Radiators

Ted31

I was decorating my house and my husband unhooked a radiator of the wall but was still connected by the pipes, this caused it to leak and then another one to leak from the radiator pipe. When i turn my heating on, no radiators are working in the house, its a old water pump in the house aswell, how do i solve this problem myself?

Ayr_Rage

What type of boiler do you have?

Has the system been refilled and bled for trapped air since the leaks?

Is the pressure in the normal range?

Ted31

I dont know what boiler i have as just moved into the house, but it has a old water pump, its not a combi boiler.
how do i refill the system?

Ayr_Rage

Ted31 said:

I dont know what boiler i have as just moved into the house, but it has a old water pump, its not a combi boiler.
how do i refill the system?

Not knowing what system is fitted that's an impossible question.

I guess from the fact you've been making changes you own rather than rent so try contacting the previous owner for advice.

A knowledgeable friend who can actually take a look or a local plumber is your best bet.

ButterCheese

Look to see what make/model the water pump/boiler is and google it for answers.  I only know about combi boilers I'm afraid.  But if you've got a good amount of air in the system then all radiators will be affected until you re-pressurise the system and bleed each radioator.  Don't always assume that you only need to bleed the highest rad in the house - air can get trapped in all of them so bleed all of them.  This happened to me, I furiously bled all the rads and forgot about one in our downstairs utility room; loads of air came out of that

bjorn_toby_wilde

Might be a silly question and excuse me if it comes across as patronising but did you turn the thermostat up before you turned on the heating?

I don’t know where in the country you are but it’s 23 degrees C here today so without turning up the thermostat so that it “calls” the boiler for heat your heating wouldn’t come on anyway.

If you have done that then are you sure all the radiator valves are open again after the decorating?

Ted31

bjorn_toby_wilde said:

Might be a silly question and excuse me if it comes across as patronising but did you turn the thermostat up before you turned on the heating?

I don’t know where in the country you are but it’s 23 degrees C here today so without turning up the thermostat so that it “calls” the boiler for heat your heating wouldn’t come on anyway.

If you have done that then are you sure all the radiator valves are open again after the decorating?

Yeah i turned the thermostat up as high as it could go and it made the clicking noise but radiators remain cold. I will try all that you have advised and hope it works, thankyou.

Albermarle

I think most modern boilers will not work unless there is a minimum water pressure of 1 bar in the system.
The leaks could have reduced the pressure, and the system needs topping up ( assuming it is an unvented system).

OP if you could post a couple of photos of the boiler and adjacent pipework, that could be helpful. 

Ectophile

The traditional type of unpressurised heating system was widely used before combi boilers were a thing.

These have a header tank in the loft that is supposed to automatically refill the system using a ball valve.  The tank is usually quite a bit smaller than the main cold water tank.  If you can get into the loft, have a look around for a small tank and see if that is empty or full.

If water has been allowed to escape, the radiators may be full of air.  In that case, you'll need to operate the bleed screws on each radiator that isn't fully warm.  This uses a square key, available from any good DIY store.  Have a tissue or old rag handy.  Slowly open the screw on one top corner of the radiator and listen for a hiss.  Don't completely take the screw out! When the hissing is replaced by water dribbling out, screw it back in.

WIAWSNB

Ted31 said:

I was decorating my house and my husband unhooked a radiator of the wall but was still connected by the pipes, this caused it to leak and then another one to leak from the radiator pipe. When i turn my heating on, no radiators are working in the house, its a old water pump in the house aswell, how do i solve this problem myself?

Hi Ted.

Back to basics, and possibly avoid jumping to coincidental happenings!

First, what type of boiler do you have? Make and model? Ideally take a photo. Does it have a pressure gauge on it?

Then can you explain exactly what yer hubby did? Did he slacken the valves as they join this radiator, so that he could lay the rad down flat without bending the pipes? Or what?

Does your domestic hot water side of the system work ok? 

Bear in mind that your CH is unlikely to have been used for several months, so fair chance it's something to do with that - ie just coincidence that you noticed the problem after fiddling with the rad.

But, equal chance that the water loss has caused a pressure drop, enough for the boiler to shut down for safety reasons.

Anyhoo, I bet we'll get to the cause