Amongst the long list of valve fittings available in the industry, the bleeder valve is one which is used in hot water heating systems for different functions and applications.
What Are Bleeder Valves And What Are They Used For?
These valve fittings are used for a specific purpose in the industry. They are utilized in hot water heating systems, to remove unwanted air from the process. The valve helps fix noisy hot or cold water heating baseboards and radiators.
Functions And Applications Of The Valve Fitting
The air bleeder valves are available in both manual and automatic versions, and are used to remove all the unwanted heated air from the hot water heating systems. The air is forcibly removed from the radiators and distribution pipes in the systems.
The bleeder valve is fixed at the top end corner of a cast iron radiator. It might also be attached to the air purging or air scoop device, that is present on a hot water heating pipe, quite near or over the heating boiler. Usually, this valve is left untouched, and it is advised to leave the valve alone, so that home inspectors don’t spill water on the floor, or are unable to close it after examination.
A clear indication that your air radiator and hot water heating system needs to let out hot air, is when your convector or radiator is observed to be cold, even when the heater boiler is running actively and is hot. The most probable reason for this strange condition is that the system needs to bleed out some air, for it to function perfectly.
There is an important reason why it is essential to get the air out of the radiator and hot water system heating lines. The air which is trapped in the hot system pipes, convectors, baseboards and radiators, tends to create noise within the system. Even if there is only a small quantity of air within the heating system, it will create gurgling and bubbling sounds. That is why the bleed valve is used to release the air from the radiators, to prevent any noises in the system.
Another reason for using bleeder valves is that sometimes the heating systems fail to deliver heat to some or all of the occupied spaces. The apparent reason for this problem is that the heating system has a pump, which pushes the water around in a loop of the heating baseboard. But sometimes, it fails to cover specific section of the baseboard, because it contains a large bubble of air. It is very important to remove all such air blocks from the system. If this is an ongoing problem, then it is a probable indication that the air bleeders were installed at certain strategic points.
The bleeder valves are also used in a variety of other sectors as well, like in process and manufacturing plants. The bleeder valves are mainly installed for safety, operations and maintenance.