How to bleed a radiator

[Lasuil]

Hiya, I've just bled my 2 small radiators in my student room, but no water came out after I heard the noise of the air hissing out stop - does this mean I need to leave the valve open until the water comes out?

[ultimatehandyman]

@Lasuil

If you have a sealed system you need to check the system pressure. Never leave a bleed valve open and leave it!

[Blue17velvet]

Thanks HandyMan. Found your tutorials a great help. Regards...

[JOOP60606]

Nice one - thanks!!!

[weedyak]

bleed valve has rounded

[weedyak]

my key dont turn cuz the points are round

[ultimatehandyman]

@weedyak

You can buy new ones.

If the sytem has lots of air in you you might even just be able to swap it over.

You can get them on ebay if you search for brass bleed valve.

You just need to get the right size

[weedyak]

@ultimatehandyman the radiator not the key works

[ultimatehandyman]

@weedyak

If the part on the radiator has rounded off you need a brass bleed valve.

If the key is rounded you need a bleed key.

[weedyak]

@ultimatehandyman what does the brass key do its the same key

[ultimatehandyman]

@weedyak

The brass bleed valve on the radiator has a square bit sticking out. The key has a square hole in it that engages with the square bleed valve. You need to determine if the key is rounded or the bleed valve has rounded and then replace the faulty part.

[jgena25]

I don't see a bleed valve on any of my radiators, I'm new to having these. One in my sons bedroom upstairs seems like it could be empty if that's possible, doesn't heat at all! Is there a way to turn them off and on!?!? Where is the bleed valve hidden at? Thank you for the help and info!

[ultimatehandyman]

@jgena25

Sometimes the bleed valve is on the back of the radiator.

Make sure that the valves at the bottom of the radiator are open ;-)

[lrd9999]

@jgena25 Some N. American systems with fin-tube (baseboard) radiators don't have a bleeder on each radiator, you have to flush each loop with a garden hose; if these have shutoffs, they may be in the basement. If two fin-tube radiators are connected through a wall, they could share valves (check both ends). If you have cast iron radiators or box convectors, both valves should be easy to find, unless it's a steam system, which is a whole new (actually old :-)) can of worms, so to speak.

[sportsfreaklgg]

1 person lost his bleed key.

[ultimatehandyman]

@sportsfreaklgg

It's easily done!

I have about 5 of them in different places and half the time I still struggle finding one ;-)

[DomSezXL]

I just got round to getting a radiator bleed key as I lost my old one and several of them needed it. I wasn't sure which way to undo them as most of them were seized up so I'm glad you confirmed it's anti-clockwise on here. One bled without letting any water out, but I'd just bled a couple of the others and the combi boiler had gone down considerably so that may have been the cause, although there was water in another. I'll see how I go with this one, though. Combi boiler refilled now. Thanks :)

[ultimatehandyman]

@DomSezXL

You are welcome, I'm glad it helped ;-)

[louis424]

i live in a student house, bottom floor, everyones heater works except mine. i tried bleeding it as you show, but water came out directly. whats next

[ultimatehandyman]

@louis424

If you navigate to my forum (link is on my channel page) and ask in the central heating forum, someone will help!

[MetalFriendly]

Good man, thanks for these - from a South African bloke living in Germany (these Gas boiler central systems are completely alien to me) Very much appreciated.

[ultimatehandyman]

@MetalFriendly

I'm glad that it helped you.

Thanks for the comment

[RejectedManiac]

Bled my lower level radiators at floor lever and water starts to come out. But my 2 bedrooms upstairs while bleeding they smell like gas and no water comes out. I keep putting the pressure back up after each bleed but still no water. What am I doing wrong? It was freezing last night and there is no heat for my family! =(

[ultimatehandyman]

@RejectedManiac

Are you certain that you do not have a leak?

If you pressurise the system and do not bleed it does the pressure stay the same or drop?

If it is not loosing pressure without bleeding you can try putting abour 1.5 bar of pressure in the system, then bleed the upstairs rads.

If you keep having problems please ask in my forum as one of the plumbing guys will help. You can find a link to the forum on my channel page.

[RejectedManiac]

@ultimatehandyman Alright thanks. I kept doing it waiting for an answer and 1 of them upstairs started to have water come out still trying the 1 bedroom. It does not lose pressure while bleeding. I'm feeling a bit dizzy from the fumes coming out and eyes are a bit dilated. Might take a break for a while. So got 1 left before I turn the thermostat back on to see if they get hot.

Thanks

[ultimatehandyman]

@RejectedManiac

Sometimes if there is lots of air in it can take a while to bleed them and the air smells a bit like gas when it exits.

Hopefully this will fix it ;-)

[RejectedManiac]

@ultimatehandyman Alright so After bleeding them out. I had another problem. There is a switch in the furnace that the thermocouple screws into. After holding in for 30 seconds like it asks with the pilot on to complete the circuit it wasn't going to the "ON" position so I went to Lowes and bought a new thermocouple and now we have heat! Just in time because last night was cold but my house was toasty! Thank's a lot.

