Bleeding secondary loops

 
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Post by Dudest » Wed. Dec. 15, 2021 4:15 pm

Hi all I'm starting to get some gurgling sounds from my manifolds and want to bleed them. They are right under our bedroom. How many gallons could/should I bleed without hurting the coal gun.


 
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Post by nepacoal » Wed. Dec. 15, 2021 4:50 pm

Don't you have purge stations on those loops?

 
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Post by Dudest » Wed. Dec. 15, 2021 5:59 pm

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Post by Dudest » Wed. Dec. 15, 2021 5:59 pm

20211117_185325.jpg

 
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Post by nepacoal » Wed. Dec. 15, 2021 6:11 pm

Looks like you have several purge stations right there... If your feeder valve is working you should be all set. Just purge the loop that's making noise.

 
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Post by nepacoal » Wed. Dec. 15, 2021 6:15 pm

If you're not sure how to purge, check out this YouTube video at the 16 minute mark. This plumber shows how to purge in every other video he puts out


 
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Post by Dudest » Wed. Dec. 15, 2021 6:17 pm

Thanks Nep just wanted to make sure it was okay. Didn't know if that cold water would "shock" the heat exchanger.


 
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Post by nepacoal » Wed. Dec. 15, 2021 6:23 pm

If your feeder valve is on the supply side, the cold water will never make it to boiler... (As long as the purge station is on the return side).

 
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Post by Dudest » Wed. Dec. 15, 2021 6:55 pm

I just checked the feeder is on the return side.

 
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Post by Dudest » Wed. Dec. 15, 2021 7:08 pm

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Post by nepacoal » Wed. Dec. 15, 2021 7:31 pm

Be safer to shutdown and let it cool off some. Steel isn't as susceptible to thermal shock as cast iron, but I'd err on the side of caution. Kind of tough with an AHS with all that coal in the burn chamber. The fire on my kaa-4 only takes about 20 minutes to go out.

Hopefully someone with more experience will chime in...

 
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Post by Rob R. » Wed. Dec. 15, 2021 7:35 pm

Purging the air out of a radiant loop with a mixing valve is very difficult. What I ended up doing in my house was using a garden hose with domestic water pressure to purge the loop until it was totally full of air. Based on the way your system is piped, you can likely isolate the radiant loops from the boiler, and run domestic water through the loop until it runs free of air. If you do this it is important to make sure it is isolated from the boiler so you don't open the relief valve.

 
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Post by Dudest » Wed. Dec. 15, 2021 7:36 pm

Thanks I guess I'll just deal with it, and move that feeder next year.

 
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Post by KLook » Wed. Dec. 15, 2021 8:18 pm

By that time, the air might work its way out......

 
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Post by Dudest » Thu. Dec. 16, 2021 4:39 am

Rob R. wrote:
Wed. Dec. 15, 2021 7:35 pm
Purging the air out of a radiant loop with a mixing valve is very difficult. What I ended up doing in my house was using a garden hose with domestic water pressure to purge the loop until it was totally full of air. Based on the way your system is piped, you can likely isolate the radiant loops from the boiler, and run domestic water through the loop until it runs free of air. If you do this it is important to make sure it is isolated from the boiler so you don't open the relief valve.
Do you think that using that mixing valve is a poor design?


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