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  • Any radiator experts in?
  • iamsporticus
    Free Member

    Simple Q
    Does having masses of air in the upstairs radiators necessarily mean that the downstairs ones (with no air) will play up or not please?

    Story
    Our heating has been tepid at best recently
    After spending most of last night searching for my bleed key and getting significant grief about prioritising bike maintenance over man jobs around the house Ive just bought a new one
    Upstairs and downstairs rads work independently, Ive bled upstairs which as you would expect is where all the air has gathered and got loads out of every radiator
    The downstairs ones however are all fine

    Would the panel suggest I can now relax, celebrate another man task being successfully accomplished and go and ride my bike safe that the downstairs radiators will come back to life too for when the GF gets back in an hour or so?
    Or should I hang around just to make sure as Im possibly missing something obvious?

    Cheers

    EDIT: Yes – I have topped up the pressure too

    tutgareth
    Free Member

    possibly missing something, Are the Upstairs and downstairs rads seperate from the boiler or is there a 3way valve somewhere that could be inop / failed? (its by the hot water tank in my house)

    P.s i know very little about plumbing but i can try and help…

    wwaswas
    Full Member

    they all run off a single circuit of copper pipe – air anywhere in the system (and subsequent loss of pressure) will affect all radiators tas water will not circulate properly.

    iamsporticus
    Free Member

    Gareth -Not quite sure what you mean
    If it helps theyve all had some heat so the feed from the boiler into both ciruits is OK
    Its just that the rads havent been getting very hot
    Upstairs I can understand as there was masses and masses of air in them, like more than Ive ever known before but the downstairs ones were all OK

    Was – yes thats what the optimist in me is hoping for

    Thanks
    Im going to risk the bike 🙂

    wallace1492
    Free Member

    Cheers for this! had forgotten to bleed my radiators! Done now. Also topped up the pressure in the system by adding water – remember to do this as removing the air decreases the pressure and you need more water to replace it.

    crofts2007
    Free Member

    Might get shot down here, but usually heat at the bottom, cool at the top is air, heat at top but cool at the bottom is incorrect balancing, i.e. the flow is going through too quickly, back off the return valve to around 1 to 2 turns from closed and fine tune to suit. (Best done with all rads and zones on).
    Also check the speed setting on the pump, if it is too high this can be part of the problem of air as the pump could be cavitating.
    I also have a heating system with two heating zones, up and down independently controlled and valved, think it is a S plus system.

    tutgareth
    Free Member

    Gareth -Not quite sure what you mean

    There is a valve that controls whether the boiler sends hot water around the radiators or hot water tank(if you have one)if it is dodgy then the valvle may not be allowing the hot water round to the radiators

    Do you have a hot water tank or is it heated as you use it by the boiler?

    another thought,, is the pump working ok? ( if not then there will be no hot water getting to the rads…)

    nealglover
    Free Member

    Downstairs radiators could also be full of sludge which will cause them to feel cooler than normal.

    (At the bottom but sometimes way up past the middle if its bad)

    spchantler
    Free Member

    ^^ this, downstairs radiators may be full of sludge, even more likely if you are topping up often. you are diluting the inhibitor, causing oxidisation of metals (copper, steel, aluminium) to settle in the lowest rads. time for a flush out.

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