Gas engineer or sparky?

Canucklehead

happybiker wrote: »

Sorry, I nearly fell off my chair laughing at this one. GasSafe are almost as good at Bulldust as CORGI was......

So a 'GAS ENGINEER' who cannot tell the difference between a gas and electric cooker is worthy enough to be called an 'Engineer'. There are some very good gas engineers about but there are also a lot of others who are not worthy of the title. GasSafe like it because it sounds professional

In some peoples dreams maybe. I've taught and assessed sorts of people through the CORGI modules and some of them were so mechanically inept as to be dangerous. Unfortunately they were able to absorb the theory and it's impossible to fail someone ( they just get referred and resit until they get fed up or pass)

The situation is slightly better now due to the ' being employed in or prior experience of the industry' requirement prior to training became the rule about 10 years ago.

Alongside the GasSafe modules, the NVQ (Not very qualified) is a good grounding for an engineer but training and experience still need to be built up on that.

Hi: a 5 year apprenticeship and a requirement for mandatory CPD would sort that out but a snowball's chance in hell of that happening...the current situation is too much of a money spinner.

I'd recommend the CIPHE as a source for finding a heating professional...the OH has been a member since he became self-employed in 1987.

Canucklehead

pinkteapot

Right:

Boiler is a Glowworm Economy F. Programmer is a Honeywell ST7000. Room thermostat is also Honeywell but I can't see a model on it. It's a straightforward dial.

When the programmer changes from 'ON' to 'OFF' due to timing, the heating stays on. If we're on hot water only it turns off fine. If we're on CH+HW then it stays on (only way to turn it off is to flick it to HW only, at which point it instantly turns off). Any clues from the wiring diagrams attached where there might be a fault?

Three-way valve is in the airing cupboard with the hot water cylinder. Metal box with pipes and wires. There's another thing above it. A round metal thing that I seem to remember my brother said was a pump. When we moved in it was very noisy and he undid a screw in the middle a bit until water appeared which fixed this.

So, any ideas on what sort of programmer we need/should look at, or do I need someone who knows about heating system design to come round and take a look?

I have also just remembered something that may well be pertinent. A couple of months back the timer display faded. We called our sparky mate round. He opened the front cover and that's when we discovered it was battery powered (how embarrassing!). He repaired it with fresh AA batteries. Anyway, while the cover off, one of the bottom two wires (of the set of four was out of it's hole. He thought maybe it had started out like that, but when the cover went back on it didn't work, so he opened it up and reconnected that wire. We figured he'd dislodged it in opening the case. Just in case anyone thinks that may have done something...

Canucklehead

Hi.

Quite clearly mains powered.

The more posts you make about the system the more I suspect you need a decent heating installer to have a look at the whole system as it appears to be suffering from old age.Furred arteries, slightly suspect ticker, stiff joints (rad valves) and a bit of memory loss.

You might get a new boiler out of the OH yet!

Only someone physically there can tell you exactly what's wrong though.

GSR.

keystone

pinkteapot wrote: »

A couple of months back the timer display faded. We called our sparky mate round. He opened the front cover and that's when we discovered it was battery powered

No its not its mains powered (my earlier post). See CH post above this for what to do which is GALMI.

Cheers

happybiker

That list of controls makes things a lot clearer. Personally, I think you have a Sundial Y layout. Is there no number on the motorised valve? If it is a V4073 then you should have the facility already to have heating on it's own. Either that wire the sparky put back is in the wrong place (Check using the diagram in the instructions you posted) or the motorised valve is faulty. canuckhead is probably right that it's furred up. Think you are going to have to bite the bullet and get someone in to look at it. Probably take us weeks to talk you through it step by step on this forum.

pinkteapot

Thanks for the efforts all.

pinkteapot

Quick update for anyone who was wondering what happened....

Last year we had a gas man take a look at our gas fire before we used it (it's ancient and looked like it hadn't been used in a while). Called the closest person to us listed on the GasSafe register site. Really nice bloke and think we paid £20 or £25 for a basic check on it.

Anyway, called him again to see if he could help with the programmer. He came round last night to take a look and was well impressed that our programmer had lasted this long - said he hadn't seen this model for years. Apparently we have a bog standard Y-plan system and we can have separate CH timing (woohoo!) - we were only being limited by the carp old programmer in that regard.

He can supply the programmer for less than Screwfix want for it (happy days). I mentioned the knackered 3-way valve and he said they cost about £50. While in the airing cupboard he pointed out that our pump was on its last legs (I knew this anyway) and said they're about £40-50. Since I knew the prices for these things and knew what he was saying was fair, he's doing us a quote to replace all three items. Might as well get the pump and 3-way done. Pump is really noisy and the old 3-way means the radiators get hot in summer when the hot water is on. Will see what the total quote is (not sure on his labour rates).

Best of all - he's Part P and can do all the wiring. There's some really dodgy looking wiring from the current 3-way so he said he'll fix that while he's in there.

He did say if we wanted the boiler replaced he'd be at least £1000 less than British Gas. Said it hadn't broken down yet, despite its age, but we'd call him when it does.