central heating problems - any ideas?

candykisses

hi

my mum has got a gas central heating system, boiler is downstairs in kitchen, hot water tank is in upstairs airing cupboard.

a few months ago, she had a plumber out to sort out a radiator in the lounge. it had always been in the house but never worked. the plumber corrected some pipe work and fit new valves on the radiator and then it started to work. however, she had to turn other radiators down in the house to ensure that it comes on. if the others are turned up high, then that one still won't get hot. it's the one furthest from the hot water tank but it's a big 30ft lounge so it doesn't get warm enough in there to be honest.

now she is having more problems with the central heating. the other day she switched it on and there was a lot of banging sounds in the airing cupboard and it took about 3 hours for radiators to get hot.

she rang the plumber and he said about turning a valve on the tank, and that helped a bit but not much.

she can't have the heating and water on at the same time anymore either. today she put the hot water on , on its own and after one hour it was still only lukewarm, it normally gets very hot after less than half an hour. she said there are two pipes going into the hot water tank, both have silver boxes on. one pipe and silver box is boiling hot and the other pipe and box is lukewarm. the hot water tank is lukewarm.

last time she got the plumber out to check why rads weren't getting hot quickly enough, he just turned the valve, and it worked for a bit but then some days it doesnt work - like an intermittent problem. we thought it might be the water pump but he thinks not.

after googling, i noticed things about draining the system etc. she has just rang the plumber today and he mentioned installing a "boiler buddy" - not sure what that is?

she had a new boiler fitted about 4 years ago, a worcester one and it's not a combi boiler.

just wondered if anyone had any ideas as she is very upset.

Myser

Those silver boxes you describe are zone valves. They do seize up from time-time. One will be for hot water and the other central heating.

If you feel competant enough, someone on here will talk you through removing the actuator and checking if the valve has seized.

keystone

candykisses wrote: »

just wondered if anyone had any ideas as she is very upset.

Yes fire this bloke and get a plumber or heating engineer in who knows what he is doing rather than just fiddling with things serially in the hope thgat he might cure it.

I can't see that this one is solveable remotely via this forum without many long posts - it needs hands on.

Cheers

candykisses

Thnak you both - its a bit worrying as its intermittent, last time she called the plumber out when it wasn't coming on, by the time he got there, it was working ok again. typical.

macman

You don't want a 'plumber', you need a central heating engineer (or RGI if there is a problem wit the boiler). Plumbers are not automatically qualified to work on gas boilers.
The guy you hav been using is just trying things at random without any proper fault- fiinding procedure.
A 4 year old WB may still be under the 5 year warranty, so why not talk to the original installer? Though from the limited info given, it doesn't sound like a boiler problem.

candykisses

Thank you, will have a look in yellow pages under central heating engineers.

Myser

candykisses wrote: »

Thank you, will have a look in yellow pages under central heating engineers.

If you look for somebody in Yellow Pages, you may find you get ripped off.

It's probably best to find a local company. Obtain a few quotes.

Search the Gas Safe Register for a local company.

macman

Ask around friends and neighbours for a recommendation. Good RGI's don't need to use Yellow Pages, all you'll find in there are 'AA1+ Emergency Plumbers' etc.

unclebulgaria

Like Keystone said lots of extremely long explanations on here wont solve this one.
A few points you could mention are;
1. faulty two port valves, are they operating properly?
2. has your plumber balanced the central heating properly?
3. ask about the by-pass valve and whether its fully open or not? It should be almost closed down.
4. is there a red valve on the pipes leading into and out of the the hot water storage tank? If so has it been closed down too far to allow flow through the coil? (plumbers/heating guys sometimes close this down way too far or open it too far and it can ruin the balance of the heating system)

These questions may be over your head but I've mentioned them for you to quiz your guy when he comes to look again (if he does!) Ask him to go through them with you watching.

Canucklehead

Hi.

As the rad is the furthest from the pump and zone valves it may be that the pipework is undersized.

It also sounds like a lot of air in the system which may find it's way out as long as the cold feed is clean and clear.

The pump could be failing.

Check the zone valves are both open when there is a call for heat and hot water. If not, open manually and see how the system works.

The suggestion to fit a Boiler Buddy would be a good idea (something that I would strongly recommend with a boiler change, or some similar product)

GSR

gas4you

Banging will be lack of circulation, check pump first.

Get a new heating engineer in, ask around for friends recommendations, not adverts or sources you don't know of