Radiator off - Advice needed.

[doddsy799]

Hi all, please could anyone help me with the following issue im having. I will start off with listing the scenario in case it helps.
Boiler - Ideal Icos.
Property - 4 bed
System age - around 16 yrs.

I have a problem in my en-suite, whereby i am unable to get the towel rail to heat up - this did used to work!.
Im no heating expert, but i will have a go, and what ive found / done so far is as follows.

Did the basics, checked valves were open, removed towel rail and flushed out, there was some sediment in, but not alot.
Reassembled, bled back up and tested, still nothing.

Turned other rads down / all off and left the towel rail on, still nothing.

I removed the return (lockshield) valve, opened into a bucket, and the pressure was more than satisfactory, however when i removed the flow TRV and opened into a bucket, the pressure was far less than the return, just a trickle in comparison.

With this in mind, I believe I am losing pressure in the flow pipe, and it is unable to flow into the towel rail. Despite the flow been feeble, the water to the towel rail is hot, as i can feel it through the TRV fittings, so i know ive got hot water to the towel rail, i just dont think it has satisfactory pressure to enter.

Next, I drained the towel rail again, and dropped the pressure out the system, I connected an air pump to the flow pipe, and forced air down, in the hope of moving any obstruction. I did this several times, and the air was coming round and back out the return.

I have reassembled it all again, and still nothing. Im now out of ideas and would appreciate anyones advice regarding this.

Thanks in advance.

Chris.

 

[ShaunCorbs]

Did you test flow after draining without the trv body on ?

 

[doddsy799]

Did you test flow after draining without the trv body on ?

Yes mate, it was still terrible. Cheers, Chris.

 

[ShaunCorbs]

Would say you have a blockage I’m guessing it’s 10mm plastic

Have you checked the insert trv end is fully open and not blocked ?

 

[doddsy799]

Would say you have a blockage I’m guessing it’s 10mm plastic

Have you checked the insert trv end is fully open and not blocked ?

Correct mate its 10mm. Yes I checked the end and even put a spare (but new) TRV valve on, just incase something had broken down inside.

 

[ShaunCorbs]

Sorry to say your fecked it’s manifold end then that means floor up where it is

You could try putting some x800 in for a week or two good luck

 

[doddsy799]

Would say you have a blockage I’m guessing it’s 10mm plastic

Have you checked the insert trv end is fully open and not blocked ?

Correct mate yes its 10mm. Yes I checked the end, all looked fine, I even put e

Sorry to say your fecked it’s manifold end then that means floor up where it is

You could try putting some x800 in for a week or two good luck

Yea i had a feeling you were going to say the manifold next Ive had some cleaner in for over a week and still no good.

Is there any generic place where I might find the manifold? any areas typical?

Thanks again.

 

[ShaunCorbs]

Landing maybe but only the plumber who installed it

 

[Timmy D]

This may/may not work.

Once you find the manifold, disconnect this blocked feed at both ends.

Get some 2mm metal wire (like what’s used for installing bird netting) and try and feed it down the pipe and out the other end.

It may clear the blockage. I’ve successfully done this before. Obviously depends on there being no fittings along the run etc.

 

[doddsy799]

This may/may not work.

Once you find the manifold, disconnect this blocked feed at both ends.

Get some 2mm metal wire (like what’s used for installing bird netting) and try and feed it down the pipe and out the other end.

It may clear the blockage. I’ve successfully done this before. Obviously depends on there being no fittings along the run etc.

Thanks mate, will take this onboard. Kind regards, Chris.

 

[doddsy799]

Landing maybe but only the plumber who installed it

Hi ShaunCorbs / Timmy D - Just to let you know I managed to sort the problem, located the manifolds under the landing (with new carpet . Didnt want to take up the new carpet, but could almost reach them from the section of floor i cut out in the airing cupboard. Anyway to cut a long story short, I managed to get a spanner through the hole, and give the manifold a knock to try and disturb the build up. After this, i pumped air down the pipe again, pressure seemed to build slightly before a massive release, followed by loads of sediment coming through. Once this happened, the flow rate was substantially increased, reassembled and all working now. Thanks again for advice. Chris.

 

[Timmy D]

Hi ShaunCorbs / Timmy D - Just to let you know I managed to sort the problem, located the manifolds under the landing (with new carpet . Didnt want to take up the new carpet, but could almost reach them from the section of floor i cut out in the airing cupboard. Anyway to cut a long story short, I managed to get a spanner through the hole, and give the manifold a knock to try and disturb the build up. After this, i pumped air down the pipe again, pressure seemed to build slightly before a massive release, followed by loads of sediment coming through. Once this happened, the flow rate was substantially increased, reassembled and all working now. Thanks again for advice. Chris.

Good job buddy 👍🏼