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UK diy (uk.d-i-y) For the discussion of all topics related to diy (do-it-yourself) in the UK. All levels of experience and proficency are welcome to join in to ask questions or offer solutions. |
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#1
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Filling up gravity central heating
The water to the header tank was turned off and the system drained down.
Swapped the mid position vale and it will now not fill back up. The odd thing is the header tank did not drain off - it was still full when I went to turn the water on. Suggestions? -- Adam |
#2
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Filling up gravity central heating
On 06/10/2019 13:00, ARW wrote:
The water to the header tank was turned off and the system drained down. Swapped the mid position vale and it will now not fill back up. The odd thing is the header tank did not drain off - it was still full when I went to turn the water on. Suggestions? -- Adam Airlock. No CH when I was a kid, but a routine at home every time a hot water tap washer had to be changed was to connect a hose between hot and cold water taps in the bathroom, and turn both on. |
#3
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Filling up gravity central heating
In message ,
newshound writes On 06/10/2019 13:00, ARW wrote: The water to the header tank was turned off and the system drained down. Swapped the mid position vale and it will now not fill back up. The odd thing is the header tank did not drain off - it was still full when I went to turn the water on. Suggestions? -- Adam Airlock. No CH when I was a kid, but a routine at home every time a hot water tap washer had to be changed was to connect a hose between hot and cold water taps in the bathroom, and turn both on. I don't suppose that was a cottage in Southwold?:-) -- Tim Lamb |
#4
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Filling up gravity central heating
On 06/10/2019 13:00, ARW wrote:
The water to the header tank was turned off and the system drained down. Swapped the mid position vale and it will now not fill back up. The odd thing is the header tank did not drain off - it was still full when I went to turn the water on. Suggestions? -- Adam Congealed sludge in the downfeed from the header? I had that a few years ago on a bend situated behind the hot water tank. Happy days. |
#5
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Filling up gravity central heating
On 06/10/2019 15:06, newshound wrote:
On 06/10/2019 13:00, ARW wrote: The water to the header tank was turned off and the system drained down. Swapped the mid position vale and it will now not fill back up. The odd thing is the header tank did not drain off - it was still full when I went to turn the water on. Suggestions? -- Adam Airlock. No CH when I was a kid, but a routine at home every time a hot water tap washer had to be changed was to connect a hose between hot and cold water taps in the bathroom, and turn both on. +1, except that both those taps would be fed from the same tank so should have equal pressure. Connecting the kitchen cold tap fed from incoming mains to a hot tap would be more like it. |
#6
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Filling up gravity central heating
On 06/10/2019 15:44, Andy Bennet wrote:
On 06/10/2019 13:00, ARW wrote: The water to the header tank was turned off and the system drained down. Swapped the mid position vale and it will now not fill back up. The odd thing is the header tank did not drain off - it was still full when I went to turn the water on. Suggestions? -- Adam Congealed sludge in the downfeed from the header? I had that a few years ago on a bend situated behind the hot water tank. Happy days. especially since the blockage might have suddenly released when the valve was removed :-) |
#7
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Filling up gravity central heating
Andrew wrote:
except that both those taps would be fed from the same tank so should have equal pressure. varies (by region?) ... no cold tap in this house is fed from the tank |
#8
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Filling up gravity central heating
On 06/10/2019 16:12, Andrew wrote:
On 06/10/2019 15:06, newshound wrote: On 06/10/2019 13:00, ARW wrote: The water to the header tank was turned off and the system drained down. Swapped the mid position vale and it will now not fill back up. The odd thing is the header tank did not drain off - it was still full when I went to turn the water on. Suggestions? -- Adam Airlock. No CH when I was a kid, but a routine at home every time a hot water tap washer had to be changed was to connect a hose between hot and cold water taps in the bathroom, and turn both on. +1, except that both those taps would be fed from the same tank so should have equal pressure. Connecting the kitchen cold tap fed from incoming mains to a hot tap would be more like it. The HW tank is not relevant is it? I never touched it. -- Adam |
#9
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Filling up gravity central heating
We used to get airlocks in the DHW system whenever it was drained down (too many pipes horizontal ). Remedy was to connect the hot and cold feeds for the washing machine and let mains pressure water back fill the pipes as soon as a rumble of air bubbles could be heard in the main cold water tank or water came out of the overflow pipe then it was turned off and system worked perfectly.
