Well, as it's getting a bit chillier now, we've set the central heating to come on and our gas-fired boiler is now making a banging/clonking noise (a bit like a hammer on the pipes) and the radiators and hot water out of the taps are lukewarm rather than piping hot as they were a few months ago. We did not notice any issues with the hot water over the summer.

Anyone any ideas what might be causing this and also if it's actually doing any damage/likely to be dangerous? :( We've been in the house just over a year and it looks like the boiler was due to be serviced in March '99 (:eek: - Yeah, I know - our first house though and I never think about these things until they go wrong) so I suspect this may be a problem, but I'm wondering whether this is likely to be the root problem, or if it's something more expensive? :)

It's a traditional gas-fired boiler linked to a hot water cylinder rather than a combi. Can't remember the model now - but will have a look when I get home if I need to :)

Any recommendations for trustworthy fix-it people in the South Hants area?

Thanks

Jen

Model is a Thorn EMI Apollo of circa the mid-80's :D

Chris

Sounds like not enough water flowing through the boiler so its overheading/boiling. So...

Is the pump working?
Is there water in the header tank?

orbv has the 2 most likely causes, so check the header tank for water, and see if the pump is spinning (careful it will be hot!).
Other less likely causes:-
Sludge in the system
Airlock
Pump spindle sheared as opposed to not turning at all.
Boiler not burning correctly/cycling
Stat failure on boiler/cylinder/room stat
3-way valve is seized/motor head failed
etc, etc
HTH
Steve Wardle

I didn't think there was any apollo's left out there, this boiler is very sensitive to flow rates through it, if you have been using the boiler for your hot water during the summer then the pump has been working so turning on the heating woudn't make a difference so looking a bit deeper is required. However if you have been using the immersion heater and have only now turned the boiler on then it is likely to be a seized pump.

Mog

Thanks guys! :cool::D

Mog - yeah, it's a bit old really :eek::D No problems up until this week though :cool:

Anyway:

Is there water in the header tank?

No! That was the problem :) (I think) Step-dad and husband read the post and went off for about an hour and now it works again :) So buying that bubble bath last week wasn't a complete waste of time ;):D

Thanks guys - useful forum this one ;)