Radiator hot at top and cold at bottom

holly876dog

Any help please? Some of the radiators are hot at top and cold at bottom. I've read that they maybe sludge in them but the house is <1yr old and new CH system. It cannot be air as it would be other way round? All of them are on ground floor if thats any help.
Thx
xxx

jamesebaker

I presume you have bled them just in case.
If not it sounds like they could be filled with gunge and need to be flushed out although I'm not a plumber!

trigger_mike

if your house is only 1 year old get in touch with the builders that build it they should look at it under the NHBC warranty, look at https://www.nhbc.co.uk this might help

bruce2110

check with your house builder, as trigger_mike says, if it is a new house, under your NHBC contract, you should a have a two year trade recall contract and you should be able to contact the builder to arrange for the installing plumbing company to return and rectify the rads that don't work!

ffym

Classic symptoms of sludge alright. If you fancy doing it yourself you can buy sludge remover fairly cheaply e.g. from Toolstation or Screwfix (.com). You'll also need a small funnel to pour it into the rad and a length of hose to drain the water through when you flush it all out.
One problem with sludge remover is that it will find any leaks and make them worse, but as you say the system is fairly new it should cope.

catford

Have you checked that the valves are open both ends to let the water circulate freely? It could be an air lock or the like . Try posting on DIY not com-i've had good help from the site and posters.

calleyw

catford wrote:

Have you checked that the valves are open both ends to let the water circulate freely?

I agree with this as I had a new system put in a few months ago and found that one radiator did not come on at all. And the central heating company came out today and the first thing he did was to take off the blanked end off and twiddle it.

As the system is so new it would/should have had an inhibtor put in and we where told once every 3 years to renew it. So I doubt it very much it is sludge.

Also the radiators down stairs where not getting as hot as they should be and that is due to using the old pipes and the bore was not big enough to swish water around as well as the new stuff.

So I think it is a case of getting the balance right.

Hope that helps.


Yours

Calley

alanobrien

holly876dog wrote:

Any help please? Some of the radiators are hot at top and cold at bottom. I've read that they maybe sludge in them but the house is <1yr old and new CH system. It cannot be air as it would be other way round? All of them are on ground floor if thats any help.
Thx
xxx

I would be very suprised if this was sludge in a new system <1 year old, and if it was i would be a more than a tad concerned.

I suspect the system was never balanced properly, if it isnt then these symptoms can occur, i had 2 rads in a similar condition after more cleaning/flushing than i care to mention.

They were fine after i re-balanced the system.