A mate has heating problems. He had a powerflush 2 years ago which didn't
fix it. He had a contract with Scottish Power and all they can do is offer
to fit a new pump despite his pump being onto 2 years old. The say he needs
a powerflush - surely not!

The problem is - how can he find someone to diagnose and fix the problem.
It is not a traditional plumbers (pipe strangler) job. It is not a boiler
problem. It could be balancing or control.

Who has the diagnosis skill and commitment to find and fix the problem
without just replacing things and doing money making jobs?

Maybe tell us what the problem is?

DerbyBorn wrote:

A mate has heating problems.
So what are the problems ... not all rads getting hot, or overall not
providing enough heat? Something else?

If he turns all but one rad off, one at a time, are they each capable of
getting hot individually?

On Monday, 2 April 2018 22:39:43 UTC+1, DerbyBorn wrote:
A mate has heating problems. He had a powerflush 2 years ago which didn't
fix it. He had a contract with Scottish Power and all they can do is offer
to fit a new pump despite his pump being onto 2 years old. The say he needs
a powerflush - surely not!

The problem is - how can he find someone to diagnose and fix the problem.
It is not a traditional plumbers (pipe strangler) job. It is not a boiler
problem. It could be balancing or control.

Who has the diagnosis skill and commitment to find and fix the problem
without just replacing things and doing money making jobs?

that's kinda what we're here for


NT

wrote in
:

On Monday, 2 April 2018 22:39:43 UTC+1, DerbyBorn wrote:
A mate has heating problems. He had a powerflush 2 years ago which
didn't fix it. He had a contract with Scottish Power and all they can
do is offer to fit a new pump despite his pump being onto 2 years
old. The say he needs a powerflush - surely not!

The problem is - how can he find someone to diagnose and fix the
problem. It is not a traditional plumbers (pipe strangler) job. It is
not a boiler problem. It could be balancing or control.

Who has the diagnosis skill and commitment to find and fix the
problem without just replacing things and doing money making jobs?

that's kinda what we're here for


NT


I have not been to see it for myself. It seems that some downtairs
radiators do not heat up. I have talked him through balancing and checking
his TRVs are not stuck.
He claims his DHW gets really hot - I have suggested he sets the cylinder
stat to a lower setting - he tries to control things with his timer. I even
wonder if there is a wiring issue. Some parts are not very accessible and I
don't want to go round as I might attract a ping-****it.
It just seems that many plumbers are really pipe fitters or new part
fitters and don't spend time understanding a system and doing a proper
diagnosis.

DerbyBorn wrote:

It just seems that many plumbers are really pipe fitters or new part
fitters and don't spend time understanding a system and doing a proper
diagnosis.

Heating engineer vs plumber?

In article 6,
DerbyBorn writes:
wrote in
:

On Monday, 2 April 2018 22:39:43 UTC+1, DerbyBorn wrote:
A mate has heating problems. He had a powerflush 2 years ago which
didn't fix it. He had a contract with Scottish Power and all they can
do is offer to fit a new pump despite his pump being onto 2 years
old. The say he needs a powerflush - surely not!

The problem is - how can he find someone to diagnose and fix the
problem. It is not a traditional plumbers (pipe strangler) job. It is
not a boiler problem. It could be balancing or control.

Who has the diagnosis skill and commitment to find and fix the
problem without just replacing things and doing money making jobs?

that's kinda what we're here for


NT


I have not been to see it for myself. It seems that some downtairs
radiators do not heat up. I have talked him through balancing and checking
his TRVs are not stuck.
He claims his DHW gets really hot - I have suggested he sets the cylinder
stat to a lower setting - he tries to control things with his timer. I even
wonder if there is a wiring issue. Some parts are not very accessible and I
don't want to go round as I might attract a ping-****it.
It just seems that many plumbers are really pipe fitters or new part
fitters and don't spend time understanding a system and doing a proper
diagnosis.

If you said what town it is, someone here might know a heating
engineer in the area capable of diagnosing a system fault.

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]

On 03/04/2018 09:35, DerbyBorn wrote:


I have not been to see it for myself. It seems that some downtairs
radiators do not heat up. I have talked him through balancing and checking
his TRVs are not stuck.

Air lock in pipes feeding radiators? Turn off all radiators except one
that's not getting hot and perhaps turn the pump to the highest speed
for a short period.

--
mailto : news {at} admac {dot} myzen {dot} co {dot} uk

On 03/04/2018 10:08, alan_m wrote:
On 03/04/2018 09:35, DerbyBorn wrote:


I have not been to see it for myself. It seems that some downtairs
radiators do not heat up. I have talked him through balancing and
checking
his TRVs are not stuck.

