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I have one of these in the bathroom.
Now before the streak of good weather the rail wasn't really that hot anymore when the central heating was on(oil fired).
I bled it, some air came out but still nowhere near as hot as it used to be plus its hot at the bottom and not so hot at the top if that makes sense?
So that makes me think air is still in there?
Anytime I try to bleed it again its just water coming out - no air?
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Quote:
Originally Posted by urban
Guys,
I have one of these in the bathroom.
Now before the streak of good weather the rail wasn't really that hot anymore when the central heating was on(oil fired).
I bled it, some air came out but still nowhere near as hot as it used to be plus its hot at the bottom and not so hot at the top if that makes sense?
So that makes me think air is still in there?
Anytime I try to bleed it again its just water coming out - no air?
Any thought?
Thanks,
Shaun
You sure the boiler is actually firing?
Most will not be feeding the heating system now as the room temp is high.
Try turning the heating on and increasing the room stat temp. if it gets hot then there is not a problem.
We offer customers the option of having an electric element for summer use, when heated as part of cetral heating system.
Yeah, I'm sure.
Because all other radiators in the house were hot.
This towel rail regulary needs bled for whatever reason.
I know of other folk with the same problem, maybe its the underlying design of these things which is the problem.
Is it possible for example to have a towel rail with water at the bottom, some air in the middle and water at the top?
I would have thought that simple physics would say no. I know you can get airlocks, but in narrow pipes usually. In a rad, any air would be pretty well sure to find it's way to the top.
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What type of system do you have? Sealed sytem, with a pressure gauge on the boiler or an open vented system, with tanks in the attic??
If it's the first then check the pressure to see what it's on.
If it's the latter, then check the smaller tank in the attic/airing cupboard to see if it's full of water. If it is then there's a chance the cold feed to the system is blocked. If it's empty the play about with the ball valve as it may be stuck!!
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The copper tank in the airing cupboard does have water in it OK.
is it full? - I've no idea to be honest.
All I know is that i've hot water when I need it (assuming heating has been on et etc)
Other radiators in the house are hot, but stupid towel rail isn't that hot.
No, not the copper tank in the airing cupboard, that's your hot water tank. There will probably be TWO more, likely plastic, tanks, probably in the loft. One is the cold water tank, the other is the c/h header tank. It's that one you want, and it's likely to be the smaller of the two.
I've had problems with the cold feeed blocking and also stuck ball valves, so first check if there's any water IN it, then see if moving the ball valve down releases water into it.
If it does, and there's water in the tank, you'll need a plumber to check if it's outlet is blocked. When I did one that was, we found the blockage by inserting a piece of curtain wire, the stiff springy stuff, down the outlet hole until it got stopped, then marked it, and measured against the outside of the pipework.
The remedy is to use a jug and bucket to drain the tank, after tieing the ballcock to a strip of wood etc across the tank, to prevent it opening, then cut the pipe about 6" or so below the blockage, (be ready with old cloths), and about 6" or so above it, then solder in a new piece of pipe using a couple of straight connectors. Pipe and connectors available from Wickes. You CAN use compression fittings, but I avoid them like the plague whenever I can
It doesn't take that long, tbh, but can get messy, so plenty of old cloths are necessary, plus mop out the tank to stop it dripping when you are soldering, or you won't get a good joint
I have a large plastic tank in the loft, but only 1.
No more tanks.
Surely this type of blockage would mean that all the radiators would have a problem?
Maybe I'm missing something very obvious here.
I have an oil fired burner in the garage, pipes come from it into the existing central heating pipes under the floorboards.
I have a copper tank in a cupboard upstairs and a big plastic tank in the loft.
Sorry, but there is no pressure gauge.
The burner is made by a company called Warmflow
Mine looks similar to the bottom one on this link Boilerhouse Series
I've looked at the installation manuals for both those series of boilers, and BOTH mention pressure loss and it's reasons, plus both mention a pressure gauge
Is there a filling loop? And you are sure there is NO gauge, nut under a panel, or owt?
Am I sure there's no gauge - not any more
It could be under a panel I guess?
A filling loop - I'm sorry, but i've no idea.
Here how I understand how it works.
I have a boiler in the garage which is connected to the existing heating system.
I think that the heating system is fed from the tank in the loft via the copper tank?
What normally happens is that the boiler output of hot water goes via an electrically controlled valve, either to the radiators, or to the hot water tank to heat up the water in it. Some older sytems have a second cold tank in the roof space that both pressurises and maintains the level in the radiator system.
If you only have one cold tank, chances are your system is pressurised. Which means you don't/shouldn't need to worry about it filling, proivided the pressure is high enough.
OK, a bit old now - but an update on the above questions.
However........................moving forward.
I reburbished the kitchen (Not personally, paid professionals etc)
I decided to have a towel rail fitted to existing pipes.
Git a recommendation of a plumber (Recommendations are always best I say)
He said couple of hours blah blah, drain system, fit, refill and bleed - £100
Arrived at just after 9am one day last week.
Asked similar questions to the above.
I said, I've never seen this tank which you say looks a bit like a football.
He searches and confirms I don't have one and scratched his head in a puzzled kind of way
Says that means the pipes from the boiler are connected directly to the coil or something - also shows me that the copper tank is looking a bit sorry for itself and has and been weeping.
Starts to drain system using rad pipes in kitchen.
Lots of banging noises then see plumber coming downstairs looking "concerned" and stops draining immediately.
He proceeds to say "I've heard about that, I've read about that but I've never seen that"
He then takes me to copper tank which has started to how shall I say "implode" like a fcuking ribena carton being sucked by a whore
Anyway, he does continues on eventually and says that it should push itself back out again on refill.
So to the end of that day fitting a small towel rail took him about 4.5 hours
By agreement he came back yesterday, was there from about 8.30 and finished around 3.30
I now have a pressurised heating system which is isolated from the hot water (i.e. not mixing with each other) together with a new foam insulated copper tank, emersion heater with an expansion tank and under request he moved and subsequently repiped my shower pump.
Seems that whoever put in the heating should have changes the copper tank (it was original, and thus approx 50 year old) and put in an expansion tank instead of cutting corners leaving it how it was.
However, as the plumber said it worked for you so how are you to know.
Yeah, I thought he was good for the work that was done Davy
Bit like yourself, down to earth and didn't give any bullsh1t and did a good job
Guys, just as a by the way if you need electricial work done and your from N.Ireland then PM mad555
Recommendations are best I think - he does a good job and above and aboard faults (we'll he did for me - fixing other peoples poor work)
Towel Rails
