Bleeding Air From Forced Hot Water
#1
10-17-06, 09:07 AM
Bleeding Air From Forced Hot Water
Hello Everybody
I've Got A Problem With My Oil Fired Hot Water Heating System. There Are 3 Zones In The System. The Upstairs Zone Isn't Getting Any Heat. I Suspect Air In The System, But There Are No Air Release Valves On Either Of The Baseboards Upstairs (or Anywhere For That Matter). I Checked The Zone Valve And It Seems To Be Working, Although The Heat Only Travels About 6" Up The Pipe. I Also Have One Of The Older Style Expansion Tanks. Any Ideas Or Suggestions Would Be Most
Appreciated. We've Got A Newborn In The House And I Want To Make Sure She's Nice And Toasty At Night. Thanks
I've Got A Problem With My Oil Fired Hot Water Heating System. There Are 3 Zones In The System. The Upstairs Zone Isn't Getting Any Heat. I Suspect Air In The System, But There Are No Air Release Valves On Either Of The Baseboards Upstairs (or Anywhere For That Matter). I Checked The Zone Valve And It Seems To Be Working, Although The Heat Only Travels About 6" Up The Pipe. I Also Have One Of The Older Style Expansion Tanks. Any Ideas Or Suggestions Would Be Most
Appreciated. We've Got A Newborn In The House And I Want To Make Sure She's Nice And Toasty At Night. Thanks
#2
10-17-06, 10:04 AM
I'm not a pro but here is what I would do:try purging this zone at return pipe by your boiler. Just make sure your zone valve is open when you're doing it. I would aslo consider something like
Vortech Air Eliminator by Taco if you don't have any air bleed valves on your basebords.
Here is a quick write up for Vortech http://www.ronstultz.com/knowledge/Documents/Getting%20Air%20out%20of%20a%203%20Zone%20Hydronic%20Heating%20System.htm
Vortech Air Eliminator by Taco if you don't have any air bleed valves on your basebords.
Here is a quick write up for Vortech http://www.ronstultz.com/knowledge/Documents/Getting%20Air%20out%20of%20a%203%20Zone%20Hydronic%20Heating%20System.htm
#3
10-17-06, 03:20 PM
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No heat upstairs
How much pressure is on the system? For a two story house you need about 15#. Some pics of the boiler & near boiler piping would help. You can post them on photobucket or similar photo hosting web site & provide a link here.
#4
10-17-06, 06:01 PM
Once you do fix the heat, don't crank it. Newborns should be lightly clothed for sleep and the room temp comfortable for a lightly clothed adult. (~68-72F worked for us). But this is a boiler forum and you probably already heard that from your pediatrician.
#5
10-18-06, 05:19 AM
photos of system
thanks for the advice guys. i uploaded some pictures to photobucket.com under the user name jpartick. i looked up the taco vortech air seperator. i don't know if i have enough room on the supply pipe to install one. can one be installed on the return? i also checked the pressure it is a little below 10psi. it's a really tight working area with less then a foot on either side i had to stick the camera against the wall to get a reading of the pressure,
#8
10-18-06, 04:51 PM
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Boiler pressure
I didn't see it in the photos but somewhere there should be a pressure reducing valve. Here is a picture of one brand:
http://www.bellgossett.com/homeowners/HT-Pressure-Reducing-Valves.asp
Here is another:
http://taco-hvac.com/en/products/Boiler+Feed+Valves/products.html?current_category=115
Regardless of brand, they all have a screw in the center. Turning the screw in increases pressure. Make sure any
valve(s) from the water source to the boiler are open, then if needed, you can turn that screw in to raise the pressure. Don't go more than 1 full turn at a time. Allow the pressure to stabilize & the water to stop feeding before turning the screw any more.
http://www.bellgossett.com/homeowners/HT-Pressure-Reducing-Valves.asp
Here is another:
http://taco-hvac.com/en/products/Boiler+Feed+Valves/products.html?current_category=115
Regardless of brand, they all have a screw in the center. Turning the screw in increases pressure. Make sure any
valve(s) from the water source to the boiler are open, then if needed, you can turn that screw in to raise the pressure. Don't go more than 1 full turn at a time. Allow the pressure to stabilize & the water to stop feeding before turning the screw any more.
#9
10-19-06, 07:24 AM
pressure up to 15psi
hello again, thanks for all your help. i located the valve a watt 1156f fast fill (http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r195/jpartick/DSC00642.jpg)bottom left, and brought the pressure up to 15 psi. unfortunately there is still no heat in the highest zone. once again thanks for your help and any additional advice would be most appreciated.
i just went down to check on things and now there is a drip forming just below at the copper coupling and just above on the brass union on the zone valve for the upstairs zone. is this an indication of a faulty zone valve?
i just went down to check on things and now there is a drip forming just below at the copper coupling and just above on the brass union on the zone valve for the upstairs zone. is this an indication of a faulty zone valve?
Last edited by jpartick; 10-19-06 at 07:36 AM.
#10
10-19-06, 03:55 PM
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Leak/Purging Air
The leak is not an indication of a bad zone valve but it could cause the valve to go bad if water gets into the motor area.
Turn off power to the boiler. Manually open the zone valve to the zone with which you are having trouble. (On Honeywell zone valves there is a slide lever on the bottom of the valve which will lock into a notch to hold the valve open.) Close the valve just above the circulator. There should be another valve with a hose connection close above the ball valve above the circulator. Connect a hose to it & open the valve. Purge until you no longer get bubbles. Close purge valve, disconnect hose, open ball valve, release latch on zone valve, place boiler back in service, & turn up thermostat for upstairs zone.
Turn off power to the boiler. Manually open the zone valve to the zone with which you are having trouble. (On Honeywell zone valves there is a slide lever on the bottom of the valve which will lock into a notch to hold the valve open.) Close the valve just above the circulator. There should be another valve with a hose connection close above the ball valve above the circulator. Connect a hose to it & open the valve. Purge until you no longer get bubbles. Close purge valve, disconnect hose, open ball valve, release latch on zone valve, place boiler back in service, & turn up thermostat for upstairs zone.
