Fuck my life (leaking radiator in house?)
mcdermott
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
So I have an oil-fired burner with baseboard radiators (water, not steam) and I'm fairly the water circulation system is leaking.
I thought it was air in the lines, but I bled them and the sound remained. Today when walking around my house I heard distinct water-on-water sounds coming out of one of my crawlspace vents (the one by where the loudest sound was from the radiators). So...yeah.
I've already put in a call, but I don't know when somebody will be here to work on it and I'd like to stop the leaking in the meantime. Anybody here have much experience with these systems? I'm looking at the oil burner, and there seems to be just two lines coming to the system...presumably an output and return. The question I have, though, is how is pressure maintained in this system? Or is it a closed system? That would seem...odd.
I have what looks like some kind of pressure release (basically a hose faucet) and I'm trying to drain the system (with a hose running out the door), but it doesn't seem to be actually reducing the pressure. I've already turned off the heating system (at the thermostat) and I've turned the shutoff valves on both sides of the circulation pump and the one next to this faucet thingy.
I'm a terrible homeowner, because I've been entirely unable to locate my master shutoff for the house. I plan to go around again tomorrow and try to find it (I don't even know if it's inside or outside, though I've looked both in and out).
If anybody here has knowledge of these systems, and thinks pictures will help, I will take them.
Basically I just have to feel like I'm doing whatever I can until professional help arrives. I'm also looking at getting all the shit I need to go into my crawlspace, though that's a last resort.
I thought it was air in the lines, but I bled them and the sound remained. Today when walking around my house I heard distinct water-on-water sounds coming out of one of my crawlspace vents (the one by where the loudest sound was from the radiators). So...yeah.
I've already put in a call, but I don't know when somebody will be here to work on it and I'd like to stop the leaking in the meantime. Anybody here have much experience with these systems? I'm looking at the oil burner, and there seems to be just two lines coming to the system...presumably an output and return. The question I have, though, is how is pressure maintained in this system? Or is it a closed system? That would seem...odd.
I have what looks like some kind of pressure release (basically a hose faucet) and I'm trying to drain the system (with a hose running out the door), but it doesn't seem to be actually reducing the pressure. I've already turned off the heating system (at the thermostat) and I've turned the shutoff valves on both sides of the circulation pump and the one next to this faucet thingy.
I'm a terrible homeowner, because I've been entirely unable to locate my master shutoff for the house. I plan to go around again tomorrow and try to find it (I don't even know if it's inside or outside, though I've looked both in and out).
If anybody here has knowledge of these systems, and thinks pictures will help, I will take them.
Basically I just have to feel like I'm doing whatever I can until professional help arrives. I'm also looking at getting all the shit I need to go into my crawlspace, though that's a last resort.
mcdermott on
0
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that should help.
the step you're probably missing is opening up a radiator's bleed vent so air can get into the system.
however, if you do take all the water out, it's going to be very hard to locate the leak. I suggest doing as much as you can to find it if you can.
I'm not some expert on home heating systems but seeing as I am taking a class on "low pressure boilers" right now I might be able to deduce something.
Then there's this part...
I think these are the supply and return lines to the baseboard radiators...
This little water hookup is on the back of the radiator, towards the bottom...
And this one's up top....
Just another random shot, I guess. And that's that.
So whatever's going on, there seems to be no shortage of pressure in the system...the fucking thing just keeps leaking. So what I'm looking for is the shutoff for the water that flows to/through the radiators. Visible throughout the boiler setup I see three obvious shutoff valves (two blue, one red).
Anyway, I hooked up a hose to the little "faucet" by the red shutoff handle, in the hopes that this would allow me to drain the system. It didn't seem to, at least after like thirty minutes it hadn't really stopped, slowed, or anything.
EDIT: I am now actually draining from the drain valve, though (which was the lower connection on the back). Been doing so for...30, 45 minutes? No sign of slowing. So I suspect this thing IS getting water from somewhere. *sigh*
EDIT: ......and solved. The plumber spotted the cutoff valve for the cold water supply to the circulation system. It wasn't in the boiler room, nor was it hooked up anywhere near (diagram-wise) where it was supposed to be...but it was directly above the crawlspace access, so I basically crawled right past it and missed it. *shrug*