Some radiators not working !??

[Jazz12]

aibu to think it’s the fcuking boiler??

4 radiators in the house (all furthest from the boiler) have stopped working. These were working fine until a few days ago.

1. the pipes under them are cold
2. turning off all other radiators isn’t helping
3. no trapped air, we bled all of them.
4. a couple of radiators are working even after turning them off (using tuning thing at the bottom)

Anything else I can try before I call someone ? Could it be the boiler? Frozen pipes? (They are all on the outside wall) I’m surprised 4 radiators stopped working at the same time?!

We have 2 of these in the cupboard upstairs right above the boiler. They were replaced recently.
how do I know if they are working? They are hot to touch

Thanks! I’ll try this tomorrow. How would I know which radiator to start with?

You will know they are working because the zone valves switch depending on the instructions they receive from the boiler and the wall thermostat.
On the front of them you should see the switch options and they divert water depending on the 'instructions' from the system they receive.
So if you have two you can observe whether they both change at the same time.

Or question the people that changed them, to find out if one of them DOES control the zone of rads which don't currently heat up.
It will defo NOT be radiator balancing,.radiators don't suddenly lose their balance if they've been working normally for a while.

I sat there for 10 mins some time ago. The zone valves are not moving . I mean the little flat stick popping out of the zone valve. Should this be moving?
Does it mean the boiler isn’t sending signals to it?

Thanks for helping me❤️

They will switch if the demands upon them change. Ie if the house is really cold and you suddenly turn the heating on.

Good morning!
DH told me just now that a couple of days ago, while he turned all the radiators on/off and generally messed about with the cold radiators (hammer, pushing the trv button etc), at some point he could make the pipes under the radiators hot (for all 4 cold radiators) He thought he solved the problem. He then turned off the cold radiators, turned the hot ones back on and went to bed.

Does that change anything in your analysis?

We had a similar thing and found that the valves under the temperature setting knob has got stuck - a bit of oil and pulling with pliers and it is all back working

If possible do a complete drain down. Refill and add the anti sludge water treatment, usually through the magnet system cleaner. Fire up & hopefully it works. If system is old a change of the non working rads may be on the cards as sludge might have been building up & now lodged. The rads that are now not working, does the feed pipe get hot? Usually the side with the trv on although not true in every case as trv can be positioned on flow or return. If let’s say it’s on the feed pipe’& the heat stops at the trv then the rad may need a good bleed or open both the trv & lockshield as far as possible & gently tap with a hammer at the bottom all along the rad. This may get unit to work as it has now dislodged the magnetite from that rad only. It will now find another place to call home. although having said that it just might (stresses might) recirculate back to the boiler & hopefully be caught by the magnet. Good luck

Hi, your husband turning OFF the cold radiators should not stop the pipes underneath getting hot.
I presume you turned them all on again before you embarked on this?

Trv should always be opened fully at the end of the heating season

Sorry, looks like I didn’t explain properly.

The pipes connecting the cold radiators are cold right now. A couple of days ago, DH turned off all the hot radiators and messed about with the cold radiators (pushing the trv button a few times, hammering etc). Then the pipes under ALL the cold radiators turned hot. He should have left them alone for a few hours to see if the radiators heat up, but he decided the problem is fixed. 🤦‍♀️ So he turned the cold radiators off, turned the hot radiators back on and went to bed (me and the kids were already sleeping in other warm rooms).

Next day, the cold radiators pipes were cold again !

You mean in setting 5/Max?

Absolutely correct.

Yes, this supports the diagnosis that they need balancing. It is not a pressure problem, or a bleeding problem.

1. turn all the hot ones off

2. if any of them remain hot, please photograph the valves at both ends if the radiator and post on here.

Thank you. I’ll try that tonite

Did that, still no change. Pipes under the cold radiators are also cold 😩

Just one pipe, under one of the radiators got slightly warm.

Hot radiators have cooled down when I turned them off.

We have hot water tank in the loft. And the boiler is a regular boiler (not combi. Is it called a condensation boiler? ). I can’t see the pressure guage when I open the little compartment in the front. 🤔

Is it safe to touch the two way valve and move the sticks to free them up? Looks like they are not moving at all.

You can only balance a system when all rads are working. It’s a long process

Two way valves work on springs so moving them will not do a lot. when you take your hand off them they will return to home position Also there could be a motor in the unit

you will notice a wire connection to the diverter valve it’s attached to the motor inside. All this unit does is take instructions of where to divert the water. If you turn hot tap on it should move to another position, stop tap & it will go back to home. If rads are getting warm then this is not the problem.as some you say are getting warm. Has the boiler got a magnetic unit fitted to it. If it has when was it last cleaned .

Combi boilers do not have a header tank in loft so yours is an open vented one

My money@ the moment is on a build up of dirt & rust that has gradually moved over time & now found a new point. You can remove the rad & flush out with a hose. Or replace with a new one. All the trv should be removed on all dead units and a dash of penetrating oil on the spindles to really get them working

how old is the system. Plastic or metal pipes

The boiler is around 10-11yrs old and the pipes are metal.

It’s so strange that 4 radiators suddenly stopped working. We had the two valves replaced in late summer as they were both leaking.The person who did the job made me check every single radiator after he turned the heating on. They all worked ok.

2 out of 4 cold radiators were definitely working until a few days ago. The other 2, I’m not totally sure.

re Flushing the radiators, can do that. But how likely is it that dirt accumulated in 4 radiators, at once suddenly, all furthest from the boiler, 2 up, 2 down exactly above each other.
Do you reckon the whole system needs to be flushed?

@mogsrus Thanks for helping 🙏🏻