Air lock in pipes feeding radiators? Turn off all radiators except one
that's not getting hot and perhaps turn the pump to the highest speed
for a short period.

The bathroom radiator in the cottage we rented a couple of weeks ago was
cold despite the pipes to and from being hot. I luckily the bleed screw
was slotted so I didn't need a key to bleed it. Once bled of more air
than I ever bled from one rad in the past it worked perfectly.

I told the owner what I had done when they called in later in the week.
The response "Bled ??? sorry I don't know what that is" !!!

Mike

On 03/04/2018 09:35, DerbyBorn wrote:
wrote in
:

On Monday, 2 April 2018 22:39:43 UTC+1, DerbyBorn wrote:
A mate has heating problems. He had a powerflush 2 years ago which
didn't fix it. He had a contract with Scottish Power and all they can
do is offer to fit a new pump despite his pump being onto 2 years
old. The say he needs a powerflush - surely not!

I have not been to see it for myself. It seems that some downtairs
radiators do not heat up. I have talked him through balancing and checking
his TRVs are not stuck.
He claims his DHW gets really hot - I have suggested he sets the cylinder
stat to a lower setting - he tries to control things with his timer. I even

OK. This sounds very familiar.

There is a 3 way valve that has got stuck so that the hot water tank is
always being heated and one of the house zones is never heated.

wonder if there is a wiring issue. Some parts are not very accessible and I
don't want to go round as I might attract a ping-****it.
It just seems that many plumbers are really pipe fitters or new part
fitters and don't spend time understanding a system and doing a proper
diagnosis.

I'd trace back the hot water coil feed and find the offending valve.

It may just have seized up completely or the motor burnt out - my
parent's has stalagmites underneath it! It could be that the control
signals are not reaching it but mechanical failure is more likely.

The superheated hot water is a bit of a give away.

--
Regards,
Martin Brown

On 03/04/2018 09:35, DerbyBorn wrote:


He claims his DHW gets really hot - I have suggested he sets the cylinder
stat to a lower setting - he tries to control things with his timer.

Is there also an immersion heater that may have been left on?



A recent observation with my own heating system where a tank of water
can be heated by both the boiler and a immersion heater. Water heated by
the immersion heater is too hot [1] even through the immersion
thermostat is set to 60C. 2 digital thermometers with wired sensors
were placed with one sensor at the top of the tank and the other half
way down. Both in contact with the copper tank and both under the fairly
thick insulating jacket.

When heating the water by the boiler
top of tank = 59C, mid tank = 58C

When heating the tank by immersion heater
top of tank = 74C, mid tank = 57C


I assume from this that the temperature sensor for the immersion heater
is actually in the end of the long probe that fits into the immersion
fitting and monitoring the temperature mid tank.

[1] The immersion gets switched on about once every 3 months to give a
quick boost to the heating of the water so its not too much of a problem.

--
mailto : news {at} admac {dot} myzen {dot} co {dot} uk

Mike


I thought we all carried radiator keys on our keyrings! Perhaps it is only
for when we have daughters in rented university accomodation!

Derby

On Tuesday, 3 April 2018 09:35:25 UTC+1, DerbyBorn wrote:
tabbypurr wrote in
:
On Monday, 2 April 2018 22:39:43 UTC+1, DerbyBorn wrote:

A mate has heating problems. He had a powerflush 2 years ago which
didn't fix it. He had a contract with Scottish Power and all they can
do is offer to fit a new pump despite his pump being onto 2 years
old. The say he needs a powerflush - surely not!

The problem is - how can he find someone to diagnose and fix the
problem. It is not a traditional plumbers (pipe strangler) job. It is
not a boiler problem. It could be balancing or control.

Who has the diagnosis skill and commitment to find and fix the
problem without just replacing things and doing money making jobs?

that's kinda what we're here for


NT


I have not been to see it for myself. It seems that some downtairs
radiators do not heat up. I have talked him through balancing and checking
his TRVs are not stuck.
He claims his DHW gets really hot - I have suggested he sets the cylinder
stat to a lower setting - he tries to control things with his timer. I even
wonder if there is a wiring issue. Some parts are not very accessible and I
don't want to go round as I might attract a ping-****it.
It just seems that many plumbers are really pipe fitters or new part
fitters and don't spend time understanding a system and doing a proper
diagnosis.

Send him to uk.d-i-y


NT

On Tue, 03 Apr 2018 15:44:19 +0000, DerbyBorn wrote:


Mike


I thought we all carried radiator keys on our keyrings! Perhaps it is
only for when we have daughters in rented university accomodation!

And of course the little forked keys for those 'special' light
switches ...

