Halstead Ace Boiler - Unwanted Heating Coming On!

littlesnuggy

Help!

I moved into a new (to me) property 2 weeks ago and it has a Halstead Ace Combi Boiler. I set the control to Hot Water (not Hot Water and Heating) and made sure that the timer was not set to come on at any particular time.

All functioned well for a week with us getting hot water on demand when we ran the hot tap/shower.

Then mid-week this week we suddenly noticed one evening that every radiator in the house was on full blast! I have now turned all of the radiators off except for one which I cannot adjust and the two towel rails in the bathroom. It keeps happening though when we either run the hot water or have a shower - the heating kicks in, even though it is set to Hot Water only. The only way to turn it off is to turn the whole boiler off.

This is the first home I've owned and I've got no idea how boilers work - the instruction manual is very basic and gives no clue what is going on

Has anyone got this boiler and can advise if I'm doing something wrong, or whether it's a fault?

Thanks!

keystone

Sounds like a dodgy diverter valve. You need some professional assistance.

Cheers

gas4you

Yep, I agree, DV stuck mid position. You probably find that your HW isn't as hot as it used to be as well.

littlesnuggy

Thanks both, but aaargh! Any idea how much this would cost for an engineer to visit to diagnose and fix? I'm in Bath if it's of any relevance.

As I said, I've just moved in - I'm not expecting any comeback on the vendor (who I never met but was a total moron and left us with a load of random bits and pieces in the place) but would it be worth contacting him via solicitors and asking if he knew about this? He was renting it out so should have had an annual safety certificate I guess - I know my solicitor (my dad!) asked for this but I'm not sure if it was ever produced..

manda1205

My sister had hers go a few months back (roughly when it started getting warmer so she wanted to switch heating off), I know it cost her under £100, might have been under £50, wasnt much anyway. I think that this valve could go at any time really. Although the fact my sister NEVER turns her heating off just controls it with the thermostat, you would think that this contributes, but I know nothing bout heating thats just my opinion.

Canucklehead

littlesnuggy wrote: »

Thanks both, but aaargh! Any idea how much this would cost for an engineer to visit to diagnose and fix? I'm in Bath if it's of any relevance.

As I said, I've just moved in - I'm not expecting any comeback on the vendor (who I never met but was a total moron and left us with a load of random bits and pieces in the place) but would it be worth contacting him via solicitors and asking if he knew about this? He was renting it out so should have had an annual safety certificate I guess - I know my solicitor (my dad!) asked for this but I'm not sure if it was ever produced..

Good morning: if it is the diverter then close to £150 for the part plus labour (depends on the RGI;)).....contact a RGI recommended to you by a source you trust for a fix and to give the boiler a service.

HTH

Canucklehead

gas4you

To replace the diverter valve (return assembly), I would charge £250 + VAT. (£190 of that is the return assembly part)

Make sure it is only an original that gets fitted.

littlesnuggy

£250! :eek: That was not in my house-moving budget

Is it dangerous that this valve may be broken? At the moment I'm just turning the boiler off for a bit when the heating comes on which is a little inconvenient but preferable to forking out £250, but I obviously don't want to be taking risks if it might be unsafe...

keystone

littlesnuggy wrote: »

Is it dangerous that this valve may be broken? At the moment I'm just turning the boiler off for a bit when the heating comes on which is a little inconvenient but preferable to forking out £250, but I obviously don't want to be taking risks if it might be unsafe...

No its not dangerous but you'll be sending your gas bill through the roof if you carry on doing that. Quite, quite illogical. But the boiler is just a little bit broken - get it fixed as as CH said get it properly serviced at the same time. If I said my cars gearbox was broken and it was more convenient to just to drive around in 2nd gear all the time and coincidentally driving my petrol consumption/costs through the ceiling rather than forking out £ 250 to get it fixed you'd think I was bonkers. And you'd be right. Same applies here.

Cheers

alienzdive

Could be diverter valve stuck mid way, could also be a fault with the wiring or plumbing of a 3 way valve if fitted?

alienzdive

Could be a stuck diverter but could also be a fault with the wiring or plumbing of the timer clock or 3 way valve if there is one fitted