Cold Room – Water Filled Radiator

[MasterPlumbersKeymaster]

I have a water radiator heating system (1942) in which one radiator barely becomes luke-warm. I’m looking for suggestions…

Here’s what I’ve done and learned:
1) I bled the radiator and on a suggestion bled out about 1/2 gallon of water. (Also bled the air out the other radiators in the house)

2) The radiator does have a shutoff valve on the water path leaving. It’s not stuck. While bleeding the system, I closed the valve and the bleeding stopped. I opened the valve and the pressure returned.

3) I closed the valves to all the other radiators in the house so give this one full pressure and the pump was clanking and pressure gauge was jumping about. I quickly opened the valve to the second radiator on this loop and the pump quieted – pressure evened out.

4) Since the second radiator on the loop gets hot, the loop is active. BUT I can’t get to the pipes where the feed loop seperates for the two radiators (different rooms on second floor and the pipes are under the floor or in the wall).

I drained the complete system last night, planning on pulling the radiator out and snaking the pipes, however I’m now thinking maybe I’ll first refill the entire system and see if settlement or such has shifted and allows the radiator to perform.

Any other thoughts or suggestions?

Thanks,
PrezM

[Harold KestenholzParticipant]

Your work with the system and radiator indicates that water can get into the radiator, but not back out to return to the boiler.

There is always the story that is remenbered by a contractor when he repairs something in an old house. The customer says a few days later that the radiator worked until the contractor fixed parts in the adjoining room. The contractor follows the pipes into the wall and finds they were cut off and plugged so long ago that the skeleton of a mouse is found there alongside a page from a newspaper showing the sinking of the Titanic.

[Author]

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