Question about bleeding forced hot water pipes

[Donna]

Hi all!

I have a quick question. We have a forced hot water system (from googling, it looks like a two pipe system - hot and return pipes, in four zones). One of the bedrooms upstairs (which is a single zone for all rooms) doesn't heat well. The baseboard will get warm-ish, but the room itself is noticeably cooler than the other three.

Here are my questions: 1) does this sound like an air block, and thus requires that I bleed the pipe in that room?

2) if so, can you give me a quick primer on how to bleed a pipe? From googling, I think I should be looking for some kind of fitting to unscrew, let the air and some water out, and re-tighten, is that right?

2.5) Do the things I need to look for to loosen and let the air out, have any kind of uniform appearance? I can't seem to see anything like what the web describes. Maybe I need to remove the housing around the baseboard heater to find it?

3) Should I be worried about scalding myself?

Thanks, guys. Any info you could give me would be greatly appreciated.

Donna

PS: although I can't visually locate an expansion tank, I'm assuming we must have one, as we recently had a water holding tank installed, and the furnace is newish (eight-ten years) has been recently serviced and inspected.

[RBM]

The bleeders are at the boiler, each zone "should" have one. It may have a cap covering it, but it looks like a fitting that you attach a garden hose to

[m Ransley]

You might have a bleader on the baseboard try thet first if you have one, bleading at the highest point is best. Is enough water in the boiler. To bleed just open the blead valve when boiler is running till water comes out steady.

[Donna]

Aha. I'll go check. I couldn't find a thing on any of the upstairs pipes, so I'll check the boiler.

Follow up question: should I bleed all of my zones on any kind of schedule, or just when I am having a problem?

Donna

[Marilyn & Bob]

Note that the bleeder valve on the baseboard will either have a slotted screw head that can be turned by a screwdriver OR it will have a square rod that requires a special key to turn. You shoulf be able to get this key at any hardware or plumbing supply store for about 50¢. Just ask for a radiator valve key.

[Donna]

Thanks, everyone. I went down and looked at the oil burner/water heater thing, and lo and behold, there were five hose connectors, neatly labeled by zone (well, except the one at floor level - not sure what that goes to.). Anyway, I turned on the second floor heat, and drained a couple of buckets of water out of the corresponding hose connector. Was that enough water, do you think? I didn't really notice anychange in pressure as I was draining the water. Oddly, the water was tea-colored, I'm assuming from the copper pipes. I suppose that's normal?

Donna

[Bob M.]

Might be air bubbles trapped in the system. You can hear these though, especially if the system has a lot of air in it. Any time the boiler is on you'll hear gurgling in the baseboard heater pipes if you have bubbles trapped inside.

The bleeder screw on my system is a small thing, about 2x the size of a pencil eraser, and on one end of most of the baseboard heaters, maybe all of them.

Are the pumps that push the water thru the pipes working? Again, when one zone is calling for heat, you can hear them run if you're standing nearby.

[Tekkie®]

Donna posted for all of us...

Not that quick

Asked and answered MANY times - do your own research.

[Heathcliff]

If one radiator is not heating up as much as the others, most likely it has air trapped in it. At least, that's the first thing to try. This air can be removed using a bleeder valve, which each radiator should have if they were installed correctly. The bleeder valve would be a little gizmo sticking out at one end or the other of the radiator. To let the air out you loosen it, using either a screwdriver or a special bleeder valve key, and if there is air to be let out you will hear hissing for a while, then water will come out. Not much water and no need to worry about getting scalded. Usually there is a little hole on the side of the bleeder valve where a very thin stream of water comes out when the air is all gone. Then just tighten the bleeder valve back up and hopefully that radiator will work fine now.

If the problem is air in the radiator, draining buckets of water out of a zone drain won't help at all, but probably won't hurt anything either as the boiler will just make that water up. (It probably has a valve that lets more water in to the system if the pressure gets too low, that would be a kind of bell-shaped thing on a pipe that goes into the boiler. At any rate, I wouldn't worry about it unless other problems turn up.) Also, no need to worry about the tea-colored water.