Short version: I had no idea what I was doing (and thus should not have fiddled) but thought I should adjust this pump:
http://img297.imageshack.us/img297/8070/pumpcloseupne6.jpg
I first turned the middle screw in the direction of the arrow thinking it meant 'open' but it just kept turning and eventually water squirted out. I figured that wasnt good so I screwed it all the way back in. I turned on the radiant heat system again and about 10 minutes later I hear a loud screeching sound for about 10 seconds. I went downstairs and shut off the system again and that pump was very hot to the touch.
What does that screw do, what does the arrow mean, and how 'tight' should it be?
Long version:
We have these radiant heaters in lower level:
http://img144.imageshack.us/img144/4676/baseboardjo0.jpg
They have not been getting warm so we asked a plumber to take a look. He said they never installed a mixing valve on the water heater so you could turn up the heat on the water heater to get really hot water to radiant but still keep it around 120 for the kitchen sink.
Here is the system:
http://img140.imageshack.us/img140/7485/radiantheatsystemip7.jpg
http://img150.imageshack.us/img150/3492/inputoutputmd9.jpg
http://img264.imageshack.us/img264/3707/coldwaterreturnpumpaw0.jpg
http://img156.imageshack.us/img156/6521/mixingvalvebo8.jpg
Now the reason I tried to fiddle with the pumps is I thought there wasnt much if any flow through the system. Putting my hand on the pipe by the water heater is very hot (duh) but walking a few feet over to where it inputs into the radiant system the pipe isnt even a bit warm.
Is this something I can attempt to fix or should I just call the plumber back up?
http://img297.imageshack.us/img297/8070/pumpcloseupne6.jpg
I first turned the middle screw in the direction of the arrow thinking it meant 'open' but it just kept turning and eventually water squirted out. I figured that wasnt good so I screwed it all the way back in. I turned on the radiant heat system again and about 10 minutes later I hear a loud screeching sound for about 10 seconds. I went downstairs and shut off the system again and that pump was very hot to the touch.
What does that screw do, what does the arrow mean, and how 'tight' should it be?
Long version:
We have these radiant heaters in lower level:
http://img144.imageshack.us/img144/4676/baseboardjo0.jpg
They have not been getting warm so we asked a plumber to take a look. He said they never installed a mixing valve on the water heater so you could turn up the heat on the water heater to get really hot water to radiant but still keep it around 120 for the kitchen sink.
Here is the system:
http://img140.imageshack.us/img140/7485/radiantheatsystemip7.jpg
http://img150.imageshack.us/img150/3492/inputoutputmd9.jpg
http://img264.imageshack.us/img264/3707/coldwaterreturnpumpaw0.jpg
http://img156.imageshack.us/img156/6521/mixingvalvebo8.jpg
Now the reason I tried to fiddle with the pumps is I thought there wasnt much if any flow through the system. Putting my hand on the pipe by the water heater is very hot (duh) but walking a few feet over to where it inputs into the radiant system the pipe isnt even a bit warm.
Is this something I can attempt to fix or should I just call the plumber back up?