Radiator feed appears blocked

[slothook]

Firstly, I'm not a plumber so excuse the poor terminology / descriptions

I have an upstairs radiator which over time gradually ceased to heat up.

firstly, I 'poped' the thermostat pin which I have done successfully on other radiators but this didn't solve the problem.

Then I removed the rad and flushed it through, still didn't solve.

Then I was told to disconnect the thermostat from the radiator on the feed in side and open the valve and run it into a bucket with a view to flushing the pipe through a bit. This I did but nothing but a dribble came through.

Taking a deep breath I disconnected the valve from the pipe which i believe should have resulted in me getting soaked and upsetting the wife as the system was on but again nothing came out.

my questions:

As every other radiator is working fine am I right in thinking I have a blockage in the 'feed in' pipe somewhere close to this radiator. (can't comment on the piping system / layout in use other than its a horrible 8mm bore)

If you are in agreement its probably a blocked pipe I was going to drop some flushy stuff into the system, follow instructions and see if that clears it.... but....

Is it worth when I actually come to manually flushing it, if its still blocked to drop a hose onto the 'feed in' pipe where it would have connected to the rad and push some water back up the pipe to hopefully clear the blockage- or would this potentially cause me more problems than it would solve.

plus... if this is an option, providing I have the drain tape open downstairs, will the water I send into the system find its way out there or should I strategically place the wife in the loft at the same time watching the header tank so she could scream at me as it fills up (basically not sure where the water goes that I would send into the system, out the drain valve downstairs or headertank)

Or does anyone else have a plan B which doesn't involve having it professionally flushed as thats my plan C

all I can say about the system is that I have gloworm boiler downstairs and a hot water tank up in the loft (told you I was technical)

Any suggestions / advice appreciated - Thanks in anticipation

 

[45yearsagasman]

If its 8mm then more than likely you have a manifold somewhere under floorboards.Connecting the blocked pipe to mains pressure water and giving it a careful blast may help,but you may need to access the manifold to unblock it properly.

 

[slothook]

Many thanks, I'll hunt out the manifold first and see if that is where the problem sits

 

[DavidDaft]

a magnet can be very handy

 

[JohnD]

if there is no flow at all, the chemical will not circulate through the pipe to get to the blockage.

If there is any flow, Sentinel X400 which is a non-acidic, mild cleaner would be my first attempt. Just run it as normal for 4 weeks before draining and rinsing. You will know it is starting to work if the circulating water goes jet black with loosened sediment.

If no flow, locate the blockage using a magnet (it will stick to the copper pipe where there is a lump of iron oxide) and cut out and replace the blocked section. It might be at a tee or elbow.

 

[tamz]

Just cut it out and replace it. It will take all of an hour tops even for a diyer. Once it is replaced stick some X800 in and leave it to circulate for a week or so then drain and flush with clean water then refill adding X100

What is the point of faffing around when it is easily solved.