Radiant Ceiling Heat

Users who are viewing this thread

loners4me

New Member
Messages
3
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Location
illinois
I have a Capitol gas boiler...old bugger. 90000 btu, series # 5-11 with a bell & gossett pump and each room has its own regulator. Well some rooms are hot and others are cold. These valves are highly corroded and Im afraid cranking on them might do more harm than good. If these things do move which way allows more/less flow? My drunk plumber friend told me this would be an expensive part to replace and not to touch it....
 

Attachments

  • 20131028_075350.jpg
    20131028_075350.jpg
    43.2 KB · Views: 384
  • 20131028_075359.jpg
    20131028_075359.jpg
    34 KB · Views: 387
  • 20131028_075338.jpg
    20131028_075338.jpg
    52.2 KB · Views: 390

Smooky

In the Trades
Messages
2,299
Reaction score
152
Points
63
Location
North Carolina
Lefty loosey righty tighty
In other words
Turn it clockwise to close the valve and counter clockwise to open the valve.
 

loners4me

New Member
Messages
3
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Location
illinois
I am able to turn some of these screws but not sure anything is happening. One screw I kept twisting counter clockwise and it seems to just keep turning. Could the plunger or whatever is inside be old/stuck? Is there any rubber in these or just metal? The original reason Im even messing with it is because my living room just stopped getting warm overnight. No adjustments made in the 5 years I lived here and all of a sudden the ceiling in living room doesnt get warm but the others still work fine.
 

Houptee

Member
Messages
285
Reaction score
9
Points
18
Location
Monmouth County, NJ
Maybe air is trapped in the loop for living room so you get no flow?
Is there a way to bleed each circuit on the return manifold? I assume this is the supply manifold in the pic or it could be the return since I see a boiler drain valve with no handle on it?
You need to make sure water is moving thru each circuit.
Normally on the drain valve you hook a garden hose to it and drain out the water and air, one circuit at a time, making sure the cold water feed valve is allowing new make up water into the system as you let the old water out of the system.
Maybe check your cold water feed valve/backflow preventer/and pressure reducing valve assembly is not all clogged up with sediment.
You probably have low water condition in the system.
 

Tom Sawyer

In the Trades
Messages
3,625
Reaction score
34
Points
48
Location
Maine
Best advice, call in someone that is schooled in radiant heat and has experience with older systems like yours. Your drunk plumber friend is correct in that messing with those 50+ year old valves will most likely lead to leaking packing that you won't b able to stop.
 

Houptee

Member
Messages
285
Reaction score
9
Points
18
Location
Monmouth County, NJ
I think those valves are basically just a gate type flow valve and the nut is just a locknut, so they would just spin around forever and not tighten if u loosen the nut. You use the screwdriver slot to determine if it is full open position or full closed then lock it with nut.
But like Tom said once you disturb them after all these years they are going to leak most likely.
Take a pic of the other manifold and the cold water supply valves etc.

I had this problem several times where the make up feed water was not flowing into the system due to the cold water feed valve/backflow preventer/and pressure reducing valve assembly was packed totally solid with crud.

This is an example of what could be clogged up as well as the water shut off valve that would be in front of it.
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Watts-1-...e-and-Backflow-Preventer-B911S-1-2/202584235#
 
Top
Hey, wait a minute.

This is awkward, but...

It looks like you're using an ad blocker. We get it, but (1) terrylove.com can't live without ads, and (2) ad blockers can cause issues with videos and comments. If you'd like to support the site, please allow ads.

If any particular ad is your REASON for blocking ads, please let us know. We might be able to do something about it. Thanks.
I've Disabled AdBlock    No Thanks