Radiator not hot

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Author Message   MHD Citizen Username: Mayhewdrive Post Number: 3634 Registered: 5-2001 Posted on Wednesday, March 22, 2006 - 12:30 pm:        We have a single radiator (steam heat) on the 2nd floor that is not hot at all. All other radiators seem fine. The valve is open (i.e. the raditor is "on") and I have cleaned the dust that has gathered on it. Do radiators "go bad" and need to be replaced? Is there any easy way to diagnose the problem? Thanks!   Smarty Jones Citizen Username: Birdstone Post Number: 483 Registered: 10-2005 Posted on Wednesday, March 22, 2006 - 12:33 pm:        Possibly needs to be tilted to let any excess water that has built up, drain back into the system.   kevin Supporter Username: Kevin Post Number: 655 Registered: 2-2002 Posted on Wednesday, March 22, 2006 - 12:44 pm:        The vent might be clogged. Unscrew it while the steam is coming up and see if the radiator gets hot. Just be careful that hot steam should come out of the hole. It's not going to be high pressure. As an alternative, you can try swapping vents with a different radiator.   HOMMELL Citizen Username: Hommell Post Number: 67 Registered: 11-2005 Posted on Wednesday, March 22, 2006 - 1:48 pm:        Is it one-pipe (is there a valve on the floor and a vent up top)?   wei Citizen Username: Liweilun Post Number: 5 Registered: 2-2006 Posted on Wednesday, March 22, 2006 - 1:51 pm:        Check this link out, it will give you some tips on getting it working again: http://doityourself.com/hvac/maintainradiators.htm   jsr Citizen Username: Jsr Post Number: 2 Registered: 3-2006 Posted on Wednesday, March 22, 2006 - 10:13 pm:        Was the radiator working all winter and now just went out. If thats the case, likely the vent is clogged. Take it off and boil in Vinegar or buy a new one. Make sure you get the same size (C,D, 4,5,6). If taking off the vent doesn't help and the radiator was never working, your valve may be broken and not working.   MHD Citizen Username: Mayhewdrive Post Number: 3646 Registered: 5-2001 Posted on Thursday, March 23, 2006 - 7:58 am:        Replacing the vent SEEMS to have worked. Thanks to everyone for all their help!!