Cold Radiator
We have a cold/tepid radiator. The plumber was in and put in a new larger air vent and checked the pitch. All the other radiators are blazing hot. This radiator gets hot if we run the heat forever, but that makes the rest of the building unberably hot. It is a single pipe steam system.
We have a cold/tepid radiator. The plumber was in and put in a new larger air vent and checked the pitch. All the other radiators are blazing hot. This radiator gets hot if we run the heat forever, but that makes the rest of the building unberably hot.
It is a single pipe steam system.
try calling this guy. he’s not a plumber per se, but has done this stuff for a long time. We use him for a lot of jobs and if he doesn’t take care of the problem – he doesn’t charge –
http://www.thetinkerswagon.com.
good luck
jason
try calling this guy. he’s not a plumber per se, but has done this stuff for a long time. We use him for a lot of jobs and if he doesn’t take care of the problem – he doesn’t charge –
http://www.thetinkerswagon.com.
good luck
jason
No air bleeding in steam radiators, I think.
The supply valve could be plugged with debris, but you’d have to take it off to see, not a DIY job.
What IB is talking about is horizontal runs of pipe leading to the radiator, normally pitched back towards the boiler (so condensate flows back.) Otoh, there’s one pipe in my basement that’s clearly pitched the wrong way and I can only guess that it never fills up with enough water to impede the steam, as the attached radiator is large and works fine.
Did you try bleeding the radiator? Sometimes an air pcoket builds up. We have hot water heating and that happened with us on a 3rd floor radiator.
Try prying up the end of the radiator with the supply valve as well and sticking a piece of wood underneath. The air valve end of the radiator must still be higher than the supply end, so you might have to raise that end a little more to compensate.
Sometimes in older buildings the pipe leading to a radiator begins to sag along with the rest of the building and water doesn’t drain properly below the radiator which obviously blocks the flow of steam rising up.
I figured this out myself once after trying nearly everything else including changing the radiator and calling a plumber.
Unfortunately, it could also be the radiator itself, and you wouldn’t know for sure unless you tried changing the radiator. Luckily usually it’s not the radiator, so changing it should be a last resort.
Yes the valve is fully open.
Did the plumber check if your radiator valve is fully open if not it might be the cause, happened to me once after it was changed the radiator worked great.