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Hoping somebody can help, So, in a nutshell…
Standard 90s Westbury home – condensing boiler, pump, wall thermostat, etc etc... Normal, common or garden, run-of-the-mill British housing estate CH setup.
Downstairs radiator, 1 of 2 in our living room, went cold one evening mid-November last year.
Opened bleed valve but no air, just cold water.
Assumed blockage somewhere, so closed TRV and lockshield valve, opened bleed valve and draincock and emptied rad.
Opened TRV – water flowed from draincock. Closed TRV
Opened lockshield – again, water flowed from draincock. Closed lockshield.
So, it appeared there was no blockage at either end of the rad.
Closed drain, opened valves, re-filled and, weirdly, rad is hot. Stays hot for rest of the evening (3-4 hours).
Next morning rad is cold, again, as are both supply and return pipes. Repeated process in the evening, rad is hot all evening.
Next morning – cold. Drain, refill – hot, and so on and so on, repeating same process every night and always getting same results for about 2 weeks (which I spend trying to avoid splashing out money on a plumber
)
Sometime around the beginning of December, when I was about to finally (maybe) call a plumber, rad is hot in the morning, and all evening. Next day the same.
“Great” I think – “problem solved”. How, I don't know, but - result! Continues this way right up to last night, and the rad was cold again this evening until I repeated the same process.
The most annoying thing isn’t actually having to drain and refill the rad to get it working – that’s just a pain in the a*se. It’s the fact that the problem makes no logical sense at all, and my solution to it, as far as I can see, shouldn’t even work!
Why is not hot water getting to the rad when there is no apparent blockage?
Why would it suddenly start going cold again after working fine for 2 months?
How can simply draining and refilling the radiator somehow allow it to heat up again, and stay hot until the heating shuts off?
And why is it cold again the next day, after being off for only 5-6 hours?
I just don’t get it!
If anybody can make any sense at all of what’s happening, and has any idea how to fix it, please tell me!
Thanks!
Standard 90s Westbury home – condensing boiler, pump, wall thermostat, etc etc... Normal, common or garden, run-of-the-mill British housing estate CH setup.
Downstairs radiator, 1 of 2 in our living room, went cold one evening mid-November last year.
Opened bleed valve but no air, just cold water.
Assumed blockage somewhere, so closed TRV and lockshield valve, opened bleed valve and draincock and emptied rad.
Opened TRV – water flowed from draincock. Closed TRV
Opened lockshield – again, water flowed from draincock. Closed lockshield.
So, it appeared there was no blockage at either end of the rad.
Closed drain, opened valves, re-filled and, weirdly, rad is hot. Stays hot for rest of the evening (3-4 hours).
Next morning rad is cold, again, as are both supply and return pipes. Repeated process in the evening, rad is hot all evening.
Next morning – cold. Drain, refill – hot, and so on and so on, repeating same process every night and always getting same results for about 2 weeks (which I spend trying to avoid splashing out money on a plumber
)Sometime around the beginning of December, when I was about to finally (maybe) call a plumber, rad is hot in the morning, and all evening. Next day the same.
“Great” I think – “problem solved”. How, I don't know, but - result! Continues this way right up to last night, and the rad was cold again this evening until I repeated the same process.
The most annoying thing isn’t actually having to drain and refill the rad to get it working – that’s just a pain in the a*se. It’s the fact that the problem makes no logical sense at all, and my solution to it, as far as I can see, shouldn’t even work!
Why is not hot water getting to the rad when there is no apparent blockage?
Why would it suddenly start going cold again after working fine for 2 months?
How can simply draining and refilling the radiator somehow allow it to heat up again, and stay hot until the heating shuts off?
And why is it cold again the next day, after being off for only 5-6 hours?
I just don’t get it!
If anybody can make any sense at all of what’s happening, and has any idea how to fix it, please tell me!
Thanks!
