One radiator on system not heating up

[Zuber]

Hi All hoping you can help. I have a single radiator in my house that does not heat up and has me stumped.

I previously closed off all other rads in the house to push the water to the non working radiator. Once in a while this heats up the pipe running to the radiator, but it's as if the water/heat stops at the nut and the radiator remains dead cold, other times the pipe running to the radiator doesnt get hot either. What gives.

I checked the pin on under the trv on the valve to make sure it springs back up which it does. I have tried bleeding the radiator this doesnt resolve it. I have replaced the trv this didn't work. I have replaced the whole radiator, weird thing is when I put the new radiator on it started heating up for the first minute, then it went dead cold again and showed the same symptoms as above.

I have flushed the radiator myself with a hose.

I have had a plumber out for a professional powerflush and this didn't work and he too was stumped. I opted for the powerflush as i thought this means a big blockage, but then it doesn't make sense why sometimes the pipe running to the radiator warms up until it reached the radiator nut and other times it doesnt.

Help!!!

Any ideas.

Thanks all

 

[Aire]

Has the radiator ever worked?
When you changed the radiator did you drain down to do this or just isolate the valves?
Can you see where the pipe work feeding the rad goes or does it just go into the floor?

 

[Zuber]

Has the radiator ever worked?
When you changed the radiator did you drain down to do this or just isolate the valves?
Can you see where the pipe work feeding the rad goes or does it just go into the floor?

Hi Craig. Yes the radiator has previously worked. When I replaced the radiator I just isolated at the valves. Pipework just runs into the floor so I can't trace it back without lift off floorboards which will be the last option if I can figure it out

 

[Aire]

Hi Craig. Yes the radiator has previously worked. When I replaced the radiator I just isolated at the valves

When filling the radiator did you notice if both valves were allowing water into the radiator?

 

[Zuber]

When filling the radiator did you notice if both valves were allowing water into the radiator?

Initially at least one was allowing water through as the radiator started heating up at the bottom for the first minute. Then it stopped and went stone cold dead.

 

[Aire]

Initially at least one was allowing water through as the radiator started heating up at the bottom for the first minute. Then it stopped and went stone cold dead.

If your heating was on at the time of filling then it would allow hot/warm water into the radiator giving you the impression the radiator had began to work.

I would isolate the rad, take it off and then test that each valve does allow water through, if one doesn't then it would point to a blockage somewhere

 

[Zuber]

If your heating was on at the time of filling then it would allow hot/warm water into the radiator giving you the impression the radiator had began to work.

I would isolate the rad, take it off and then test that each valve does allow water through, if one doesn't then it would point to a blockage somewhere

Thanks if it is a blockage as I initially assumed. Any idea how I could resolve this. I have had a powerflush done by a professional which didn't resolve the issue and also had the plumber stumped.

 

[Aire]

Thanks if it is a blockage as I initially assumed. Any idea how I could resolve this. I have had a powerflush done by a professional which didn't resolve the issue and also had the plumber stumped.

Depends on the blockage but a powerflush generally won't shift them. Your best bet is to lift your floorboards and find it and cut it out.

 

[Riley]

Microbore???

 

[Harvest Fields]

Not read all posts but have you closed the valve on the other end and opened it back up?

 

[Steve weightman]

Had all radiators turned off many times and it still wouldn't work. Sometimes it can be an air lock so backfilled with hose pipe through the valve.

 

[Deleted member 96286]

Turn off the TRV and the lockshield valves. Remove the air plug at the top of the radiator. Screw in a 15mm isolating valve into the radiator and connect a piece of copper pipe to the other end, and fit a hose to it with a jubilee clip. Run the hose into a bucket. Open the flow valve first until the water runs clear into the bucket or you hear a "whoosh" which is trapped air. Close this valve and do the same with the return valve. If it's run off a combi boiler, you will have to top up the pressure between emptying each side. This has worked countless times for me, as you see the tiny wee hole that is in the air plug valve doesn't always let trapped dirt or all the air out, while a larger 15mm bore does.

 

[Allgoode]

Floorboards up i'm afraid.

Had customer with same probs a while ago, flushed system & everything including rad & valves change.

Eventually on my insistence & after one false start in bedroom where she remembered there was an access panel in corner customer finally relented & let me cut her bathroom flooring out in vicinity of rad. (Bedroom had an old 4ft wide paper wasps nest under the floor)

Found a bathroom specialist company expert who had refurbed her bathroom a couple of years previous had used a flexi pipe with small bore iso valve for speed under the floor which was tightly looped & internally cruded up on iso valve.

After replacing flexi pipe with proper 15mm copper no more probs.

Just a thought.

She's a happy lady now, nice warm towels after a shower & always thanks me for persistence in sorting the issue out,

Thanks,

Andy

 

[Burger]

It could be a kinked pipe under the floor and debris/ sludge has allowed it to become blocked further.