Cast iron radiators won't heat on 2nd level

duchesslana · Oct 14, 2009, 02:24 PM

HELP!

I am starting my 3rd winter in this house. 1st winter all radiators worked. 2nd winter all radiators worked until mid winter then 2 radiators on the second floor stopped working. This year I turned on the system and non of the radiators on the 2nd floor are working.

I have 7 radiators.

3 on the main floor - these all work great. I bled them until water came out of the valve.
4 on the 2nd floor - bled them. Some of them had the air hissing out at first but after a few seconds the hissing stopped. The valves have been open for 2-3 days and still no water coming out of them.

My boiler is in the basement. It is run by gas. The expansion tank is on top of the boiler. The expansion tank seems to be half full when the system is hot or cold. I would think that it would be emptier when it is cold. But not sure if this is correct.

There is a red oblong shaped item about 10 inches tall and 6 inches wide. This is attached between the boiler and the hot water heater and cold water intake from the main line. I believe this is an auto refill of sorts. I think it uses water from the hot water heater so it doesn't shock the system with cold water. Is this correct?

There is also a pressure relief valve between the boiler and the expansion tank. When you lift this valve water drains out of the system.

There is also a small rectangular box that says "Honeywell" (brand/company name") with a dial that is set at 140. This box is also located between the expansion tank and the boiler.

There is some sort of electrical wire that runs to the largest pipe just above the boiler. I have no clue what that is for.

The gauge above the boiler reads 30 feet and 6 lbs per square inch. I have read several post saying that the psi needs to be at least 12. But I am unable to increase this. How do I increase the psi. Most post I read say to use the relief valve to let water in. I don't seem to have such a valve. The one on top of the red oblong thing doesn't seem to do anything and the other just lets water out.

This is what I have tried. I first tried bleeding all the radiators but the second floor radiators won't bleed out. Today I shut off all the radiators but 2 on the second floor. Thinking I could force all the hot water just to these 2 radiators. Nothing. I did notice that the hot water isn't even attempting to go up the pipes. When I am in the basement and follow the pipes you can feel where the hot water meets the cold.

So I need help.

How do I increase the pressure in my system? Is there just not enough water in it? Maybe my auto refill is not letting water in. How do I know if the auto refill is working?

I need help. It is very cold in my house and it will be a long winter if I can't get this up and running! I am very confused

and am getting very frustrated.

Thanks!

Duchess Lana

duchesslana · Oct 14, 2009, 09:12 PM

ok.. I see a 7 P stamped on it.

Then where each of the pipes are hooked up to it says "boiler" "inlet" and "strainer"
There is something printed above the silver knob and i can't quite make it out in the picture it is the silver thing on the right. It looks like "01 poad" but that doesn't seem right. That was very hard to read.

Other than than I didn't see anything else written or stamped on it.

duchesslana · Nov 3, 2009, 03:23 PM

Ok guys! Help! I was advised to replace the red Bell & Gosset #500 with the F-3 Dual Unit Valve w/ Fast Fill.

So I have it unstalled the new unit and now I have to refill the system. When I lift the fast fill lever I get water coming out of the drain pipe. I am pretty sure some water is getting into the system but not sure how much. Is the water suppose to come out of the drain pipe? This is frustrating because I am empting lots of buckets of water that is coming from the drain pipe. I feel that there shouldn't be water coming from here or at least not this much.

I have been using the fast fill lever for about an hour but I don't seem to be getting any pressure increase. How long does this take? I have all the bleed valves open and the boiler is currently off and about 75 degrees.

duchesslana · Nov 4, 2009, 09:48 PM

Ok! Problem is solved and system is up and running!

For those of you reading this thread this is what I did. I replaced the red B & G #500 valve with a B & G F - 3 dual valve and the pipes going in and out of the valve. The pipes and valve were very clogged and water could not go in to the valve or out of the valve.

Once the pipes were replaced then the system filled beautiful with no draining from the drain pipe on the drain valve. The refill was actually pretty quick. I would say about 20 minutes until I had all 7 radiators bled.

Total cost of repairs was around $100 and 8 hours of my time. The service tech that originally came out wanted $1200 plus for the job. I definetly saved money on this job. I also learned alot on how my heating system worked.

Thanks to all who helped me!