[ultimatehandyman]

@RejectedManiac

You are welcome.

Well done for fixing it ;-)

[colonelburnell]

Thank you.

[ultimatehandyman]

@colonelburnell

You are welcome.

Thanks for the comment.

[Level3Crafter]

i tried it water pissed out like spouting out how do i stop it??

[ultimatehandyman]

@Level3Crafter

Close the bleed valve

[mufferrs]

I tried tapping it with a hammer but didnt fix, theres definitely a fault with the thermostat because i remember turning it off completly and the radiator wouldnt work again when i turned it up...now i know what the problem is thanks to your leads :))

[ultimatehandyman]

@mufferrs

You are welcome!

[mufferrs]

one of my radiators dosent work in my house, i can bleed it and hot water comes out, do you know what the problem is, the open and close dial on the radiator is fully open that controls the tempreture.

[ultimatehandyman]

@mufferrs

Does it have a thermostatic valve on one side of the radiator?

If so it might have a stuck pin. You can tap the metal part of the valve gently with a hammer as this might release it.

[Scorpion1610]

Thanks for a great survival vid, don't need to know how to survive in a jungle when the home can be just a confusing. After watching your vid I found the location was the same but no special tool needed just a flat handled screwdriver. The noise level of the radiator was louder than my PC.

Lol "that bleedin valve"

[elektriksheep]

Hi,

I've bled all the radiators in my house - some hiss, which is what I expected, and some squirt water, which is also what I expected, but some DRIP water. Why is the water dripping and not squirting? Could it be that the input valve is turned down low? How do you know if an input valve is on or off?

Thanks!

[ultimatehandyman]

@elektriksheep

You need to check the boiler pressure if you have a sealed system.

[elektriksheep]

@ultimatehandyman Cool. I'll do so. Thanks.

[dsplegend47]

perfect mate

spot on cheers

[ultimatehandyman]

@dsplegend47

You are welcome.

Thanks for the comment ;-)

[thomaswk8]

hello my radiator won't stop bleeding, there's water coming out non stop, what should i do?

[ultimatehandyman]

@thomaswk8

Do you mean the bleed valve will not close?

[thomaswk8]

@ultimatehandyman oh nvm i misunderstood the whole bleeding purpose, i thought i had to bleed the water out of the radiator AHAHAHA. Thanks !

[chalky339]

morning mate, my radiators are cold at the top, ive bled them no water or air comes out but there still cold at the top. any ideas??. the boiler doesnt have a pressure gauge on it to tell how much water is in the system either.

[ultimatehandyman]

@chalky339

Morning, it's hard giving advice over youtube, you'd be much better off asking in my forum as there will be a few plumbers who can help. One possible fault is thet you may have a conventional heating system and the pipe supplying the header tank in the loft might be blocked, hence there is no water in the system to force the air out!

[zigzak47]

so theirs no fix apart from changing the radiator then mate??

thanks for the response

[ultimatehandyman]

@zigzak47

Sometimes you can flush them out. I'll pm you a link to a video that might help

[zigzak47]

hi mate my radiator is cold at the bottom and warm at the top do i still need to bleed them???

[ultimatehandyman]

@zigzak47

You can try, but normally this indicates that the radiator could be full of sludge!

[HEDONlSM]

Hi, I have tried bleeding my radiator but the valve is rounded. It's at the back of the radiator so I used a mirror to see if it was turning at all and I can clearly see it's rounded. I've tried a few other keys but no joy. I read online about using some sort of adhesive and putting it into the key then over the valve and leaving it to harden before trying. Do you think this is a good idea or do you have any other ideas? It's seriously doing my head in.

[ultimatehandyman]

@ HEDONlSM

I guess you could try and glue the key to the bleed valve, but often the actual valve itself is seated into a large threaded hexagonal insert. Sometimes it is possible to open this slightly with a suitable spanner. If you cant fix it you can ask the plumbers in my forum as they know much more than me, just follow the links from my profile. Good luck with it!

[franksy08]

i have bled my radiator about 2 months ago and they still make the banging noise they constantly need bleeding and my boiler is fine and the pressure in that is fine any ideas?

[ultimatehandyman]

Sorry no idea! You can ask in my forum and the plumbers will advise you. Just follow the links to my site and then join the forum, they are very helpful.

[MrHardLad]

the whole radiator in the house are cold, what is the cause of this? :) thx

[ultimatehandyman]

It could be several things. If you navigate to my forum the plumbers there will advise you better than I ever could as they are the experts.

[bigtymersny]

Would bleeding the radiator stop knocking in the pipes?

[ultimatehandyman]

I doubt it, but it can help to reduce some noise. You should check that the pipes are secured with pipe clips to reduce knocking as it is often caused by loose pipes.

[arsenalbabe14]

Really useful and combined with a very clear and easy to understand video with commentary.Excellent tip and advice.

[ultimatehandyman]

Thanks, I am glad it helped.

[jmcco003]

Great job with an informative video. Of all the ones I've found this is the only one with useful info.

[MrBoogie2008]

thanks for the video :o)