Whats wrong with my heating?? :-(

mrsvanderkamp_2

Hi,

I'm really hoping someone might be able to help as I'm beginning to lose the will to live with my central heating system.

I had 3 rads which didn't get hot and was advised to have a power flush - had that done and the system worked great... for about 3 days!! I'm now back where I started with the same 3 rads not working. I've tried shutting off all those that do work in an effort to boost the flow and yet and still nothing to the others, although when I tried this yesterday (when the rads seemed a bit cooler but were working to an extent) this did work.

There is a return pipe which is also not hot (or even warm) I have the plumber coming back next week but when I spoke to him on the phone, he was not really sure what he thought the problem might be although he mentioned the pump on the boiler tho to be honest I'm not convinced by that. I mentioned an air lock to him as my research seems to be taking me in that direction and he responded with possibly if the auto air vent in the boiler is knackered?

Any help hugely appreciated TIA :-)

woohoo_postingid

Is your boiler showing any pressure ?

Mr_Ted

??? Make and model of boiler needed???

Avoriaz

My money is on an airlock.

The powerflush flow was probably strong enough to clear the blocked air or gas and that has built up again and the pump flow isn't powerful enough to clear it.

But it could be something else and it is impossible to analyse much further from afar.

Good luck.

mrsvanderkamp_2

Thanks for the replies. The pressure is fine and its a Viessman Vitodens 100.

We had British Gas out today as I have a service agreement with them - they usually just give me a load of flannel about needing a power flush and i didn't want to tell them that I'd one done by someone else so it couldn't be that, but actually they were very helpful and spent 3 hours here. They took one rad off the wall and rinsed it through which confirmed that the system was clean. They've ordered some new parts for the boiler and are coming back next week - it might be a blockage in a pipe in the boiler which apparently then makes the water just take the easiest route (which kind of makes sense) and if that doesn't work they are going to look under the floorboards to see if there is a blocked return valve or something.

Hopefully it will get sorted and I'll post when (if) it is and hopefully anyone else with a similar problem might also get some answers

anotheruser

I guess you have also bled the radiators working your way from number 1 to the last in the link?
Then you may need to add more water due to a drop in pressure.

mrsvanderkamp_2

This might seem a little extreme but I'm actually sat here in tears such is my frustration with this problem.. work is really stressful, I'm working long hours and I just want to come home to a warm house and that it seems is impossible. I cannot for the life of me understand why no one can figure out the problem. I have British Gas telling me one thing and my plumber telling me something else -I have BG insurance but as we know they don't cover sludge, so I get a power flush done (not by them and aside from the fact that their employee TOLD me not to use them, I can see nothing in their T&C's saying it HAS to be done by them) as per my first post, it worked for a few days and now doesn't. My plumber (who did the flush) told me to get BG round as issues with the boiler - did this, they came back today fitted parts and are now saying the pipework is blocked and as it's sludge associated and they didn't do the flush thy won't look at it. My plumber then says actually the problem could be the return pipe in the boiler (the pipes to the rads that don't work are hot but the rad and the return pipes are cold). So if it's a boiler issue BG should deal? I don't know who to believe, nothing seems to resolve the problem anyway and I'm just playing ping pong between BG and the plumber. Plumber will come out again but obviously I have to pay him and why should I if the problem is the boiler and therefore BG should be doing it but are too dim to figure out the problem?? Seriously I am about ready to sell my soul to the first person who can get my radiators working... ((

Slowly_does_it..

Hugs! - you will get it sorted!
I'm no expert, but maybe some else can tell if a TRV works if it has been put on back to front? - as in the water is trying to flow backwards though the radiator and valve.
Do you have a filter on the system somewhere?
It might take a while, but I would try shutting down all but one of the rads, probably working progressively away from the boiler. This might enable you to see if there is a blockage in a pipe as no rads beyond that point work. Also if you have a good flow going though the boiler and then through each rad the pump might be able to shift the sludge to the filter, clearing the pipes.

I_have_spoken

the pipes to the rads that don't work are hot but the rad and the return pipes are cold

Kind of points to airlock/stuck valve/blockage in that section

plumb1_2

if its had a proper powerflush then it should have removed any sludge or blockage, as the plumber should be able to spot this when flushing.

If your system has been converted from a normal system to a combi ( as you say in another post). I would be looking at the pipework under the floor etc. I have had this problem before after flushing, a old bypass valve not taken out when swopped to a combi, the flow will take the easy route back to the boiler, and not allow some rads to heat. get the plumber to check the pipe routes.

mrsvanderkamp_2

Thank you.

I wonder if anyone could answer these specific questions as it might help me a little as I have plumber blaming british gas and vice versa

1. British Gas have replaced a pipe in the boiler and are coming tomorrow to replace another piece. I saw the pipe he took out and it was full of black rubbish - he says that if the flush was done properly that wouldn't have been there - is that true? I was here for part of the flush and I know he was here all day, I don't THINK i've been fleeced by a cowboy but the problem is you never really know do you?

2. After the flush the rads all worked and the house was much warmer than before which also makes me think it was done correctly, so would the offending rads just stop working?

3. British gas say that the valves on the rads are fine - they say they have adequate "flow" even though they are pretty old and two rads dont even have a thermostatic valve - any thoughts?

4. The plumber blames BG for the state of my boiler - there were a couple of old leaks and he says they could be the problem, could they? British Gas say not and to be honest on the basis that the hot water and the rads that do work are lovely and hot, I'd be surprised if there were really any problems with the boiler itself - again any thoughts?

5. The 2 main problem rads share a pipe (one either side of the wall in the lounge/hall) and the pipe seems to be hot up to that point - could there be a blockage at that point?

TIA