I suppose you could do something similar with a hose connected to one of the drain off cocks but you would need to secure it tight on the drain off cock or it could be water, water everywhere. The other thing to watch is the header tank as on CH systems they are quite small and soon fill the overflow should deal with it but better not to take chances. As for why your header may be full of water it depends where the turn off valve is. If in the supply pipe to the ball cock then the tank will empty. If on the downfeed pipe header to CH system then water will be retained in the header. Richard |
#10
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Filling up gravity central heating
On Sun, 06 Oct 2019 16:12:03 +0100, Andrew wrote:
On 06/10/2019 15:06, newshound wrote: On 06/10/2019 13:00, ARW wrote: The water to the header tank was turned off and the system drained down. Swapped the mid position vale and it will now not fill back up. The odd thing is the header tank did not drain off - it was still full when I went to turn the water on. Suggestions? -- Adam Airlock. No CH when I was a kid, but a routine at home every time a hot water tap washer had to be changed was to connect a hose between hot and cold water taps in the bathroom, and turn both on. +1, except that both those taps would be fed from the same tank so should have equal pressure. Connecting the kitchen cold tap fed from incoming mains to a hot tap would be more like it. Doesn't work with the header tank, though. -- 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 |
#11
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Filling up gravity central heating
On 06/10/2019 16:19, ARW wrote:
On 06/10/2019 16:12, Andrew wrote: On 06/10/2019 15:06, newshound wrote: On 06/10/2019 13:00, ARW wrote: The water to the header tank was turned off and the system drained down. Swapped the mid position vale and it will now not fill back up. The odd thing is the header tank did not drain off - it was still full when I went to turn the water on. Suggestions? -- Adam Airlock. No CH when I was a kid, but a routine at home every time a hot water tap washer had to be changed was to connect a hose between hot and cold water taps in the bathroom, and turn both on. +1, except that both those taps would be fed from the same tank so should have equal pressure. Connecting the kitchen cold tap fed from incoming mains to a hot tap would be more like it. The HW tank is not relevant is it? I never touched it. In that case try connecting a hosepipe to the C/H drain cock, and see if that pushes water up into the C/H header tank ?. You might have to manually move the 3W valve to the heating position. |
#12
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Filling up gravity central heating
On 06/10/2019 17:09, Andrew wrote:
You might have to manually move the 3W valve to the heating position. There is usually (always?) a manual lever on the valve which allows both sides to be open and latched to facilitate filling. The latch on the manual lever should be overriden when the system is in operation by first switching to CH and then hot water only. -- mailto : news {at} admac {dot} myzen {dot} co {dot} uk |
#13
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Filling up gravity central heating
Gunged up T-Junction, where the feed pipe from the header tank joins the main heating pipework.
Mike |
#14
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Filling up gravity central heating
On Sunday, 6 October 2019 16:13:30 UTC+1, Andrew wrote:
especially since the blockage might have suddenly released when the valve was removed :-) Mine did, as we were moving a full HW cylinder ;-) Owain |
#15
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Filling up gravity central heating
On 06/10/2019 13:00, ARW wrote:
The water to the header tank was turned off and the system drained down. Swapped the mid position vale and it will now not fill back up. The odd thing is the header tank did not drain off - it was still full when I went to turn the water on. Suggestions? -- Adam Hi Adam, I'm confused! Which bit is gravity? If there's a mid-position valve, the primary circuit is presumably fully pumped. It may be vented (as opposed to pressurised) if there's a small fill and expansion tank - but that doesn't make it "gravity". Is it thins tank which you're referring to as the header tank, or do you mean the large cold water header for the (presumably) gravity HW system? Can you clarify just what you mean by "won't fill back up". Exactly what is happening or not happening? As someone else has pointed out, the 3-way valve will be in the HW-only position when no power is applies to it. The manual lever moves it to the mid position, when you should get some flow to both circuits. You may need to do that if the primary circuit won't refill properly. -- Cheers, Roger ____________ Please reply to Newsgroup. Whilst email address is valid, it is seldom checked. |
#16
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Filling up gravity central heating
On 06/10/2019 13:00, ARW wrote:
The water to the header tank was turned off and the system drained down. Swapped the mid position vale and it will now not fill back up. The odd thing is the header tank did not drain off - it was still full when I went to turn the water on. Suggestions? -- Adam If there is a pump, make sure that there is water in it by opening the bleed screw and then apply power. Also bleed radiators. -- Michael Chare |
#17
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Filling up gravity central heating
That only worked if the cold was from the mains.
