Radiator not heating up.

[bloomwood]

Have got seven radiators in a bungalow, six heat up, one dosen't. Anyone any idea why?

[tamborine]

does it need bleeding ?

[Buenchico]

Tamborine's suggestion is usually the first thing to try:
http://www.ultimateha...eeding_a_radiator.htm

[bloomwood]

No,tried that, also swapped pipes over.

[sherrardk]

Broken thermostat (assuming you have one on the radiator)?

[tamborine]

feel the feed pipes at bottom of rad. If one is hot before the nut open the valve to release the hot water.

[bloomwood]

none of them have thermostats on them and im totally baffled.

[tamborine]

is this a central heating system ?

[bloomwood]

Yes its a combi boiler,tried everything I can think of, thanks for your ideas Tamborine,if you can think of anything else please let me know.

[tamborine]

did you feel the pipes below.....are they hot at the feed end

[AlBags]

Does that radiator bleed ANYTHING?
Even air?
Make sure you have system pressurised to at least 1bar on the system gauge (by filling loop method) before you even attempt to bleed.

[bloomwood]

Have done that as well albags,pipe to right side of rad gets hot,pipe at left side going back to manafold doesn't.

[tamborine]

if one side is hot, its the hot feed that's blocked. Is there a knob/valve on the hot end you can turn. It may be jammed, gently tap it or WD40. Bleed when you turn the valve.

[Poor-Alfie]

Question Author
No,tried that, also swapped pipes over.


how did you manage that?

is it a thermostatic rad valve?

[karenmac60]

Is it turned up? Not being cheeky, but sometimes we miss the most obvious.

[SlackAlice]

What do you mean "swapped pipes over" . You are talking about copper pipes from either end of radiator?

[bazwillrun]

I cant wait to hear which pipes have been swapped over and from what to what ....this is going to be hilarious.


I can see next question coming... "I have water all over the floor how do I mop it up ? "

[bloomwood]

I haven't a clue which pipes have been swapped over,I was just asking question for OH who is trying to sort his Dad's radiator out,with out much luck as you can probably tell,that said, he's usually quite good with all things plumbing, he's just not that good at explaining himself. Hes gone to have another look at it, am sure he will get it sorted eventually.Thanks for all advice.

[pilotlight]

First, ensure that the valves on either side of the cold radiator are definately open. Turn the heating on. Turn off all the other radiators -- There may be one radiator that you can't turn off.

If the cold radiator starts to warm, this indicates that the system requires ' balancing ', which is done by adjusting all radiators until the correct balance is achieved.

Hope this helps.

[chas2008]

It may be just clogged up ,try turning all the other rads off this sometimes clears any gunk/air in the rad...Alternatively take the rad of and flush it through with a hose pipe if lots of gunk comes out the system may want power flushing, not cheap but amazing how much difference this can make on an old system.

[AlBags]

Yes ... Turning others off will help force flow through bad one.
I suspect air lock or bad valve. Make sure lockshield valve (opp end to inlet control) open enough.