been able to look at it yet. It's a Grundfoss UPS 15-50 so I'll have to get a diagram of it and ascertain where it's at, the control that is, I know where the pump is.

No, bleeding the radiators is not necessary, apart from when I've drained and re-filled them.

Double radiator was OK before draining. I reckon there's a bit sludge left in the front panel. I was hoping that the Sentinel 400 would shift it.

I've ruled out the thermostaic valve not working properly.

 

[eddieriff]

Hi,

I had an old round top radiator that had 2 bleed valves. The one for the back panel was visible and obvious, the one for the front panel wasn't so.

Just a thought

Graeme

Both bleed valves are next to each other, I have looked for an additional one just in case but there's not.

 

[kbdiy]

Have the rad off the wall, take it outside and flush through with a hosepipe. That's the only sure way, in my view, to get rid of any sludge.

Make sure you turn it upside down, then upright and give it a good purge until the water is running clear. Double-check the bleed valves are clear and working before you refit it. Not unknown for bits of cr@p to lodge themselves around the valves and stop it being bled.