Need help troubleshooting

[andis65]

Ok, so I have a typical boiler heat set up in my house, 3 zones (north, middle and south we will call them) hot water baseboard heat. so since i started my system up this year (no changes were made) the north zone which is the farthest away (like 40 feet) is not working. When the thermostat calls for heat the zone valve operates and trips the pump on like it should, i hear a slight burp and bubble here and there from the baseboards but it does'nt get hot to heat the area.My circulator pump is a 3 speed pump and ive tried all three speeds so far... anyone have any ideas? Thank you

 

[mygarageone]

If all the other zones are working , it most likely is air trapped some where. Have you checked the pressure on the gauge ? it should read 10 - 15 # pressure.
I know it's a closed system but this happens more often than people know .

Try to purge air at the air bleeders but make sure the there is no water flowing. if you get air out of your bleeders that most likely was the problem.

 

[sselander]

When we had a boiler in our old home, I added a Spirovent near the boiler to take care of the air in the system. Beats running around, trying to bleed air out of the baseboards.
I actually found mine at Home Depot of all places

http://www.homedepot.com/p/SPIROTHE...1005/202268859?keyword=spirovent#.UoOHxfnbObw

 

[anthony666]

if you're getting hot water right up to the pump, but not out the other side of it it and the pump is definitely getting line voltage there might be another problem .. a fairly common failure is the impeller shaft seizes to the bearing over the summer season and snaps when it gets it's first hear call .. so the pump appears to be running but you get nothing at the baseboards .. isolate the pump .. disconnect the wiring .. pull the bolts that hold the motor cassette to pump housing and remove .. the impeller should spin easily .. install is reverse of removal, plus bleed system

while you're in there the pump housing is a place in the system where the water velocity changes, these are commonly areas where schmeg drops out of suspension .. clean out any mineral deposits

 

[andis65]

The pump i would assume is pumping because the other two zones work, and by that i mean the baseboards are hot to touch.. unless its possible that the pump isnt big enough? how do you correctly size that sort of thing? i havent been home yet to bleed and try mygarageone's suggestion. when i feel upstream of the zonevalves (return side) on the other two systems the copper line is hot when the zone valve is open. this one is cold.

 

[anthony666]

ok .. your zones are controlled by zone valves instead of pumps .. that would have been good info to know from the get go .. nm

any way there's your problem, bad zone valve .. some of them have a lever so you can manually open them .. try that .. if it works after that you know your chore for today .. also check to make sure it's getting voltage to open it

 

[mygarageone]

ok .. your zones are controlled by zone valves instead of pumps .. that would have been good info to know from the get go .. nm

any way there's your problem, bad zone valve .. some of them have a lever so you can manually open them .. try that .. if it works after that you know your chore for today .. also check to make sure it's getting voltage to open it

But he said that when he turns up the stat , the valve works as it trips the end switch and the pump comes on but no heat at registers. and then he said he hears a burb or bubble , so I am leaning towards air bound.

I have seen valve with stuck plungers but I do not think that's his problem .

 

[anthony666]

so I am leaning towards air bound

you're probably right

 

[andis65]

Ok, fella's just wanted to thank yu for the advice, i vented my registers and got like 15 seconds of air out of 2 of them.. the system is working great now!! i do still have one question though... how did air get in there??

 

[anthony666]

how did air get in there??

water is hydrogen and two parts oxygen plus whatever extra dissolved gases it picked up on it's way to your house

over the summer time when it's not in use dissolved oxygen comes out in tiny bubbles which coalesce until eventually there's enough air to cause a problem

then you add some more water to re pressurize the system and voila, more dissolved gases for next year

 

[andis65]

that makes me feel better! i was worried! thank you so much for your help anthony666, i might be calling on you again soon, im like one weekend away from lighting off my new garage floor heating system... im sure there will be something ill need to pick your brain about..

 

[anthony666]

anytime