QUESTION FROM jim

Hi, I have three zone hot water baseboard heat and the circulator pump for the top floor broke. I never heated that floor anyways. To insure that nobody would turn it on, I disconnected the power supply. My question is will it affect the heating system if I choose never to replace it? Also when I bleed my system (pipes are noisy) will it be necessary to bleed that zone also? Thanks!

ANSWER FROM HOME-WIZARD

Dear Jim:

Does your piping allow you to block and drain the supply and return for the zone going up to your top floor? If so, then you should be fine draining this zone, blocking the supply and return valves, and leaving the power supply to its circulation pump disconnected.

If you are not able to block in this zone and drain it, then water (and trapped air) may be able to be drawn through the circulation pump (even if it is not pumping). So therefore, yes, you would still need to bleed this zone as well, even if you were never planning to use it. Also, I'm don't think you want stagnate water just sitting in the pipes in this zone year after year. So you would still need to flush the pipes out from time to time.

Hope this is helpful.
Home-Wizard.com

FOLLOW-UP FROM jim

Your answer helped a lot. There is a valve before (above) the pump, but not after. All three zones are alike...the pumps all connect directly to a larger common pipe with no valves to "isolate" the bad zone. Looking at what you've told me I guess I'll be changing the circulator pump afterall. I'm gonna go back and read through all the help you've given to others and see if it's a big deal...it looks very simple ( 4 bolts ), but my concern will be filling the system back up.

Thanks again!

ANSWER FROM HOME-WIZARD

Jim:

. . . glad we could help you.

It sounds like you are a fairly handy person, so I would think that you would find replacing your circulator pump for your top floor zone rather straight-forward for you.

However, here are a few tips that might help you:

1) Remember to disconnect the power supply before working on the circulator pump. Electricity and water don't mix very well.

2) Since you cannot completely isolate this part of your system, after you drain it, and replace your pump, you will want to be sure to bleed out all of the air.

If you haven't already found it in our "Question and Answer" section of either the Ask-the-Wizard page or on the Baseboard Heating System page, here is the procedure for bleeding the air out of a baseboard heating system:

First shut off your boiler and make a note of the water pressure. Next locate the self-feeding (auto-makeup) water valve and ensure that the make-up water supply is connected and water is available. Then open up all of you valves that go to your various heating zones. Then close all of the shut-off valves. Next, attach a short piece of garden hose to one of the spigots coming off of the return line that goes back to your boiler. While manually opening the auto-makeup valve, open the spigot and let the water run in to a bucket or a drain. BE VERY CAREFUL, as the water coming out of the hose will likely be very hot. Let it run until you no longer see any air bubbles, which could take several minutes. While you are doing this, keep an eye on the water pressure and don't let it get above 25 PSI. If needed to control the pressure, release the auto-makeup valve momentarily. After you have stopped seeing air bubbles, release the auto makeup valve and close spigot. Allow the water pressure to return to normal. You then repeat these steps until all of your zones have been bled. When done, close all of your zone valves and open all of your shut-off valves. Then check the water pressure, which should be the same as what you noted at the beginning. And then finally, turn your boiler back on.

If you have any additional questions, just let us know.
Home-Wizard.com