Radiator only overheat my temper!!! All aspects of plumbing questions and answers, help, tips and information

[webby630]

So,
I have a radiator in the kitchen-diner that won't work, i switched the heating off and bled the culprit ( as recommended by all DIY sites) result - all the heating downstairs stopped working, a day later all the heating stopped working! I called a plumber... he arrived and declaired that the valve was broke and needed replacing, after £300 plumber bill and £200 electrician bill (as the system was old and new valves not compatable with old electrics (understandable)) it turns out that pump is also unservicable - after taking another £200 and replacing the pump heating still not playing. - He places a system cleaning fluid and leaves it for 3 cold weeks... on his return the rads are still not working properly (luke Warm) and the Kitchen /Diner still has had no sniff of heat. When the plumbers arrive this time they come as a pair and bring a flushing machine as they believe the system to be blocked. (fair enough) they spend all day flushing the system(£450) and declair my system to be the cleanest in yorkshire and say that after a few days after the system settles that all will be fine.

Result - 10 days later (today!) when the heatings on all the rads upstairs are warm at the bottom cold on top , downstairs are only luke warm and the kitchen/Diner is still cold. i switched the heating off waited till all was cold and open the bleed valves upstairs.......nothing!! no air , water, etc. i left them for a period of time but to no avail. i have checked the tank in the attic and it is full to the brim. i have checked the bottom of the tank for blockages etc... nothing! I am now stumped, why are the rads not filling when the bleed screws are open? i know the systems clean, rads came off and were flushed through, is there something i'm missing?


still as the plumber said "it won't matter soon as it's nearly summer!" cheeky so and so ... starting to run out of money and humour to throw at this problem.

any advise would be greatfully recieved!!!

Jace

[Dave From Leeds]

Good grief, £1150 & you're no nearer, or even worse off than when you started. With new valves,, a new pump & a completely flushed system one would think it should be OK.

Has it been the same plumber(s) all the way through? If so I'd be tempted to get them back to sort it out at their expense, since all their previous attempts seem to have come to nothing.

Alternatively, you could try bleeding the rads again with the system running. The pressure from the pump may help push any air out.

Bear in mind that I'm only a DIY person the same as you. I've posted here because no-one else has done so far.

[dfurn]

It's always best to bleed the radiators when the system is hot (the hotter the better).
Your radiators could need balancing as well.
What system do you use is it a combi boiler or a stand alone unit?
You could try turning off the rest of the radiators in the house see if that pushes any possible air lock out of the problem radiator.
If you try the above it might solve the problem (no guarantees).

[htg engineer]

If it's not filling, then the cold feed may be blocked.

'He places a system cleaning fluid and leaves it for 3 cold weeks'
waste of time and money the cleanser will not work if the water isn't hot and not circulating.

'I called a plumber... he arrived and declaired that the valve was broke and needed replacing, after £300 plumber bill and £200 electrician bill (as the system was old and new valves not compatable with old electrics (understandable)) it turns out that pump is also unservicable - after taking another £200 and replacing the pump'

At some point changing the valve or changing the pump, the plumber will be able to tell by the water whether it needed powerflush, seems to be abit of an after thought.


Basically I think you need a new plumber - I think you're being or have been ripped off. If the system is old enough for parts to be obsolete because of wiring, they shouldn't have let you spend £1150 on it without recommending a boiler upgrade.

You're throwing good money at a heating system that needs replacing.

htg