Tall thin radiator not very hot, is it a duff one?

babyblooz

Hello,
We've had some radiators replaced, and one has been replaced with a designer upright one. It should give out over 4000 btu's, but it doesn't seem as hot as it should be. It has ten fins. Hubby thinks that the water coming in is very hot, but by the time it has circulated around the radiator, it has actually lost a lot of the heat, and is quite cool as it exits. Is this normal for this style of radiator, and is there any way for someone to check the output, i.e. is it actually giving out over 4000btu's. It is 1800mm tall, and 400mm wide. It has been fitted by a qualified plumber who regularly fits central heating etc. He actually fitted our other radiators, and they are all fine. It just seems odd that the huge radiator doesnt feel as hot to touch all over as the little dinky sized one.

Hubby thinks that the internal bore must be very small, so as the water is pumped around slowly, it takes that long to reach the other end, that the water has lost its temperature, and is actually cool as it exits. Does this sound reasonable and is this taken into account when calculating the btu's. Or have we just got a duff radiator?

ariba10

Check that the flow of water is not restricted in the radiator.

Make sure that the valves at both ends are fully open.

( Always count the number of turns you give on the valves when you alter them so that you can always go back to where you started if it does not work out.)

roses

It's probably not balanced correctly. I had this problem in my living room. Called round a plumber & he "balanced the system". It involves turning knobs on all the radiators. I don't think it's too difficult if you are not completely clueless but if you have no idea then I would call a plumber out.

Describe the problem over the phone & ask if they have a call out charge first!

Canucklehead

Hi

Is it possible that the system needs rebalancing ? If a rad nearby is hot to touch then it would logical to assume that the towel rail would be as well, given an even circulation.
I don't know what the shape is but if it has a straight tube in line with the flow/return connections then it may have (or is intended to have) a distribution tube inside it. The idea is to push the hot water up and around the towel rail rather than short circuit across to the return side.See the manufacturers details or ask the plumber.

Corgi Guy.

Bit slow there wasn't I !

babyblooz

Hi, thanks for the advice. It isn't a towel rail, it's a Quinn Radiators Opus 1, and the radiator is the last one on the run before the water goes back into the boiler.

Does anyone know if there is a way to check the btu thingy or does it depend on the radiators being balanced correctly? Just wondering where to actually start with it all.

Canucklehead

Hi

Sorry I don't know where I got the idea it was a towel rail!!
Found this.....
http://www.quinn-radiators.co.uk/product_opus1.php

Note the line 'this radiator must flow from the left' I take that to mean the flow or the pipe which gets hot first, should be on the left as you look at it.
A similar theory to my distribution tube. See what end yours is.

It may be a matter of balancing.

The heat output for radiators is arrived at by a standard test so the only variation would be the setting on your boiler thermostat.


Corgi Guy.

babyblooz

Thanks for that. Plumber made sure that the fitting was on the correct side! Hubby has turned down the other radiators and it still doesn't get as hot as the others. Because it is so big, maybe it just doesn't react in the same way as the other radiators that are just standard size and standard design. It just doesn't 'feel' as hot as the others, but maybe that is because it is losing heat through the bigger surface, (which is what it is designed to do I suppose) so that is why it is colder when it is going out of the other end. Maybe thats why it doesnt feel as hot to the touch as the other smaller ones.

It may be fine, but it's the first time we have had one of these, and just thought it would act in the same way as the other rads.

featureradiators

This may be a bit of a late reply but here goes.

If the flow pipe is hot, then the radiator is getting hot water. So it would indicate water is not travelling round the radiator properly.

It would be good to note if any parts are hotter than others.

The best way to test if its balancing is to turn all the other radiators off, if it still doesn't get hot then it may be missing a 'flow diverter'.

This is a little bung that goes inside a lot of modern vertical radiators. It stops the water flowing directly along the bottom of the radiator and forces the water up and around.

We often get a similar phonecall here at Feature Radiators.

People often think that something is stuck in the radiator or that there is a blockage as you describe.

But never in 5 years of working for Feature Radiators have we known a blockage to be the case. It has always been balancing or no flow diverter so the good news is that it should be easily resolved.

macman

babyblooz wrote: »

Hello,
We've had some radiators replaced, and one has been replaced with a designer upright one. It should give out over 4000 btu's, but it doesn't seem as hot as it should be. It has ten fins. Hubby thinks that the water coming in is very hot, but by the time it has circulated around the radiator, it has actually lost a lot of the heat, and is quite cool as it exits. Is this normal for this style of radiator,and is there any way for someone to check the output, i.e. is it actually giving out over 4000btu's. It is 1800mm tall, and 400mm wide. It has been fitted by a qualified plumber who regularly fits central heating etc. He actually fitted our other radiators, and they are all fine. It just seems odd that the huge radiator doesnt feel as hot to touch all over as the little dinky sized one.

Hubby thinks that the internal bore must be very small, so as the water is pumped around slowly, it takes that long to reach the other end, that the water has lost its temperature, and is actually cool as it exits. Does this sound reasonable and is this taken into account when calculating the btu's. Or have we just got a duff radiator?

This is exactly what a radiator is supposed to do-transfer the heat from the flow pipe into the room. If the outgoing water was as hot as the incoming, then it would not be heating the room.

babyblooz

wow, thanks everybody, we've got more to try now!:j

Burgh1

Hi, Did you ever get this sorted? was it the little bung as suggested by feature radiators?

I have a similar radiator 2m x0.5m tall radiator and a similar problem. However mine as worked well in the past. I shut all the other radiators off and it had little effect. Half the radiator is warm(ish) and half cold. I would normally think its a air lock in the radiator but as soon as I open the bleed valve water spirts out!). If I put my hear up to the radiator and can hear the flow. The inlet of the radaitor is hot and the exit valve is luke warm. All other radiators in the house take no time at all to warm up (hot).

Anyway any conclusion to your problem would be appreciated...