Home Radiators Cold in the middle. :(
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Hi,
A couple of the radiators in my new (very old) flat are cold in the middle. They are warm on both sides and at the very top. I tried bleeding them, but water comes out pretty much straight away.
They look pretty oldish, and the combi boiler looks old too.
Could it be the pressure is not high enough as the 2 radiators are the furthest from the boiler and it's quite a large flat, or could they just be full of gunk - the water that came out was a nasty dark colour!
Cheer,
Michael.
A couple of the radiators in my new (very old) flat are cold in the middle. They are warm on both sides and at the very top. I tried bleeding them, but water comes out pretty much straight away.
They look pretty oldish, and the combi boiler looks old too.
Could it be the pressure is not high enough as the 2 radiators are the furthest from the boiler and it's quite a large flat, or could they just be full of gunk - the water that came out was a nasty dark colour!
Cheer,
Michael.
I would guess you've got sediment in the radiator. Bleeding won't cure that. Probably the ultimate answer is to replace the rad, you may be able to avoid that by having the system power flushed (although that's very expensive to do). If the sediment is rust/magnetite then you may find it worth your while to fit a magnetic filter. In conjunction with a flushing agent, and going round the radiators one by one with everything else shut off to give the maximum possible flow, this has removed a huge amount of sediment from my system in the first few days and was still pulling sediment out months later.
GreenV8S said:
I would guess you've got sediment in the radiator. Bleeding won't cure that. Probably the ultimate answer is to replace the rad, you may be able to avoid that by having the system power flushed (although that's very expensive to do). If the sediment is rust/magnetite then you may find it worth your while to fit a magnetic filter. In conjunction with a flushing agent, and going round the radiators one by one with everything else shut off to give the maximum possible flow, this has removed a huge amount of sediment from my system in the first few days and was still pulling sediment out months later.
For what they cost i would look at replacing as recommended above by Pete 
Typo
Edited by Pasco on Wednesday 10th September 19:34
The system sounds like it needs balancing, the water in the system could be passing through the rad too quickly (in the flow through the rad and then out of the return without filling the rad with hot water. Try turning the return valve (the one that gets hot second once you fire up the heating) down to almost off so that it slows the water passing through the rad which should force hot water into every nook and cranny in the rad, other than that call in a pro.
Vee said:
They're sludged up.
Ideally take off and flush through with a hose in the garden.
Alternatively try sludge remover for a few weeks. Sentinel X400 worked well at my parents house.
Sounds like it. If the rads are old it will probably be cheaper in the long run to replace them and use a good rust inhibitor afterwards. You might get away with removing them and giving them a hose out, as suggested, but they may then leakIdeally take off and flush through with a hose in the garden.
Alternatively try sludge remover for a few weeks. Sentinel X400 worked well at my parents house.
As mentioned several times already, they're sludged up. If you can do it yourself, drain the system, take the radiators off one at a time, flush them through thoroughly with a hose. When you put them back on again, if they haven't already got them then put thermostatic valves on them. Make sure you use plenty of PTFE tape so they don't leak.
Good luck.
Good luck.
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