[chrispo]

Hi,

I have hot water radiators in my home. Every room downstairs is working fine, in fact they feel like they are over-heating.

Upstairs there are 4 rooms (3 beds, 1 bath). The radiators were working but did not seem to be working well enough. So I bled the radiators in 3 of the rooms. In every single one of them, I got the hiss of air escaping, but no hot water coming out. Now, it seems that these 3 radiators are not generating any heat whatsoever. The 4th room upstairs (one of the bedrooms) I did not touch, and now that room's radiator seems to be working even better than it was working before.

I intend to call the plumbing/heating guys but figured I would ask here first.

Anyone have any idea of what went wrong, and perhaps what I could do to fix it?

It does seem like the heaters that are working are now overworking because of the 3 upstairs that aren't working at all.

Any comments or advice is greatly appreciated.

[hvac1000]

It is a good possibility your water pressure in the boiler is to low. Usually a setting of 12 pounds is compatible with many systems but depending upon how tall the home is you may need a bit more pressure. Usually there is a auto water feed valve on the system and water is added to replace automatically. If not you will have to hand feed the system and that is a pain.

The system pump impeller might be tired or worn. This will cause the pump to not have the capability it once had and can cause a similar problem.

If you do not have automatic bleeders on at least one of the upstairs units I would install one or have one installed at the highest point in the system. This will eliminate the need to bleed the radiators manuallt for the most part.

There can always be another problem like if the upstairs has its own zone valve but you have enough to figure out for now.

For now I would continue to try and bleed the units that are not working and post back with the results before you go and try to adjust the auto feed ETC.

[chrispo]

All right, thanks for all the info. I guess I will try rebleeding to see if that helps. The upstairs doesn't have its own zone valve, fairly certain about that. Not sure if I'll be able to figure out where the auto water feed valve is, so I am thinking a visit from a pro is imminent anyway. But I will try re-bleeding. Wife just called to tell me how cold it is upstairs!

It is a good possibility your water pressure in the boiler is to low. Usually a setting of 12 pounds is compatable with many systems but depending upon how tall the home is you may need a bit more pressure. Usually there is a auto water feed valve on the system and water is added to replace automatically. If not you will have to hand feed the system and that is a pain.

The system pump impeller might be tired or worn. This will cause the pump to not have the capability it once had and can cause a similar problem.

If you do not have automatic bleeders on at least one of the upstairs units I would install one or have one installed at the highest point in the system. This will eliminate the need to bleed the radiators manuallt for the most part.

There can always be another problem like if the upstairs has its own zone valve but you have enough to figure out for now.

For now I would continue to try and bleed the units that are not working and post back with the results before you go and try to adjust the auto feed ETC.

[mygirlsdad77]

There should be a pressure gauge on or near the boiler. What does the gauge read (psi). If you open a bleeder and get no more air or water, your pressure reducing valve (feeds the boiler water) is most likely defective. Please let us know what the press gauge reads.

[chrispo]

Thanks for your help. Either I don't have the gauge that you're describing, or I just can't figure it out. I don't see any gauge that has a psi reading. All the parts are very old. I do see a part that is sort of bell shaped, and it says "pressure reducing valve", but no gauge anywhere.

there should be a pressure guage on or near the boiler. What does the gauge read (psi). If you open a bleeder and get no more air or water, your pressure reducing valve (feeds the boiler water) is most likely defective. Please let us know what the press guage reads.