Grassroots FurnaceSports, or What The Berk Is Wrong With My Heat???

I'm having some issues with my home heating system, and I'm officially at the "Let's ask the guys on GRM because they know everything" stage. 

Stats on my heating system: 

-15-20 year old Burnham oil-fired boiler with forced hot water/baseboard heat

-3 zones

-Zones controlled by 2 digital Honeywell thermostats and one old-school Honeywell mechanical "dial" thermostat

-Zone valves are Taco valves (yes, Taco, and not the tasty kind)

Here's the problem: Today, I noticed that the zone dedicated to my living room was not working and the baseboards were ice cold. This has happened before. About 3-4 years ago, I determined my zone valve head was faulty and I replaced it. It fixed the issue. I took a look at it today, and the same head was not working. I tested it by checking for 24 volts across the first two positions, and it was getting it, but the manual valve lever to open the valve was locked up. That means it's junk according to what I've read. 

I went out to buy another valve, installed it, tested it, and it works. 

Kinda. 

Now, the thermostat and the valve are doing their thing, but the pipe is only getting hot right after the valve. It's not pushing the hot water too far past the valve and definitely not to the baseboard. If you touch the pipe, you can feel the water circulating, but it's room temperature and not hot like the other zones. I don't get it. 

The only possibilities I can think of that would make it not work is the valve being stuck closed or the pipe being frozen. There shouldn't be air in the system, as it's not leaking and it's never been opened. It was working fine until this morning, too. The valve will open by pressing down on it, so I'm not thinking that it's stuck. 

Is there anything I could be missing? 

Here's some pics so you know what I'm working with:

The valve in question.

Here's the problem pipe. It's burning hot up until the 2nd bend, and after that it's room temperature. Please excuse the cobwebs. 

This is the old valve, and I had to force it open, but that did nothing. The wiring on here is exactly the same on the new valve. The position furthest from the pipe is to the thermostat, the middle (red) wire is the common that connects the three valves, and the last one, well, I forget. 

Any ideas? It's freaking COLD here in MA and it's not getting any warmer anytime soon. 

Tony Sestito said:

 It's freaking COLD here in MA and it's not getting any warmer anytime soon. 

I think I've found your problem.  Man the weather for the Rose Bowl parade looked sweet on t.v.    I could see myself in Pasadena in a year or two.  But I can survive a mid-Atlantic winter in shorts every year so it's not too terrible here.    edit.  I just realized I'm eating peanuts with a cold Bud. 

Does your system have a three zone switching relay? If so, is it calling for heat to that zone? 

First, make sure there isn't a shutoff at the radiator that is closed. Then open the bleeder and check for air. It seems crazy, but a small amount of air could block the whole thing.

I'll second checking for air, there should be a valve on top of the expansion tank, it has a Schrader type pin, that sometimes doesn't let air out. Also make sure the power head is properly seated in the valve. If you used the lever to open the valve and still got nothing it could be air. Could you hear the water circulating/gurgling? If that doesn't fix anything, Turn the service switch off, remove the head, let it sit for a minute or two and then put the head back on. Turn the service switch back on. Wait for the furnace to start running again. If the thermostat is calling you should be able to move the lever freely. If the lever is difficult to move the thermostat is not calling. If the room is cool enough to have the thermostat call for heat, it may have a problem. If it is programmable, check to make sure it is in the auto position. Maybe check this first before checking the other things. Good luck, it is too cold, our house has been struggling to maintain 70 and that is not usually a problem. Come on summer!

TR8todd to the red service phone!!! I ran into something similar last winter and I believe it was air in the system. Todd had me open and close a series of valves that forced the water around the heating circuit and the air out. It worked perfectly after that. Todd is a wizard with this stuff. Warning though when you have to draw off the water from the heating zone it is black and pretty smelly. 

I think I figured out what happened. My working theory is that the zone valve quit overnight, and since it was below zero here, it froze the pipe that goes to the baseboard. I woke up this morning and it was only 50 degrees in the room. BTW, these pipes are copper off the boiler with that newer plastic hose to the baseboards. 

I just ripped into some old drywall in my basement and found the pipe that goes to the baseboard in question. It was well insulated and not frozen. That said, the plastic coming up out of the floor felt very cold and possibly frozen. I now have the valve forced open and circulating, and a space heater near the baseboard to try and thaw it out. 

Also, I could feel water circulating all the way to where the pipe goes into no man's land between the upstairs and basement. it's just not hot, yet. 

Tony Sestito said:

I think I figured out what happened. My working theory is that the zone valve quit overnight, and since it was below zero here, it froze the pipe that goes to the baseboard. I woke up this morning and it was only 50 degrees in the room. BTW, these pipes are copper off the boiler with that newer plastic hose to the baseboards. 

I just ripped into some old drywall in my basement and found the pipe that goes to the baseboard in question. It was well insulated and not frozen. That said, the plastic coming up out of the floor felt very cold and possibly frozen. I now have the valve forced open and circulating, and a space heater near the baseboard to try and thaw it out. 

Also, I could feel water circulating all the way to where the pipe goes into no man's land between the upstairs and basement. it's just not hot, yet. 

...And my hypothesis is now confirmed! It was a frozen pipe.

For the past few nights, I had two space heaters cranked in the room, keeping it up to around 70 degrees. Then, I took one of the space heaters and put it in the closet where the pipes come up from the floor. A couple nights of that, plus some milder overnight outside temps of a balmy 28 degrees freed it up! I have insulated the pipes in the closet, replaced the zone valve head (which I mentioned before), and replaced the thermostat to boot. Hopefully that does the trick. 

Side note: I was going to bleed the system, and there's not only no bleeders for the individual zones, but no bleeders for the baseboards. Only one big drain for the whole system. Thanks, previous home owners for that. 

The heating pipes...

The HEATING pipes...

...were frozen.

I'm never moving anywhere colder than Oregon.

If you ever need help Tony give me a shout.  Went to a job in Falmouth this morning at a house where nobody is living in.   Contractors thought they would be helpful and turn the heat down to 50 degrees after they left yesterday, after running it at 70 while they were in there working.  In the time it took for the temp inside the house to drop 20 degrees, both zones froze along the basement foundation.  I showed up at 10 this morning and they were freaking out that the temp in the house was down below 40 degrees.  Circ pump was whirling away, but no heat.  Nimrods!!!  Had one last week where the lady completely shut off the heat on the second floor and closed the doors.  Old school radiators froze and broke.  By the time I got there, Ice was coming out from under the doors and none of the second floor doors could be opened.  I isolated second floor zone so no more water would leak and freeze.  Recommended she bust the doors down and chip away the ice before it thaws and comes thru the ceilings.... Then I left and went to another no heat call.