Need help wtih a REPCO GMT100

[rudy304]

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I use a REPCO GMT100 hot water heating system with closed hot hot water baseboard heating for a two story home. I had to replace the original TACO pump with a new one since the original broke down. The replacement was successful and my two zones were working fine for a week.

However, this past weekend I found my 2nd floor zone was not getting the hot water in the baseboard. I found what moved the water along the pipes gradually was opening the bleed valve every 30 minutes to let out air. This took me hours to get the second floor somewhat heated...never fully heated.

Two -
1. Does that make sense to bleed the air and the hot water moves slowly up the pipes after every bleed?
2. Is there an easier way to clear out all the air in the pipes b/c I don't have it upstairs? It's a closed loop from what I can tell.

Anyone know how I can attach images to help?

[Freon]

Am I correct in assuming when you replaced the Taco circulation pump that you did, in fact, only replace the motor and you did not have to open the system and drain the water?

How long has the system, especially the 2nd floor heat, been working satisfactorily?

If you explore the second floor baseboard loop, you should see where the water comes up from the basement and then returns back down. Look for the return to the basement (usually at the end of the floor loop) and you should see a bleed valve at that elbow. You may have to remove the baseboard cover.

Get a bucket and bleed all the air until you have a steady flow of water and hopefully that will fix the problem. You might also check the head pressure as indicated on the gauge at the boiler to make sure you have the correct pressure in the system.

[rudy304]

I did replace the whole pump b/c it was from the original system. The plumbing suppy store (Blackman) concluded based on the model number that it was over 20 years old and needed to be replaced. Although I did not draining the whole system, I did end up draining whatever water was in the boiler itself since there was not valve that I could shut. I did check all the lines upstairs, and could not locate a bleed valve at the elbow. I checked both ends. I have been bleeding it gradually every day at the boiler and the water is slowly getting to the second floor. However, it still concerns me that there continues to be air in the lines but can't get it all out in one try.

One suggestion that was made to me was to attach a hose and blow out the lines with new water. This would insure that I get all the air out with strong force. Is this the right thing to do?

[how]

Does your guage on your boiler show at least 15psi now? When you drained the boiler, did the psi guage drop to "0" so you know it's accurate?
Are you bleeding the air bleed valve when the pump is off? Do your zone valves have a manual over ride?
You can use a hose from the house system or use the fast fill of the pressure reducing valve to force out the air but only if you can direct that force specifically through the air locked zone and on to the drain.

You need to figure out where to connect the hose to the boiler/ where to drain out the resulting flow and which gate valves to turn off to force the hose water through the air locked zone on its way to an exit.

An alternative is to use the fast fill lever of your boiler pressure reducing valve to input higher pressured water through the air locked zone and out the drain cock. Some gate valves often will need to be closed to direct the flow of water where it can force the air out. You will need to keep the pressure under 30 PSI with either method or the relief valve will also start venting.

[rudy304]

Before starting the replacment the PSI was at 20. After the drain the PSI went down below 10 PSI but not any further. Made me question the accuracy but it went back up to 20 PSI after I turned on the system

I am bleeding the air when the pump is on. I'll manually turn on the pump by activating the manual electionic valve control at the boiler per zone. I'm still bleeding the air gradually, but the frequency is less b/c it appears there is less air in the lines. I'm thinking that I won't need to force feed water through the lines since the hot water is getting to the 2nd floor.

Is it common practice to bleed the lines regularly? Is there some routine maintenance that I need to do?

Thank you so much for your help/advice thus far