Circulator Problem?

Post Reply
 
leowis1
Member
Posts: 143
Joined: Fri. Oct. 26, 2007 2:21 pm

Post by leowis1 » Sun. Oct. 19, 2008 8:35 pm

Hi All,

My boiler is in the center of the house. There are two main branches coming off of the boiler. One going one way and the other going the other way. On the one side of the house there are 6 radiators. The last one never got any hot water. It was always cold. This past summer I replaced the shut off valves on 3 of the radiators (all on the 2nd floor). I turned two of them off and the 3rd is only open a little bit. The 6th radiator is STILL cold!? I thought that if I reduced the hot water going to the 2nd floor, more hot water would be spread around. Is there anything I can do to fix this?

Leo

 
User avatar
Yanche
Member
Posts: 3026
Joined: Fri. Dec. 23, 2005 12:45 pm
Location: Sykesville, Maryland
Stoker Coal Boiler: Alternate Heating Systems S-130
Coal Size/Type: Anthracite Pea

Post by Yanche » Sun. Oct. 19, 2008 10:16 pm

Need to get some more information. This is a hot water not steam, right? Does each radiator have a pair of pipes connected to them which make it all the way to the boiler room? Or are they sort of connected in series with only a pair of pipes from the 2nd floor making it to the boiler room? Do the radiators have bleed valves at their tops? Have you bleed them? Are there noises in the pipes when the circulator is running? Did it ever work correctly?

 
leowis1
Member
Posts: 143
Joined: Fri. Oct. 26, 2007 2:21 pm

Post by leowis1 » Tue. Oct. 21, 2008 9:12 am

It is a hot water system. The radiators have been bled. There's 2 2" pipes going around the house with "t"s coming off of them for each radiator. One is the supply and the other is the return. I can sometimes hear water moving through the radiator. I have never seen this radiator work.

However, since I made these changes the radiator is marginally cool/luke warm. Its not cold like it used to be. But how can I get more hot water to this radiator?


 
U235a4
Member
Posts: 320
Joined: Mon. Oct. 29, 2007 8:26 pm
Location: South Central PA

Post by U235a4 » Tue. Oct. 21, 2008 9:26 am

Another question what is the distance in "feet" from the boiler to the radiator and back if you measure the way the pipe goes? What model pump are you using? example (taco 007-F5) (BG NRF22)

 
User avatar
Yanche
Member
Posts: 3026
Joined: Fri. Dec. 23, 2005 12:45 pm
Location: Sykesville, Maryland
Stoker Coal Boiler: Alternate Heating Systems S-130
Coal Size/Type: Anthracite Pea

Post by Yanche » Tue. Oct. 21, 2008 10:40 am

Try closing all the radiator valves upstairs except the one to the radiator that doesn't work. From your description of the pipe sizes this was once likely a gravity system, now converted to a circulator system. Your circulator may be to small. Closing most of the radiators off will reduce the piping loss and perhaps get water to flow to the only radiator still connected. If it gets hot this would tell use there is no blockage in the piping. It's then likely your circulator it too small. Like U235a4 asks, tell us what circulator you now have.

Post Reply

Return to “Coal Bins, Chimneys, CO Detectors & Thermostats”