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?

  • bstix@feddit.dk
    2·
    2 months ago

    Yup, that’s how it’s done when there’s a heat exchanger.

    However there’s a reason why the boiler room is usually locked off in a 30 story building. Bleeding a radiator might be relatively harmless, but there’s no way of knowing what the pressure is supposed to be without knowing the entire system.

    Some (lower) buildings might even have direct district heating without an exchanger, which is absolutely no go to even bleed.

    • Successful_Try543@feddit.org
      2·
      2 months ago

      However there’s a reason why the boiler room is usually locked off in a 30 story building. Bleeding a radiator might be relatively harmless, but there’s no way of knowing what the pressure is supposed to be without knowing the entire system.

      Exactly. That’s why either the janitor knows the correct pressure or they need to call a technician. Definitely not something to have hands on oneself in a building that’s not yours.