[Dave Plowman (News)]

In article
,
JB wrote:
HELP ! I've been in this house now for 1.5 years and have had a
nightmare with this CH system (only 6 years old)
It's a conventional boiler with CH and HW loops, open vented. I have 2
issues that are kind of related really so here we go.

1. When we moved in the first thing I noticed was that the TRVs were
sometimes on the flow and sometimes on the return. Is this wrong, if
so how serious an issue is it for the performance of the system ??? Is
there grounds for quizzing/pushing the installer ???

Some TRVs can be used on either flow or return. Look for an arrow on the
body. If there isn't one it probably means they are ok.

2. 2 of the radiators have been really problematic, kitchen and spare
bedroom. They hardly get warm despite me having many attempts at
correctly balancing the rads. All rads upstairs close to the pump are
turned down almost fully and still heat up really quick.

Sounds like you're guessing this. Lockshield valves ain't linear in
operation. You might find it only needs to be open a quarter turn. Get
yourself a thermometer and measure the in and out temperatures as per the
FAQ on balancing - you have read it carefully?

--
*Pentium wise, pen and paper foolish *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

[JB[_4_]]

On 14 Jan, 17:32, "Dave Plowman (News)" wrote:
In article
,
* *JB wrote:

HELP ! I've been in this house now for 1.5 years and have had a
nightmare with this CH system (only 6 years old)
It's a conventional boiler with CH and HW loops, open vented. I have 2
issues that are kind of related really so here we go.
1. When we moved in the first thing I noticed was that the TRVs were
sometimes on the flow and sometimes on the return. Is this wrong, if
so how serious an issue is it for the performance of the system ??? Is
there grounds for quizzing/pushing the installer ???

Some TRVs can be used on either flow or return. Look for an arrow on the
body. If there isn't one it probably means they are ok.

2. 2 of the radiators have been really problematic, kitchen and spare
bedroom. They hardly get warm despite me having many attempts at
correctly balancing the rads. All rads upstairs close to the pump are
turned down almost fully and still heat up really quick.

Sounds like you're guessing this. Lockshield valves ain't linear in
operation. You might find it only needs to be open a quarter turn. Get
yourself a thermometer and measure the in and out temperatures as per the
FAQ on balancing - you have read it carefully?

--
*Pentium wise, pen and paper foolish *

* * Dave Plowman * * * * * * * * London SW
* * * * * * * * * To e-mail, change noise into sound.

cheers fellas for the comments so far. All TRVs on the whole system
have arrows pointing both directions of flow. I guess that means they
can be located on either the flow or return ???
I have opened the kitchen rad from the return side whilst the flow was
closed and rad plugged with a cork. About 5-6 litres came out freely
which i returned to the expansion tank. Would an airlock have cleared
by now if there was one ??? I haven't had time to drain the flow yet
but my gut feeling is that it's ok. Dave said that LSVs aren't linear
in operation......the kitchen rad flow is controlled by a
LSV.....surely gradually closing it down will reduce flow into the rad
making my problem worse ???? I wonder if the spare bedroom and kitchen
rads are adjacent to each other on the system........will I drain
return water from the spare room rad???
cheers for anymore advice or comments guys.
jonathan

[Ed Sirett]

On Wed, 16 Jan 2008 13:19:09 -0800, JB wrote:

On 14 Jan, 17:32, "Dave Plowman (News)" wrote:
In article
,
Â* Â*JB wrote:

HELP ! I've been in this house now for 1.5 years and have had a
nightmare with this CH system (only 6 years old) It's a conventional
boiler with CH and HW loops, open vented. I have 2 issues that are
kind of related really so here we go. 1. When we moved in the first
thing I noticed was that the TRVs were sometimes on the flow and
sometimes on the return. Is this wrong, if so how serious an issue is
it for the performance of the system ??? Is there grounds for
quizzing/pushing the installer ???

Some TRVs can be used on either flow or return. Look for an arrow on
the body. If there isn't one it probably means they are ok.

2. 2 of the radiators have been really problematic, kitchen and spare
bedroom. They hardly get warm despite me having many attempts at
correctly balancing the rads. All rads upstairs close to the pump are
turned down almost fully and still heat up really quick.

Sounds like you're guessing this. Lockshield valves ain't linear in
operation. You might find it only needs to be open a quarter turn. Get
yourself a thermometer and measure the in and out temperatures as per
the FAQ on balancing - you have read it carefully?

--
*Pentium wise, pen and paper foolish *

Â* Â* Dave Plowman Â* Â* Â* Â* Â* Â* Â* Â* London SW
Â* Â* Â* Â* Â* Â* Â* Â* Â* To e-mail, change noise into sound.

cheers fellas for the comments so far. All TRVs on the whole system have
arrows pointing both directions of flow. I guess that means they can be
located on either the flow or return ???
In theory, if they don't chatter, bang, groan or whine then they are OK.

I ave opened the kitchen rad
from the return side whilst the flow was closed and rad plugged with a
cork. About 5-6 litres came out freely which i returned to the expansion
tank. Would an airlock have cleared by now if there was one ??? I
haven't had time to drain the flow yet but my gut feeling is that it's
ok. Dave said that LSVs aren't linear in operation......the kitchen rad
flow is controlled by a LSV.....surely gradually closing it down will
reduce flow into the rad making my problem worse ???? I wonder if the
spare bedroom and kitchen rads are adjacent to each other on the
system........will I drain return water from the spare room rad???
cheers for anymore advice or comments guys. jonathan

You could have a partial blockage of the pipes feeding the rad.
Especially if one blockage could cause both problems.

What happens when you shut down all the other rads (with their TRVs)?
Do you get a hot rad in the kitchen? The ktichen rad need to be opened up
fully (minus a bit to stop it jamming) on the lockshield side.

--
Ed Sirett - Property maintainer and registered gas fitter.
The FAQ for uk.diy is at http://www.diyfaq.org.uk
Gas fitting FAQ http://www.makewrite.demon.co.uk/GasFitting.html
Sealed CH FAQ http://www.makewrite.demon.co.uk/SealedCH.html
Choosing a Boiler FAQ http://www.makewrite.demon.co.uk/BoilerChoice.html