Hi everyone. I'm new and just at my wits end. Today's my anniversary, and it's just been ruined.

We have a Buderus gas boiler and hot water baseboard heat--two zones, one upstairs, one downstairs. Yesterday morning I awoke and went downstairs to find that half the bottom floor was literally freezing cold.

Half the downstairs loop was fine, but one section of baseboard was hot coming in but ice cold coming out. So I bled it using the bleeder valve on the return side, and that stretch of baseboard got warm, but the downstream ones weren't.

Well, there was some freezing (no bursting, thank God), but I remedied that and now all the bleeder valves have water coming out when I loosen them. But as I get further down the loop, the radiators just won't get hot. I bleed them and the water gets warm, and then the next one bleeds until tepid, but finally about 3 stretches of radiator down I've been bleeding it for an hour and the water's just not getting hot at all.

This was ALL WORKING FINE THE NIGHT BEFORE LAST. I'm just at a loss; I can't find a plumber to return my calls, and even if one did I can't imagine spending up to $500 to figure out what's wrong. Can anyone suggest anything I can try? I can post pics of the boiler, circulators, whatever... am I just being impatient on the bleed? Do I have to bleed the whole system? The pressure is at 12psi and the temp of the water is at 180... anyone have any suggestions?

Thank you all so much.

-Ross

Have you checked the pump?

Hi Mark--well, I did, and I THINK both circulators are working. They're both warm, and vibrate slightly as though there was a pump working, and water keeps coming out the bleeder valves, and the rest of the system is staying nice and hot. But that doesn't mean that I've got any physical proof that the circulator is working, no. How could I verify?

Thanks for your response, by the way!

Turn off boiler. Then watch water/pressure/temperature gauge and turn the boiler back on using one pump at a time. If the water part of the gauge moves it usually means that the pump is pumping. With two circulators you will have to test each one separately. Now what this does not tell you is how much velocity the pump is producing and usually if it gets to that point a pump impeller inspection is in order.

Thanks all for the help. Problem is resolved. It could have just been one final round of bleeding, or it could have been the heater I moved closer to the bathroom floor a few hours ago thawed up something that was still iced up enough to let water through the bleeder but not enough to heat the baseboard.

Anniversary not saved, but at least the heat's back on. Thanks again.