only one radiator working?

wallofbeans

all okay with water tanks. water in them and ballcocks working perfectly on both.

I'm convinced its air in the pipes but dont have a clue how to figure out where the blockage is and how to clear it. Could it be that?

keystone

david39 wrote: »

I'm not a central heating expert but have you checked the water pressure level in your system? .........................There's usually a guage on the boiler somewhere (you'll probably need to remove an inspection panel or the casing to reveal it).

Norman_Castle wrote: »

...............I am no expert but I think if the pressure is too low or high the boiler will switch off and therefore not heat any of the radiators.

For the record the Optia HE 15 is not a combi. Its was made made by Ideal (but now discontinued) specifically for a building supplies company called XXXXXbase.

I agree with checking that the F&E tank has water in it first. (edit: You have whilst I was writing) The "Clunking" sounds like you have an airlock which wasn't cleared when the new rad was installed. Get the guy back who did the rad change if only six months ago to give the system the once over. If he's any good or values his customer relationships he'll do that FOC for you but if you need new parts (like a replacement 3 port valve as identified by Macman) the he'll be within his rights to charge you for the labour/material costs concerned with that activity.

Cheers

keystone

wallofbeans wrote: »

I'm convinced its air in the pipes but dont have a clue how to figure out where the blockage is and how to clear it. Could it be that?

I have a gut feeling that an airlock is your problem as posted above. Get the guy back who did the rad as above.

Cheers

wallofbeans

there's no way to fix the airlock problem myself? im not going to be able to get anyone here til monday now so it would be helpful if i could fix it myself...

keystone

Assuming it is an airlock. Thats my gut feel from what you've described and that also what you've self diagnosed. However, I cannot be certain that this is the case at a distance and neither can you. Have you tried ringing the guy who did the rad for you to see if he can spare an hour this evening or tomorrow morning?

Cheers

wallofbeans

the guy who did it is my step dad (and a plumber).. he lives a long way from us and is away until next week anyway..

keystone

Oh! Its likely that he won't mind if you have a play then. Rashly, then, lets assume it is air. This can be addressed top down or bottom up. Try this first. Leave the supply connected to the F&E tank so that it will continue to fill. Attach a hose to your draincock (somewhere at the lowest point of the system) and open it slowly to let a small amount of water out and let it continue to flow. Listen for any "tinkling" noises in the pipework. If you hear that it will come from water getting past a trapped bubble of air. Allow the water to continue to flow out of the hose (into the garden of course) and see if it shifts any air. If you hear any of the rads bubbling thats where it has ended up.

See how you get on with that for the time being.

Cheers

gas4you

Optia is Plumb Center own brand. I've fitted a couple for customers who have had their boiler go tits up in the middle of their house sale.

Could be the fitter didn't set the 3 port valve to manual when he filled the system up.

Turn off HW, turn off boiler, turn on ch, turn off all rads except one. Close any bypass valve and set pump to max speed. Hopefully this should push the air lock into the only rad left on.

You hopefully will hear a satisfying gurgling.

If this works, do it with all other rads, then HW circuit.

If you succeed, remember to set any bypass valve etc back to how you found it.

SplanK

wo wo wo before going down the airlock route and messing around with 3 port valves and what not... you are all forgetting to ask one question which catches most systems out after they have been sitting for a while...

Thermostatic valves.... does the system have any?? They are usualy quite large and may look like this:


If so, then even if they are fully on - sometimes the valve inside can get jammed - result - no hot water can get through the rad...

you can remove the top part of the valve to show a pin like this:





i would try pushing down on it first to see if it does depress. if not and its quite low - then you may need to get something to pull the pin out a touch - DO NOT APPLY TOO MUCH FORCE as you could end up causing more damage or pulling the pin out (may result in leak!).

In my case, I have a valve pin that seems fine and moves up and down - however something inside has jammed resuting in it staying shut - i find bouncing the pin up and down for a minute or 2 frees it up enough to allow water to run through..

It also help to do one rad at a time. Turn all the rads off bar one and work on that until it works - that way the full pressure of the pump should help clear things through if needed.

wallofbeans

only the new one (thats working) has a valve that looks like that. All the rest are quite old and simple.

SplanK wrote: »

wo wo wo before going down the airlock route and messing around with 3 port valves and what not... you are all forgetting to ask one question which catches most systems out after they have been sitting for a while...

Thermostatic valves.... does the system have any?? They are usualy quite large and may look like this:


If so, then even if they are fully on - sometimes the valve inside can get jammed - result - no hot water can get through the rad...

you can remove the top part of the valve to show a pin like this:





i would try pushing down on it first to see if it does depress. if not and its quite low - then you may need to get something to pull the pin out a touch - DO NOT APPLY TOO MUCH FORCE as you could end up causing more damage or pulling the pin out (may result in leak!).

In my case, I have a valve pin that seems fine and moves up and down - however something inside has jammed resuting in it staying shut - i find bouncing the pin up and down for a minute or 2 frees it up enough to allow water to run through..

It also help to do one rad at a time. Turn all the rads off bar one and work on that until it works - that way the full pressure of the pump should help clear things through if needed.