"Crewood" wrote in news:1112958748.049511.260110
@f14g2000cwb.googlegroups.com:

Hello Steve,

Both the valves on all my radiators have removable white plastic caps,
one with the direction arrows. I'm worried that over a period of time
these caps may have been switched so I'm not sure which is the correct
valve.

Regards....Mike


Quick and dirty method.

First designate a lockshield valve on all rads; traditionally the
downstream (cooler) side.

Get an infrared thermometer, hopefully on sale somewhere; (not absolutely
essential but one of the best toy... tools you can get.

All valves fully open?

Find the hottest rad, and close down the lockshield all the way, and open
just a sniff. These valves are only effective as controls for about the
first 1½ to 2 turns, so half a turn as a first try is plenty.

After letting this settle, do the same for the next hottest, until you
get a rough balance. Try for about a 20 deg F /11deg C across the rad.

If desperate, shut the hottest rads right off, to make sure the presently
cooler rads heat up - if they don't there's a problem.

I found in my hovel I got a rough balance very quickly, in fact good
enough for jazz; but you also get a "feel" for your system, aaaand with
your new I/R thermometer you can tweak it accurately if you feel the
need.

HTH

mike