Rad's not heating up

NiceGuyG

Hi all I think I broke my central heating system.

I wanted to remove my bathroom rad so drained down the system. Opening the first floor values first to let the air escape and then the ground floor values.

I removed the rad and capped it off.

I then closed all the values and turned on the heating. I opened all the air values on the ground and the first floor in no particular order.

Everything seems to be going fine as I have no leaks however the radiators are not heating up. None of them are hot.

The boiler pilot light is on so I am not really sure what’s wrong. I have bleed all the radiators so am stuck.


If anyone could offer any suggestions I would be thankful


Cheers

G.

ellice

have you pressed reset button on boiler

ellice

plumbing partner said have you refilled boiler above 1 bar im assuming its a combi you did not say .as boiler will not fire without enough water

ormus

you may still have air in the system.
how did you cap off the pipes? think you really should have either removed
them completely or joined the pipes together.

NiceGuyG

Its an old gravity fed system. I just realsied the hot water is not working either. Come to think of it, it was not worked since the change of heaters.

I have checked the fuse and thats OK, the pump is spinning and the pilot light is on.

ellice

you are going to have to re-install radiator . as by blanking of the rad you have broken the flow to the return .that is why its not working .if you really dont want rad back on you need to connect the flow to the return..water flows and returns to boiler ?are you with this .partner is plumber

NiceGuyG

I have drained down the system and refilled again. This time when bleeding, I let loads of water gush out until the water went from spiting (air mixed in) to a steady flow. Then closed up and all heaters and HW have began working. Heaters are cold at bottom though (??).

I am going to fit the return value tomorrow.

kenshaz

Air in the system drawn in from the header tank,did you open your motorised valve manually when you refilled the system.I assume that you vented as you filled .
Try forcing in pressurized water via your out-side tap into the feed from the header to the heating system,when the water comes out of the expansion pipe ,the system should be OK.
If you look into your small header tank you will see an out-let at the bottom of the tank ,push your hose into it as far as it will go.
Have you also bled your pump ,using a coin in the centre of the pump.
Also look for vents in the loft and around your pump and cylinder.
Try shutting down some of your rads to concentrate and move the air .
Connect a hose from an external drain.

NiceGuyG

Just to understand. I should get the outside hose which runs of the mains and push it into the cold water storage tank (output pipe).
I should then do the same for the small header tank.

The expansion pipe is the pipe hanging into the small header which looks like an overflow.

I will do that in the morning. One of my friends advised me that the bottom of the heaters will not get warm if there is a build up of gunk in them. I was advised to pour some special liquid you can buy down in the small header feed.


At this stage can I also thank every single one of you for helping me with this issue. Last week I did’nt even have a clue what a header tank was but was so motivated by this part of the MSE site that I managed to change my own rad!!!!

THANKS!!!

Aubs

I think you're just about there...
IMG HERE: If linking isn't allowed from that site (or this!), then the full page link is HERE

From what I know (limited!!), if you look at the "Header Tank" in the image, it provides the pressure for the radiators ONLY... The "Water Tank" basically fills up the hot water storage tank to make sure there is enough pressure in that, for your hot water taps.

In this case, it is the rads you need to re-fill/pressurise. From what others have posted, you need to (excuse the phrase) *blast* your way through the air that is still in the rads. Personally, I'd use the main rad (probably downstairs and you'll probably find this one is colder than the rest) and leave it to drain (not for ever, but for a short time), while you're stood next to it... if need be do the same to one (or all downstairs and) upstairs.

This is only my own opinion, I can't guarantee it will work, but it's the quick try!

FYI, the info provided by other posters suggest you put a "high pressure hose" (from any tap, not necessarily the outside tap) and basically push the current water (and air that you're trying to get rid of) through the system. You'd accomplish this by putting the hose to the pipe at the bottom of the "Header Tank" in the diagram. When air and then water comes through the top pipe (bit like a toilet where the float turns off the water) then you should know that it is air free...

~~!Post cut short because I've been caught by my other half!~~

Worth a try anyway, before you go to extravagant lengths!

Aubs

kenshaz

NOT THE storage tank,THE SMALL HEADER TANK ONLY,sorry for shouting.