Anyone know why hot-water radiators need bleeding every couple of days, temp 60-64?

Ah, eternal home of Chappaquiddick Ted and a few others of his ilk...waiting for TheAlGore to join them. And yes, a very special place indeed for EPA, OSHA, ATF, FBI, IRS and all the other unconstitional part of the Executive Branch of Government.

When I had the farm (100) years old with old radiators that kept the house toasty warm...your right, they get vapor locked. There is an area on each radiator that every now and then we had to bleed the air out of each radiator. You could hear the air coming out of the radiator, when it quit you shut off the (stop cock) or whatever you call it...Also one time the water tub in the attic froze up and the furnace meter went to red, scared the hell out of me, called hubby at work and had a guy come out to check the furnace. He found the water source frozen and no water to circulate through the radiators. Actually had one copper pipe hissing out air..

NYC law very specifically says that between Oct. 1 and May 31, between the hours of 6 a.m. and 10 p.m., apartments MUST be kept at 68 degrees, minimum, if the outdoor temp is less than 55 (try 21 right now). My co-op apartment has only been 68 degrees for short intervals, mostly when I'm cooking something in the oven, for the last 3 weeks. The co-op management obviously thinks they can play me and play me by sending maintenance men up to bleed the radiators yet again every couple days as a Band-aid approach, until spring.

WRONG.

I just filed a heat complaint online. The city will send an inspector around and if they find the heat lacking (and I've been photographing my indoor/outdoor thermometer every day, which shows the outdoor temp, indoor temp, time, and date, to document this is a condition lasting over time), they will order a heating professional to fix it. If not fixed, they will send their own pro to do it AND fine the entity $500-1000. That will very likely get me some serious attention, hopefully toward getting a permanent fix to this atrocious situation. I am now sitting in a 62 degree room. It was 60 when I got home, and I think it only got to 62 because I was warming up dinner in the oven. It will probably drop back to 60. It is miserable to sit here in this temperature.

The problem may be the shaft seal on the older pump allowing air to enter the system, assuming an external motor. Centripetal pumps with restrictions on the inlet and/or lack of sufficient back pressure on the discharge side can go below atmospheric pressure on the intake of the pump rotor. Water wouldn’t necessarily leak out while shut down, but air could be sucked in during operation. An appropriate similar product to Nalcool would cut the corrosion issues in a closed system.

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