can you ELI5 the physics of bleeding radiators on an apartment building? - eviltoast

I live on the 14th floor of a 30 story apartment building and so far, I’ve been bleeding my radiators myself.

This usually worked and after bleeding I had a fully functioning radiator, 100% filled with water.

However, last time I tried bleeding, it would only fill up to 25% of its volume, it’s like there’s no pressure in the circuit.

Am I doing something wrong?

  • bluGill@fedia.io
    31·
    3 months ago

    There needs to be space someplace in the system since water expands when it warms. Sometimes that space is in the radiators andso bleeding needs to not let all the air out, for this reason you should get maintenance toefix the problem if one exists so they can balance the system.

      • bluGill@fedia.io
        3·
        3 months ago

        Older systems have been known to use the radiators as the expansion tank. this would not meet modern code but plenty of old systems exist.