heating radiator

[bre]

Only Half of my heating radiator is heating up. The other side is warm.

I change the release valve on the radiator (bleed it) resulting in the entire radiator hotttt. Great. Taught I fix it

But then after the heat goes off, and come back on same problem occur... Any help or suggestion will be greatful

Thanks satfix

[satchick]

Is this a hot water or steam system? One pipe or two?

[igoreshka]

looks like a pockets of air in the system,air has to be pitted

[Terryl]

What half?
The top, bottom, left or right half?

And how old is the radiator?

[satchick]

Also, Where is the problem radiator in relation to the boiler? Is it far from the boiler, on the second floor perhaps?

[bre]

steam ... one pipe

[bre]

over the boiler room

[bre]

right half of heater away from inlet

[Terryl]

If the system is old the supply/return pipes can get restricted or blocked with scale, the same will happen with the radiator, this is due to dissolved minerals in the water that can come up the pipe due to a boil over, usually the first radiator(s) in the system is (are) affected by this, it would be best to have a plumber that knows about radiator systems to take a look at this as it may involve pipe or radiator replacement.

A test if you are handy with tools is to remove a radiator from a room that is not used that much and swap it out with the one that is not heating right, if the problem goes away you have a plugged radiator, if it stays the same you may have a plugged system and its time to call and expert in.

IF you do this test, turn the heat OFF and wait several hours for the system to cool down as live steam will take your skin right off your body and you wont know till it starts to hurt real bad.

[seahappy]

Sounds like it may be a trap problem that is not allowing water to exit your heating radiator ... It is located on the other end from where the Steam enters .... (When the Steam returns to water the Trap allows the water to return to the Boiler and make Steam again ..It could alos be air) Lol

[Terryl]

Sounds like it may be a trap problem that is not allowing water to exit your heating radiator ... It is located on the other end from where the Steam enters .... (When the Steam returns to water the Trap allows the water to return to the Boiler and make Steam again ..It could alos be air) Lol

A trap is used in a two pipe system he stated he only has the 1 pipe.

Here is a link to a PDF file explaining the 2 systems.


http://www.bellgossett.com/literature/files/7250.pdf

It may help him out with solving this problem.

[DaddyOof4]

If you bled the air out, and it starts working, then I would start looking for where air is getting in. I have a hot water system, not steam. But I had problems like that when I bought the house. 12 freaking leaks in the system.

[JCO]

I'm in the heating industry and have never seen a 1 pipe steam system..Since a 1 pipe system has the condensate returning in the same line it would be next to imposible for the return to be blocked since its also the feed.. Normaly steam systems have a water treatment in them to prevent scale buildup.. If the system has had a lot of untreated make up water in it it may be partally blocked. Did you ever do any blowdowns on the boiler.. Is there a water treatment on the boiler.. My guess is the radiator is blocked..
That requires that it be removed and cleaned..

[dav01]

I am a 15year HVAC technician and never had to work on them before but i strongly suggest you not to even mess with it call the plummer that knows about them trying to save some cash can cost you serious pain or worst. I replaced a grounded compressor at a home that the homeowner tried to find the problem and ended up in the hospital serious shock due to grounded compressor he was 37 if he was older his heart would have stopped. best of luck

[bre]

i have a slight leak around the shut off valve. a little steam is escaping. could that be the problem

[Terryl]

If steam can get out then air can get in when the system cools down, it will also require more replacement water then normally needed, this cold cause a scale build up in the radiator(s).

And I'm with JCO and Dav01 on getting some professional help on this problem, it could be something simple or a major job, it all depends on how old the system is.

Better safe then sorry when working with steam, high pressure steam can remove fingers in a second and you wont know they are gone till you reach for that wrench.

[pupp1977]

what it sounds like to me is you need to go around and bleed all your valves start in one room closest to the boiler and rotate to the furthest room away. do this a few times until all the air is out. check your auto filler to see if it is puting water back in to the system, should be able to hear it adding water. if you need to add it manually via a valve bleed once around and fill then bleed again and fill. I've had them take hours to work out all the air before. and most of all be careful when bleeding valves as the hospital has good heat but bad food, lol

[3000mw]

Put some leather gloves on and carefully bleed each radiator with the bleeder key.