Central heating & hot water
 

Ok, I'm hoping someone can shed some light on this.

The central heating in my house has been off for some time with the weather, and I have a power shower, so no need to heat the water either.

So the other day, I decided on a soak in the bath, put the hot water on, and lo and behold, all the upstairs radiators came on full blast! It was like a furnace!

Any ideas before I ring a central heating engineer? (Need a plumber anyway as one of the downstairs radiators leaks when it's on)

Better still, any central heating engineers on here in the east mids want to come take a look? Lol

My ch used to come on with only the hot water selected on the control panel. A motorised valve was faulty. More than likely something similar has happened to you, the valve has stopped in an open position or something.

Do you own an adjustable?

Hmmm... Ok. Might be worth a look, but I really don't have a Scooby (pun intended) about central heating! Lol.

I own at least half a dozen! Lol

Neither do I google your symptoms. I have a British Gas service contract and they fixed it. I told them what I thought it was after googling, they confirmed and changed the part, all is fine now :)

Nice one, thanks. I'll have a look.

I do have a plumber who's good, it's just getting hold of him! Lol

A clue as to your system type would help loads...eg..combi...back boiler ..unvented etc

It's a standard boiler and immersion tank setup with a water tank in the loft. That's about as much as I can tell you really...

I can strip and rebuild a car, computer, or electronics, but heating? Nope, not a clue. Lol

Same set up as me. I'm crap with cars though but run multi million pound machinery at work :)

Lol. Well I work in IT (server side) for an engineering firm, and have rebuilt cars and engines for years. I can take off/replace a radiator ok, and drain and bleed a system, and i'm happy doing "cold" plumbing but when it comes to the gas/boiler/pump side of things, it's a big no for me! Lol.

post a pic of your airing cupboard pipework

Motorised valve by sound of it

Motorized valve stuck in mid position, hit it with a hammer to free it up then order a new part before winter comes.

Just above the immersion (that's right isn't it?) is an open water tank, and another covered one in the loft.

There's three pipes from the boiler, a heating "isolator" and the last unmarked switch is apparently the immersion switch.

You have a 3 way valve,turn on heating and water seperately and note wether the marker on the valve moves to the selected points,it has 3 positions,hot water,heating and both.

As above, your motorised valve has seized. It happens a lot.

You might be able to take the motor off and free up the valve itself by turning it with pliers. Once it's unstuck it might be perfectly OK again, provided the motor hasn't burned out.

That's the "white box" on the pipe yeah? The one with the black switch in the middle?

It's also got a black switch on the side too...

So if it stays in the middle that's both, water is one side and heating t'other...

If it doesn't move, it's a new part job, or a gentle tap yeah?

Thanks for this BTW!! :thumb:

Ok, thanks bud. I'll take a look and see if it can be opened.

:)

Yes the other black slider is a manual opener..if the valve doesnt move when heat is called for try releasing it with the manual opener....its odd if you havent used the heating for a while that its stuck in mid position,it defaults to hot water,inside theres a motor called a synchron...its an easy diy mend,but do the tests 1st.

Assuming this actuator is at fault, How difficult are these to change? (On a Haynes Spanner scale) lol.

Is it a DIY job? Empty the system, change the part, refill with inhibitor and bleed?

Or should I just call an engineer? If so, how much are we talking?

Ta!!

Ok, that's cool. I've got the water on and given it a good rap with my knuckles. It went "clunk" inside... And the radiators don't seem to be getting warm.

Radiators are definitely staying cool.

I'm happy with that! :luxhello:

Next job is to freeze the pipes before a valve on a radiator, and replace the leaky valve!

Not looking forward to that as I've just laid a new carpet in that room! Pfft.

I'll check on the actuator again tomorrow and see if its still playing ball!

Thanks for the help folks, much appreciated! :thumb:

happy days..put some fernox in your heating tank

post a pic of leaky valve there maybe a quick fix

Fernox? Whassat? Lol.


It's leaking from the bottom of the compression joint on the valve I've tightened it to a surreal level, and when the valve is on it still drips, turn it off, and it stops!

Does it on both sides, I put it down to the fact the radiator isn't mounted properly.

The clue is in the it doesnt leak when turned off....your leak is under the white cap...remove it...tighten the packing gland underneath...hey presto leak gone

Ok, I'll give that a go. Both sides?

It seemed to slow when I tightened the compression joints, the stopped as I turned them off, I just assumed it was the joint... Lol.

See, better eyes see more clearly!

I'd take you for a pint if you were close! Maybe you should send me your PayPal addy in PM pal, I'll send you a tenner to buy you some beer for your help!! Lol ;) :thumb:

the packing glands tend to trickle un noticed...one thing plumbings taught me is keep going upwards until your sure its dry

Okey doke, I'll check it in the morning.

Thanks again matey, I really do owe you some beers!! Lol :thumb:

Sound like you're sorted anyway. I wouldn't recommend pipe freezing for the DIY plumber, it only gives you a limited amount of time to sort what ever needs sorting. Far easier to just drain the system down and then you can take as long as you need, which will inevitably be longer than you think as something won't go to plan :)