I'm dealing with various plumbing problems simultaneously, and I was hoping someone can lead me in the proper direction.

 

I have hot water heat, which is blazing hot in my living room, but only mediocre in two of the three bedrooms. Each pipe (with a faux radiator cover) has a knob. I opened them all up, but I'm unsure if it is a continuous line or individual units off a main pipe. If I close some off can I get more hot water to the other rooms?

 

My other issue, which I suspect is from hard water, is a decrease in hot water pressure to all faucets. Since its blended I'm barely getting any hot water. I have a water softener which was not (and still isn't) hooked up when I purchased the home. The hot water comes directly from a heating coil in the boiler (I think) and I believe it needs to be descaled. I'm up in th air on getting an indirect fired water tank, cleaning out this old hog of a boiler (oil], or going electric water heater.

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

if its tees off of a main loop you may have air in the colder rooms heat pipes check and see if there is a bleeder to let the air out. you should also be able to cut back the living room if its done with the tees. 

You will need to understand exactly how your individual radiators are connected. Series, parallel, or a combination of both. Until you know that, you can't formulate a plan to balance the flow(s).

 

For example, in my last house the radiators on one side of the house were in series, and the radiators on the other side were in series, and those two loops were fed off a T. So, I had to insert a valve on the 'fast' loop so I could slow down the flow to match the other loop. Then all the radiators at least had the same water flow rate. That didn't get me to a 'perfect' balance (due to unequal amounts of radiator-feet), but it was 90% good enough and simple to do.

 

Draw yourself a piping schematic diagram so you can make some sense out of it.

Bob, I bled them and water started coming out right away. I assumed that meant it was good to go. Do I drain some and look for an air pocket?

 

I'm going to cut back the living room dials tonight and see what happens. The basement is finished, so I'm not sure if I can get to the pipes without cutting a few holes.

I assume your system has an auto-fill?    I would bleed a bit more than just "the water started coming out".  You need to run it a bit and see if it's burping like there's air in it.

 

As stated above, if your radiators branch off a main line with mono flow tees, it's possible they are partially or totally air locked resulting in anemic flow.  The BEST method to fix that is to install a valve between the diverter tees to force water to the radiator down the side pipe and push any air out....then open it back up when you're done.

 

As to your other problem, are you sure the water coming out of your hot tank is up to temp or are you saying it can't keep up?  The other thing is, you say you've go a "blended flow" often you can adjust those anti-scald valves to just push more heat.   Maybe it's just set wrong?

if you drain it it will fill with air. turn the system off, open the bleader on the heat loop and let it spray into a bucket or something it should srpay pretty good. do this until it stops spitting and runs in a solid stream. if that doesnt work you have to hook a hose to the drain on the line that goes into your boiler, run the hose outside, then close the valve between the hose connection and the boiler, then open the valve that the hose is connected to. let it run until the water runs solid. when it does close off hose and open valve on pipe.

 

if water doesnt ssem to want to come out you may have a bad pressure reducing valve and or backflow preventer, these are located on the 1/2 line that goes to your boiler. so be prepared to replace them. also since its friday evening i probably would wait until morning to do this. you run the risk of having no heat.

Bob, I bled them and water started coming out right away. I assumed that meant it was good to go. Do I drain some and look for an air pocket?

 

I'm going to cut back the living room dials tonight and see what happens. The basement is finished, so I'm not sure if I can get to the pipes without cutting a few holes.

Want me to come look for you? I'm in Randolph right now right off Dover Chester road waiting for a lady to get home. I'm getting sick of sitting in her driveway playing on my phone. This is what I do. I specialize in Hydronic heat. I look for free.

 

Last chance I'm getting on Rt 10 to go home now. But I would gladly come check your system out another day for you. Just let me know.

HeaterBob's on target. Also, once you know how your system is you go to the farthest radiator from the origin and bleed first there. See what you get, then continue working backwards from there.