--
My posts are my copyright and if @diy_forums or Home Owners' Hub
wish to copy them they can pay me £1 a message.
Use the BIG mirror service in the UK: http://www.mirrorservice.org
*lightning surge protection* - a w_tom conductor

If you post a message in the Central Heating and Boilers section of the Forum on ultimatehandyman.co.uk they may be able to help and will probably be able to suggest a suitable person in your area

On 03/04/2018 18:51, Bob Eager wrote:
On Tue, 03 Apr 2018 15:44:19 +0000, DerbyBorn wrote:


Mike


I thought we all carried radiator keys on our keyrings! Perhaps it is
only for when we have daughters in rented university accomodation!

And of course the little forked keys for those 'special' light
switches ...

But which brand?

--
Adam

On Tue, 03 Apr 2018 20:16:09 +0100, ARW wrote:

On 03/04/2018 18:51, Bob Eager wrote:
On Tue, 03 Apr 2018 15:44:19 +0000, DerbyBorn wrote:


Mike


I thought we all carried radiator keys on our keyrings! Perhaps it is
only for when we have daughters in rented university accomodation!

And of course the little forked keys for those 'special' light switches
...

But which brand?

The ones that work where I work!



--
My posts are my copyright and if @diy_forums or Home Owners' Hub
wish to copy them they can pay me £1 a message.
Use the BIG mirror service in the UK: http://www.mirrorservice.org
*lightning surge protection* - a w_tom conductor

On 03/04/2018 21:06, Bob Eager wrote:
On Tue, 03 Apr 2018 20:16:09 +0100, ARW wrote:

On 03/04/2018 18:51, Bob Eager wrote:
On Tue, 03 Apr 2018 15:44:19 +0000, DerbyBorn wrote:


Mike


I thought we all carried radiator keys on our keyrings! Perhaps it is
only for when we have daughters in rented university accomodation!

And of course the little forked keys for those 'special' light switches
...

But which brand?

The ones that work where I work!

As you can imagine I have a variety of emergency lighting key switches
and fire alarm call point key switches. I cannot fit them all onto one
key ring!

I was nearly stuffed the other day at work when I needed a Legrand
emergency light key switch that I do not not have. I have now ordered one.

So I just turned off the lighting circuit MCB. Talk about whinging.

A dozen office workers having no light other than from that supplied by
the sun coming in through their windows for a few minutes whilst I
swapped their faulty emergency exit light.

Normally at such places you have

1. A bloke that will offer to find you the office owned emergency light
key switch (he then disappears and only returns after power is back on
to tell you the key switch is not where it used to be and he needs to
report this to management)

2. Some bloke telling you how you how to wire up the new emergency light.

3. Some woman that works in management that looks like your Mother
asking if you are OK on those steps. And then says after you have
swapped the light fitting "I've told him before where the key switch is,
I put it there and he is not looking properly for it"

4. Some woman offering to make me a cup of tea but is prepared to hold
the steps for me (not needed as it is only about 2.4m) whilst I change
the fitting and the kettle boils. She then gives me a cup of coffee.








--
Adam

In article 2, DerbyBorn
wrote:


Mike


I thought we all carried radiator keys on our keyrings! Perhaps it is
only for when we have daughters in rented university accomodation!

I have an MK key for a keyswitch on mine, but then I deal with electricery.

--
from KT24 in Surrey, England
"I'd rather die of exhaustion than die of boredom" Thomas Carlyle

In article ,
ARW wrote:
On 03/04/2018 18:51, Bob Eager wrote:
On Tue, 03 Apr 2018 15:44:19 +0000, DerbyBorn wrote:


Mike


I thought we all carried radiator keys on our keyrings! Perhaps it is
only for when we have daughters in rented university accomodation!

And of course the little forked keys for those 'special' light
switches ...

But which brand?

MK in my case.

--
from KT24 in Surrey, England
"I'd rather die of exhaustion than die of boredom" Thomas Carlyle

On 03/04/2018 16:45, DerbyBorn wrote:


Derby


I could hear the words Derby stomping into view.

Dunno why?

--
Adam

On 06/04/2018 10:16, charles wrote:
In article ,
ARW wrote:
On 03/04/2018 18:51, Bob Eager wrote:
On Tue, 03 Apr 2018 15:44:19 +0000, DerbyBorn wrote:


Mike


I thought we all carried radiator keys on our keyrings! Perhaps it is
only for when we have daughters in rented university accomodation!

And of course the little forked keys for those 'special' light
switches ...

But which brand?

MK in my case.



A bit of a topic drift but WTF:-)

The Click ones and the MK ones can usually do the same job. Now the fire
alarm call point keys are a bit of a bugger. I have about 10 different
ones and no way are they going to fit on a keyring.

Why not standardise these things?

--
Adam