Brian -- ----- -- This newsgroup posting comes to you directly from... The Sofa of Brian Gaff... Blind user, so no pictures please Note this Signature is meaningless.! "newshound" wrote in message o.uk... On 06/10/2019 13:00, ARW wrote: The water to the header tank was turned off and the system drained down. Swapped the mid position vale and it will now not fill back up. The odd thing is the header tank did not drain off - it was still full when I went to turn the water on. Suggestions? -- Adam Airlock. No CH when I was a kid, but a routine at home every time a hot water tap washer had to be changed was to connect a hose between hot and cold water taps in the bathroom, and turn both on. |
#18
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Filling up gravity central heating
On 06/10/2019 15:06, newshound wrote:
On 06/10/2019 13:00, ARW wrote: The water to the header tank was turned off and the system drained down. Swapped the mid position vale and it will now not fill back up. The odd thing is the header tank did not drain off - it was still full when I went to turn the water on. Suggestions? -- Adam Airlock. No CH when I was a kid, but a routine at home every time a hot water tap washer had to be changed was to connect a hose between hot and cold water taps in the bathroom, and turn both on. Indeed a well tested solution, but worth mentioning that will clear an airlock in a vented hot water system, it won't help when there is one in the vented CH primary. You would need to find a way to connect your cold water tap to a rad tail or similar to have the same effect there. -- Cheers, John. /================================================== ===============\ | Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk | |-----------------------------------------------------------------| | John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk | \================================================= ================/ |
#19
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Filling up gravity central heating
On 06/10/2019 13:00, ARW wrote:
The water to the header tank was turned off and the system drained down. Swapped the mid position vale and it will now not fill back up. The odd thing is the header tank did not drain off - it was still full when I went to turn the water on. Suggestions? Some crap getting sucked into the feed/expansion pipe connecting to the CH header would be one possibility. -- Cheers, John. /================================================== ===============\ | Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk | |-----------------------------------------------------------------| | John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk | \================================================= ================/ |
#20
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Filling up gravity central heating
On 06/10/2019 21:17, John Rumm wrote:
On 06/10/2019 13:00, ARW wrote: The water to the header tank was turned off and the system drained down. Swapped the mid position vale and it will now not fill back up. The odd thing is the header tank did not drain off - it was still full when I went to turn the water on. Suggestions? Some crap getting sucked into the feed/expansion pipe connecting to the CH header would be one possibility. Should have added, that a wet'n'dry vac hose held under water and over the outlet of the CH tank, might be worth a shot to see if you can suck some water back. Failing that, a hose stuffed down it, might fors some water though. -- Cheers, John. /================================================== ===============\ | Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk | |-----------------------------------------------------------------| | John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk | \================================================= ================/ |
#21
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Filling up gravity central heating
On 06/10/2019 19:40, Michael Chare wrote:
On 06/10/2019 13:00, ARW wrote: The water to the header tank was turned off and the system drained down. Swapped the mid position vale and it will now not fill back up. The odd thing is the header tank did not drain off - it was still full when I went to turn the water on. Suggestions? -- Adam If there is a pump, make sure that there is water in it by opening the bleed screw and then apply power. Also bleed radiators. There may also be a bleed in the high point of the hot water system. Mine had an auto bleed valve but the screw on cover was tightly on thus only allowing a limited amount of air to escape until the cover was unscrewed. -- mailto : news {at} admac {dot} myzen {dot} co {dot} uk |
#22
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Filling up gravity central heating
On 06/10/2019 15:44, Andy Bennet wrote:
On 06/10/2019 13:00, ARW wrote: The water to the header tank was turned off and the system drained down. Swapped the mid position vale and it will now not fill back up. The odd thing is the header tank did not drain off - it was still full when I went to turn the water on. Suggestions? -- Adam Congealed sludge in the downfeed from the header? I had that a few years ago on a bend situated behind the hot water tank. Happy days. Correct and a 15mm gate valve that I did not know (shelves full of towels etc) between the header tank to the CH pipework (joining into the CH pipework just below the air separator) that I did know about. It looks like the valve was not fully open (and has probably been like that for 20 years) allowing crud and to fill the 15mm feeder pipe. New gate valve and a bucket of water through the header tank and all is well. Thank you to you and everyone else that has helped. -- Adam |
#23
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Filling up gravity central heating
On 07/10/2019 18:43, ARW wrote:
On 06/10/2019 15:44, Andy Bennet wrote: On 06/10/2019 13:00, ARW wrote: The water to the header tank was turned off and the system drained down. Swapped the mid position vale and it will now not fill back up. The odd thing is the header tank did not drain off - it was still full when I went to turn the water on. Suggestions? -- Adam Congealed sludge in the downfeed from the header? I had that a few years ago on a bend situated behind the hot water tank. Happy days. Correct and a 15mm gate valve that I did not know (shelves full of towels etc) between the header tank to the CH pipework (joining into the CH pipework just below the air separator) that I did know about. It looks like the valve was not fully open (and has probably been like that for 20 years) allowing crud and to fill the 15mm feeder pipe. New gate valve and a bucket of water through the header tank and all is well. Thank you to you and everyone else that has helped. Don't forget the inhibitor :-) |
#24
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Filling up gravity central heating
On 06/10/2019 17:09, Andrew wrote:
On 06/10/2019 16:19, ARW wrote: On 06/10/2019 16:12, Andrew wrote: On 06/10/2019 15:06, newshound wrote: On 06/10/2019 13:00, ARW wrote: The water to the header tank was turned off and the system drained down. Swapped the mid position vale and it will now not fill back up. The odd thing is the header tank did not drain off - it was still full when I went to turn the water on. Suggestions? -- Adam Airlock. No CH when I was a kid, but a routine at home every time a hot water tap washer had to be changed was to connect a hose between hot and cold water taps in the bathroom, and turn both on. +1, except that both those taps would be fed from the same tank so should have equal pressure. Connecting the kitchen cold tap fed from incoming mains to a hot tap would be more like it. The HW tank is not relevant is it? I never touched it. In that case try connecting a hosepipe to the C/H drain cock, and see if that pushes water up into the C/H header tank ?. You might have to manually move the 3W valve to the heating position. I did. We filled the CH circuit up that way and eventually it started adding more water to the already full CH header tank via the expansion pipe. I now realise the logical conclusion at this point would have been to block the expansion pipe and try to fill the header tank via it's feed pipe (ie the 15mm gravity feed pipe that the tank uses to feed the CH pipework from) or in other words (Star Trek and Scotty anyone, just reverse the gravity laddie) to prove that this pipe was blocked. Cheers for the help. Much appreciated. -- Adam |
#25
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Filling up gravity central heating
On 07/10/2019 18:46, Andrew wrote:
On 07/10/2019 18:43, ARW wrote: On 06/10/2019 15:44, Andy Bennet wrote: On 06/10/2019 13:00, ARW wrote: The water to the header tank was turned off and the system drained down. Swapped the mid position vale and it will now not fill back up. The odd thing is the header tank did not drain off - it was still full when I went to turn the water on. Suggestions? -- Adam Congealed sludge in the downfeed from the header? I had that a few years ago on a bend situated behind the hot water tank. Happy days. Correct and a 15mm gate valve that I did not know (shelves full of towels etc) between the header tank to the CH pipework (joining into the CH pipework just below the air separator) that I did know about. It looks like the valve was not fully open (and has probably been like that for 20 years) allowing crud and to fill the 15mm feeder pipe. New gate valve and a bucket of water through the header tank and all is well. Thank you to you and everyone else that has helped. Don't forget the inhibitor :-) I certainly did not. I have **** loads of the stuff as some new-builds I was working on had electric only heating. The bathroom and en suite had water filled towel rads with electric elements and they sent a full bottle of inhibitor with every house. One bottle did all 20 houses and I kept the rest:-) -- Adam |
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