He will never be able to bleed all the air from the system without by-passing the pressure reducing valve. You need the pressure to push out the air from the monoflow loop, then bleed each cast Iron rad. Dont try that unless you know exactly what your doing, because you'll probably wind up blowing off the relief valve on the boiler that won't shut off. Trying to purge the air from the system at 12-15psi wont work, you actually wind up bringing more air into the system below 10psi, as soon as you open your boiler drain on your return line its going to drop down that low immediately. If the system is that old that its monoflo it may have a fill-troll instead of a normal pressure reducing valve like a B&G FB38. Are the cold radiators all on one zone? Or are we talking about multiple zones? could be a bad circulator pump if its zoned with multiple circulators.

 

Your low domestic water pressure is most likely a scaled up coil, that needs to be cleaned by a coil cleaner. There are two in the area both in Dover, Franks or Jimmys coil cleaning. I like Jimmy better.

 

Forget about an electric water heater they suck for multiple reasons. An indirect can be done and it will cut your annual fuel bill by 30% over the tankless coil your using now. This is the most expensive option initially, but the only option that will pay you back over time.

 

If the water softner that's there is more than 10 years old its garbage. The resin inside only lasts 10 years then needs to be re-beded. no one re-beds them its not worth it. Replacement time, I can steer you in the right direction for a good softner. I'm sure its not being used because its broken (usually bad injector), or the media is completely clogged, probably with iron, very common around here.

 

I had already called Frank to make an appointment before I saw your post. Does one do a better job than the other? There was a sticker on the boiler for Frank's Coil Cleaning, so that's who I called.

 

This appears to be above the scope of my DIY skills. I'm going to investigate the softener and report back.

I installed a softener when I caught my wife washing her hair with bottled water.

And, my water isn't even that hard!

The softener will pay back too in extending the life of all your appliances.

It's one zone.

Frank or Jimmy, either one is ok. I always recommend Jimmy because I know him. Jimmy used to work for Frank's they both do a good job.

 

It sounds like an air issue or you have a frozen radiator/s and the water is bypassing the frozen ones through the monoflow loop. Chances are it's most likely air though.

 

I will gladly look at it for you if you wish. My office is in Randolph, I'm there every day. I can teach you how to properly bleed the system. It's not difficult but you need someone to show you once. Every boiler is piped differently.

 

Frank or Jimmy, either one is ok. I always recommend Jimmy because I know him. Jimmy used to work for Frank's they both do a good job. It sounds like an air issue or you have a frozen radiator/s and the water is bypassing the frozen ones through the monoflow loop. Chances are it's most likely air though. I will gladly look at it for you if you wish. My office is in Randolph, I'm there every day. I can teach you how to properly bleed the system. It's not difficult but you need someone to show you once. Every boiler is piped differently.

Great thank you.

 

http://products.geappliances.com/ApplProducts/Dispatcher?REQUEST=SpecPage&Sku=GXSF30H

 

That is the water softener installed. It looks like it's hooked up, but I don't know if they shut any valves. I'm also not sure how old it is. The house was vacant when I purchased it, so perhaps that's why it was unplugged. 

 

PM inbound.

Great thank you.

 

http://products.geappliances.com/ApplProducts/Dispatcher?REQUEST=SpecPage&Sku=GXSF30H

 

That is the water softener installed. It looks like it's hooked up, but I don't know if they shut any valves. I'm also not sure how old it is. The house was vacant when I purchased it, so perhaps that's why it was unplugged.

 

PM inbound.

We could put it into service and see how it works. Probably has the bypass closed in the back, or the valves shut off and bypassed. Those cabinet style softners are notorious for "salt bridging". That's when you wind up with a hollow cavern at the bottom and the salt above turns into a big solid blob. Usually happens when pellets are used instead of regular crystals. I usually smash it up with a piece of pipe and it works again.

http://s1134.photobucket.com/user/chrisjm981/slideshow/Water%20Softner

Salt level is low, and they were using crystal that's good. Put a few bags in it and turn the water on to it. Set the clock as well. You'll find out in a day or so if it works. When you take a shower for the first time you'll notice the difference.

 

I really don't like that it discharges into an Air conditioning condensation pump. That's not the intended purpose for that pump. The discharge is salt brine, can't be good for that pump. It should really have its own trapped stand pipe with an air gap fitting like your laundry uses.