Radiators not heating up

330d

I have 14 radiators in my house and only really 2 are fully heating up as i expect them to. The rest are warm.

So far I have bled all the radiators which has made no difference and both the valves on all the heaters are fully open.

The one thing ive noticed is that the pipe going into the heaters are quite hot, actually much hotter than the heater. So its really strange to why the heater is not hot.

I have had a search on google and it seems the system may need balancing. Is this the case or what else could the problem be?

closed

trv's fitted?

if the pipe's hot, and the radiator's not, and bled, then it's either one of the valves or blockage, but a blockage on 12 radiators would be unusual.

330d

No trv's fitted, just standard on off flow valves which are fully open.

330d

Any ideas on a fix?

Thanks

MoneyMate

It it a Combi boiler ? if so you need to repressurise the system again.

paddyrg

Have you bled all the radiators? Are they heating up at the top, bottom? If cool at the top but hot lower likely air which you can bleed with a radiator key, if warm at the top but cool patches lower maybe it's sludge of some sort?

jayyar66

Have the radiators always been like this? Is it something that's started recently? Has any work been carried out on the system? The 2 rads that seem to work ok, where are they in the system in relation to the boiler/pump?

330d

MoneyMate wrote: »

It it a Combi boiler ? if so you need to repressurise the system again.

Yes its a combi boiler. The boiler pressure gauge is showing 1.5 bar which i believe is ok. Is this correct?

paddyrg wrote: »

Have you bled all the radiators? Are they heating up at the top, bottom? If cool at the top but hot lower likely air which you can bleed with a radiator key, if warm at the top but cool patches lower maybe it's sludge of some sort?

Ive bled most if the heaters, not all of them. I wouldnt say the heaters are cool, just warm. But far cooler than the flow pipe which is hot.

jayyar66 wrote: »

Have the radiators always been like this? Is it something that's started recently? Has any work been carried out on the system? The 2 rads that seem to work ok, where are they in the system in relation to the boiler/pump?

Its been like that since i moved in a few years ago. I know I have a problem as two heaters are boiling hot!! The others have hot flow pipes leading to the heaters but the heaters are not hot.

The two that are hot are pretty close to the boiler, whether they are the closest im not sure as i dont know how the pipes are routed.

MoneyMate

1.5 Bar sounds good, if you turn all rads off but one does it get hot fairly quick ? Sounds like the pump if no air in system, does the boiler fire up ok and stay on till water is hot.

330d

Boiler fires up ok, get hot water in taps without any issues.

Does the system need balancing?

What i find strange is the flow pipes are hot.

jayyar66

From what you have said, it's most likely that the system needs to be balanced. You may end up calling someone in to do it but in the meantime it would be worth an hour of your time to do this:
With the heating on: Completely close ONE valve on each rad, then open that valve 1 turn. Wait about 5 - 10 mins. Check all the rads for heat. If the rad feels too hot, the close it's valve about an eighth of a turn, if it feels too cool the open its valve about an eighth of a turn. Only adjust in small increments and remember to wait for a few minutes for the temperature of the rads to stabilise. Good luck