Baseboard hot water heaters air locked

[Will B.]

I'm at my whits end with this and getting cold. I had to replace a section of pipe on my heat system last week. Instead of soldering the joints I used the shark bite fittings. I then spent the last couple days trying to get the air out of the lines.

Last night I thought I had it bled because I was getting hot water out of all the bleeders on each radiator. Now tonight I have nothing. I have 15lbs on the pressure gauge at the boiler in my basement. I've opened both the vent before the pump and the drain valve directly below the pump trying to get the air out of the line. When the system first kicks on I get air out of the bleeders on the radiators but then I get nothing, no air or water. I will get a surging sound for a bit but then it just sounds like the pump is turning or trying to move water. The pump is 2 years old so I'm really hoping its not going out in the whole thing either.

What can I do to help get this going short of calling in a plumber?

[HayZee518]

do you have a bleeder at the expansion tank? is the cover loose? is your automatic feed valve open or the line that feeds it?

[Will B.]

Yes there is a valve at the top of the expansion tank that I have opened once to bleed out. The auto feed valve is working and the line going to it is open. The auto feed valve was replaced last year.

[paul52446m]

Baseboard hot water heaters air locked

I'm at my whits end with this and getting cold. I had to replace a section of pipe on my heat system last week. Instead of soldering the joints I used the shark bite fittings. I then spent the last couple days trying to get the air out of the lines.

Last night I thought I had it bled because I was getting hot water out of all the bleeders on each radiator. Now tonight I have nothing. I have 15lbs on the pressure gauge at the boiler in my basement. I've opened both the vent before the pump and the drain valve directly below the pump trying to get the air out of the line. When the system first kicks on I get air out of the bleeders on the radiators but then I get nothing, no air or water. I will get a surging sound for a bit but then it just sounds like the pump is turning or trying to move water. The pump is 2 years old so I'm really hoping its not going out in the whole thing either.

What can I do to help get this going short of calling in a plumber?

Do not open any valves like under the pump. Are you sure that your pressure Gage is working, or is it stuck? Do you have a fast feed handle on your auto water feed? If so feed the water in until you hit at least 20 LBS. Now start bleeding the rad. Is this a single story home?
As soon as you bleed a little it will start taking the pressure down so you can't do much bleeding to fast or the auto feed might not feed it fast enough.
If you can keep feeding with a fast feed the keep the 20 Lbs in there. Is you
are not sure if Gage in stuck then you might have to change it. We have to know that the gage and feed valve are working. If this does not work then you might have to send me some pic. of boiler and controls and bleeders.
Paul paulm989@hotmail.com

[HayZee518]

the cap on the expansion tank should be unscrewed and left loose, not taken all the way off. does your circulating pump have shut offs on the flanges or isolation valves [gate valves] either side of the flanges? shut off the valve in between the circulator and boiler and loosen the flange bolts of the upper flange. run the system until only water comes out a little messy, I know but...}

[Will B.]

Do not open any valves like under the pump. Are you sure that your pressure Gage is working, or is it stuck? Do you have a fast feed handle on your auto water feed? If so feed the water in until you hit at least 20 LBS. Now start bleeding the rad. Is this a single story home?
As soon as you bleed a little it will start taking the pressure down so you can't do much bleeding to fast or the auto feed might not feed it fast enough.
If you can keep feeding with a fast feed the keep the 20 Lbs in there. Is you
are not sure if Gage in stuck then you might have to change it. We have to know that the gage and feed valve are working. If this does not work then you might have to send me some pic. of boiler and controls and bleeders.
Paul paulm989@hotmail.com

Yes I am sure the gauge is working properly. I have already used the fast fill to bump the pressure up to 15 or so lbs and watched it move. The home is a ranch with full basement. There are 2 systems with zone valves. One for the basement and one fore the upstairs. The problem is the upstairs.

the cap on the expansion tank should be unscrewed and left loose, not taken all the way off. does your circulating pump have shut offs on the flanges or isolation valves [gate valves] either side of the flanges? shut off the valve in between the circulator and boiler and loosen the flange bolts of the upper flange. run the system until only water comes out a little messy, I know but...}

There is just a valve on the expansion tank that I have opened earlier. The pump does not have any shut off on the flanges but there are some valve on both the feed and return sides after the pump.

[paul52446m]

Baseboard hot water heaters air locked

Yes I am sure the gauge is working properly. I have already used the fast fill to bump the pressure up to 15 or so lbs and watched it move. The home is a ranch with full basement. There are 2 systems with zone valves. One for the basement and one fore the upstairs. The problem is the upstairs.



There is just a valve on the expansion tank that I have opened earlier. The pump does not have any shut off on the flanges but there are some valve on both the feed and return sides after the pump.

There is usually no bleeders on the tank , if it is a balder tank. The air should all go up to the rad. in the house so most the bleeding should be done there.. If you can't get the air out by bleeding the way i said in my other post. There might be a way to power flush the system to got air out. But i would have to see pic. to tell you how to do this. You have to have valves in the right places. When you are bleeding, keep pressure up. bleed with pump on zone open, then bleed with pump off zone open. This is called back bleeding. If your fast feed is working, bring her up to 25 LBs
Do not take pump flange off you will just cause leaks. Paul

[Will B.]

There is usually no bleeders on the tank , if it is a balder tank. The air should all go up to the rad. in the house so most the bleeding should be done there.. If you can't get the air out by bleeding the way i said in my other post. There might be a way to power flush the system to got air out. But i would have to see pic. to tell you how to do this. You have to have valves in the right places. When you are bleeding, keep pressure up. bleed with pump on zone open, then bleed with pump off zone open. This is called back bleeding. If your fast feed is working, bring her up to 25 LBs
Do not take pump flange off you will just cause leaks. Paul

The tank is just that, a tank, not a bladder style tank. Could it be that there is not enough air in the tank and that I need to drain some of the water from it?

Also there is not a separate switch for the pump its self. It's hard wired in so when the t-stat calls for heat it kicks on.

[Will B.]

Do not open any valves like under the pump. Are you sure that your pressure Gage is working, or is it stuck? Do you have a fast feed handle on your auto water feed? If so feed the water in until you hit at least 20 LBS. Now start bleeding the rad. Is this a single story home?
As soon as you bleed a little it will start taking the pressure down so you can't do much bleeding to fast or the auto feed might not feed it fast enough.
If you can keep feeding with a fast feed the keep the 20 Lbs in there. Is you
are not sure if Gage in stuck then you might have to change it. We have to know that the gage and feed valve are working. If this does not work then you might have to send me some pic. of boiler and controls and bleeders.
Paul paulm989@hotmail.com

Ok I did this just a little bit ago and now it seems happy other then the pressure is a bit higher then 20lbs. What is the best way to relieve this? Open the safety relief valve?

[paul52446m]

Baseboard hot water heaters air locked

Ok I did this just a little bit ago and now it seems happy other then the pressure is a bit higher then 20lbs. What is the best way to relieve this? Open the safety relief valve?

If you don't have a bladder tank, then the way i charge the tank is, turn off stop valve going to tank, put 1/4 tank of water in tank, air charge to 14 lbs,
get system down to 14 lbs by draining just a little water out of boiler, open stop valve going to tank.
Did you get your heat going? Paul

[Will B.]

I have heat now. Thanks!!