I got home this evening to find that the central heating wasnt
working. After some investigation it seems that the 3 position valve
isnt working.

Normally when I switch the CH on the valve whirs into the mid position
(it has a small window on the side so I can see what position it is
in), but its not moving at the moment, and the radiators remain cold.
It has a manual lever on the side, and when I use this to move the
switch the mid position, voila - hot radiators.

SO my questions a

a) is it ok to leave it in this position?
b) is it easily fixable?

The valve is a Tower MP3-22C

ANy help would be gratefully received.

Many Thanks

Paul

In an earlier contribution to this discussion,
wrote:

I got home this evening to find that the central heating wasnt
working. After some investigation it seems that the 3 position valve
isnt working.

Normally when I switch the CH on the valve whirs into the mid position
(it has a small window on the side so I can see what position it is
in), but its not moving at the moment, and the radiators remain cold.
It has a manual lever on the side, and when I use this to move the
switch the mid position, voila - hot radiators.

SO my questions a

a) is it ok to leave it in this position?
b) is it easily fixable?

The valve is a Tower MP3-22C

ANy help would be gratefully received.

Many Thanks

Paul

To answer your questions:

a) No. Although you'll get *some* heating in this position, the system won't
work properly. What is likely to happen is that the radiators will get hot
*only* when the HW is being heated. As soon as the cylinder stat cuts out,
the CH will go off too. The valve needs to be able to motor to the CH-only
position if the heating is to keep going without HW heating at the same
time.

b) Probably. The motor in the actuator may have failed, or the 'wet' part of
the valve may hust have jammed due to not having moved for several months.
You need to remove the actuator from the valve (leaving it connected
electrically) and check whether the valve spindle is stiff to turn. If so,
you may be able to free it by turning it backwards and forwards with pliers.

Also check whether the actuator whirrs when it's not on the valve. If it
does, it's probably ok. If not you'll need to replace either the whole
actuator, or just its synchro motor (which is probably one of these:
http://www.screwfix.com/search.do;js...search=synchro )
--
Cheers,
Roger
______
Email address maintained for newsgroup use only, and not regularly
monitored.. Messages sent to it may not be read for several weeks.
PLEASE REPLY TO NEWSGROUP!