NEED HELP! Upstairs heat NOT working

[hazmat]

Forced hot water baseboard 3 zones (1st floor, 2nd floot & basement) + Boilermate Hot Water heater.

1st floor, basement & HW work.

No heat on 2nd floor.

I twisted wires together at t-stat
Got 24vac at the electric control box & at zone valve.

"Taco" brand zone valve, has lever for "auto" or "open" tried moving it to open, still no water flowing thru zone. (if I shut the manual valve on the other side of the system I can hear the water stop on the other zones. When I opened the drain for that zone, water came out.

What do you think? Frozen pipe? (It was 0 this morning). We let heat go down to 50 when we aren't there (Auto thermostats), but I do fire up the wood stove (on 1st floor) before I leave for work, usually puts out heat for 7-8 hours. Or maybe the zone valve is sticking? I guess I should call the plumber either way. (both are beyond my abilities to fix).

I closed the manual valve & disconnected the T-stat in hopes of isolating the zone in case it is a frozen pipe & decides to burst & flood the house.

Please help!

[gws]

I would go for an air bubble in the line not allowing the water through. Do you have a bleeder on the line?

[Mike_Dumond]

Sounds like a frozen pipe to me. The biggest problem up here when folks heat with wood is frozen pipes. The heat from the wood doesn't get into the lower wall spaces real well, and when it gets cold, especially with a wind, it can get downright freezing down there. Pick the room on the windward side upstairs, (probably where the freeze is), put in a space heater with a fan blowing the hot air on the radiators, and keep the furnace turned up.

As soon as the ice plug starts melting, the circulation of the furnace should move everything along, hopefully keeping expansion damage from damaging the pipes. Without the furnace running, there is a chance for the ice to split the pipe when it melts. Of course, if it was a hard freeze, the pipes might already be damaged.

Once it's thawed and not leaking, it might behoove you to add some antifreeze to the system if you heat with wood as a suplement.

[hazmat]

<font color="blue"> Do you have a bleeder on the line? </font color>

Don't know, Don't even know what one looks like! Plumber is coming after noon,

[hazmat]

<font color="blue"> Sounds like a frozen pipe to me. The biggest problem up here when folks heat with wood is frozen pipes. The heat from the wood doesn't get into the lower wall spaces real well, and when it gets cold, especially with a wind, it can get downright freezing down there. Pick the room on the windward side upstairs, (probably where the freeze is), put in a space heater with a fan blowing the hot air on the radiators, and keep the furnace turned up.
</font color>

Hmmm, maybe I should head home sooner than the plumber and try to warm things up.

I had the the heat set for 70 on the first floor last night, but it didn't seem to make a difference, maybe 80 would be a better choice.

[hazmat]

Plumber came again today. We've got heat! woo hoo [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

[MikePA]

How's the hand?

[hazmat]

Hand is healing nicely, Thanks for asking!