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Old home, one radiator has stopped working 2x in the last 2 weeks.
First time, I attempted bleeding the radiator but now I am not sure what it was that I did.
I unscrewed the air valve and water cleared out. I then screwed the air valve back on. Now, there is small needle-sized hole at the top of the air-valve that can be opened and closed. I opened that needle-sized hole, then rotated the cut-off valve. I heard air hissing out. Shortly after, the unit began to heat up/work.
Today, the same radiator was not working. I attempted the same process but no hissing sound was ever made. Water did clear out of the air valve when I unscrewed it. The unit did not heat up afterwards.
Might sound simple, but was the valve turned to on? Did someone turn it off? The one on the radiator that shuts off the heat to it or lets the heat get to it?
Cully, I think you are asking if the cut-off valve was set to keep heat from entering the radiator the second time around -- yes?
No, the cut-off valve screwed was NOT screwed all the way down -- as in, the cut-off valve was NOT set to cut off steam from the entering the radiator.
It may have to do with the pressure in your system then. I used to have two I had to bleed regularly in a house full of them. I do love their radiant heat and miss them. We even had the covers on top where historically water was put in to keep the room air from drying too much.
Let's see if others have ideas.
Occasionally, we needed to call in "the guy". Hopefully, you have someone familiar with the old things.
This evening, I noticed the "problem" radiator was finally working. I guess there was no hissing sound when I bled it because the furnace was set to shut off around the time I got around to bleeding the radiator.
Your pressure guess was right, I suppose!! Thanks, Cully!!
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