Heating Problem Thats Dumbfounded Seven Plumbers
 

Hi, hope someone can help,my girls heating will work upstairs but not
down.These guys have been and all have suggested the pump and some
have replaced it.One has replaced the zone valve,all have suggested
and then dismissed blockage as water does come out of the drain
point.Its quite an old boiler which seems to fire up fine and rads do
get hot.Im sure that when I used Fernox it did help and tried to
balance the rads.Any guidance what I can check to do an in depth
diagnosis and info on balancing properly.The boiler is a wall mounted
type not combi.I can get more system info tomorrow .Thanks Jason

jason hunter wrote:
Hi, hope someone can help,my girls heating will work upstairs but not
down.These guys have been and all have suggested the pump and some
have replaced it.One has replaced the zone valve,all have suggested
and then dismissed blockage as water does come out of the drain
point.Its quite an old boiler which seems to fire up fine and rads do
get hot.Im sure that when I used Fernox it did help and tried to
balance the rads.Any guidance what I can check to do an in depth
diagnosis and info on balancing properly.The boiler is a wall mounted
type not combi.I can get more system info tomorrow .Thanks Jason

Turn off all the rads.
Now, turn on one downstatirs.
What happens?

jason hunter wrote:

Hi, hope someone can help,my girls heating will work upstairs but not
down.These guys have been and all have suggested the pump and some
have replaced it.One has replaced the zone valve,all have suggested
and then dismissed blockage as water does come out of the drain
point.Its quite an old boiler which seems to fire up fine and rads do
get hot.Im sure that when I used Fernox it did help and tried to
balance the rads.Any guidance what I can check to do an in depth
diagnosis and info on balancing properly.The boiler is a wall mounted
type not combi.I can get more system info tomorrow .Thanks Jason

Almost certainly an airlock.

Try over speed on the pump and shut off all radiators that are hot, and
then bleed everything else. Repeat ad nauseam.


As rads get hot, shut em down tight. In the end hot water will get where
it needs to go!

Then open them all up and balance them for even heat, assuming no TRV's.

balancing is an iterative process. Start all wide open then close down
the hot ones till the cold ones get warm then close the hottest a
little, and wait. Repeat till all are equally as hot as eh one with the
wide open valve....

"jason hunter" wrote in message
om...
Hi, hope someone can help,my girls heating will work upstairs but not
down.

/Frankie Howard voice

Sorry, no idea, but I'm well impressed that you managed to get SEVEN
plumbers out to look at it!! What's your secret?

David

"Lobster" wrote
| "jason hunter" wrote
| Hi, hope someone can help,my girls heating will work upstairs
| but not down.
| /Frankie Howard voice
| Sorry, no idea, but I'm well impressed that you managed to get
| SEVEN plumbers out to look at it!! What's your secret?

Perhaps you should ask Jason's girlfriend what /her/ secret is :-)

Owain

On Sat, 06 Nov 2004 19:22:55 +0000, The Natural Philosopher wrote:

jason hunter wrote:

Hi, hope someone can help,my girls heating will work upstairs but not
down.These guys have been and all have suggested the pump and some
have replaced it.One has replaced the zone valve,all have suggested
and then dismissed blockage as water does come out of the drain
point.Its quite an old boiler which seems to fire up fine and rads do
get hot.Im sure that when I used Fernox it did help and tried to
balance the rads.Any guidance what I can check to do an in depth
diagnosis and info on balancing properly.The boiler is a wall mounted
type not combi.I can get more system info tomorrow .Thanks Jason

Almost certainly an airlock.

Try over speed on the pump and shut off all radiators that are hot, and
then bleed everything else. Repeat ad nauseam.


As rads get hot, shut em down tight. In the end hot water will get where
it needs to go!

Then open them all up and balance them for even heat, assuming no TRV's.

balancing is an iterative process. Start all wide open then close down
the hot ones till the cold ones get warm then close the hottest a
little, and wait. Repeat till all are equally as hot as eh one with the
wide open valve....

Balancing is still good practice even when TRVs are fitted.
I'd also check that there isn't a blockage between the feed pipe and the
circuit which might be the under lying cause for an airlock.


--
Ed Sirett - Property maintainer and registered gas fitter.
The FAQ for uk.diy is at www.diyfaq.org.uk
Gas fitting FAQ http://www.makewrite.demon.co.uk/GasFitting.html
Sealed CH FAQ http://www.makewrite.demon.co.uk/SealedCH.html

"The Natural Philosopher" wrote in message
...
jason hunter wrote:

Hi, hope someone can help,my girls heating will work upstairs but not
down.These guys have been and all have suggested the pump and some
have replaced it.One has replaced the zone valve,all have suggested
and then dismissed blockage as water does come out of the drain
point.Its quite an old boiler which seems to fire up fine and rads do
get hot.Im sure that when I used Fernox it did help and tried to
balance the rads.Any guidance what I can check to do an in depth
diagnosis and info on balancing properly.The boiler is a wall mounted
type not combi.I can get more system info tomorrow .Thanks Jason

Almost certainly an airlock.

Try over speed on the pump

Try reversing the pump and run for 15 minutes. Then turn it back around.

On 6 Nov 2004 10:26:30 -0800, (jason hunter)
wrote:

Hi, hope someone can help,my girls heating will work upstairs but not
down.These guys have been and all have suggested the pump and some
have replaced it.One has replaced the zone valve,all have suggested
and then dismissed blockage as water does come out of the drain
point.Its quite an old boiler which seems to fire up fine and rads do
get hot.Im sure that when I used Fernox it did help and tried to
balance the rads.Any guidance what I can check to do an in depth
diagnosis

and info on balancing properly.

http://www.diyfaq.org.uk/plumbing/rad-balance.html

The boiler is a wall mounted
type not combi.I can get more system info tomorrow .Thanks Jason

Phil
The uk.d-i-y FAQ is at http://www.diyfaq.org.uk/
Remove NOSPAM from address to email me

"Owain" wrote in message ...
"Lobster" wrote
| "jason hunter" wrote
| Hi, hope someone can help,my girls heating will work upstairs
| but not down.
| /Frankie Howard voice
| Sorry, no idea, but I'm well impressed that you managed to get
| SEVEN plumbers out to look at it!! What's your secret?

Perhaps you should ask Jason's girlfriend what /her/ secret is :-)

Owain
Thanks to all who replied will try your airlock tips tonight when I go
over , Im inclined to agree as there was no heat at all at one point
until I did some balancing maybe more is whats needed.will let you
know.once again many thanks Jason PS Shes hot-the plumbers obviously
arent

"jason hunter" wrote in message
om...
"Owain" wrote in message
...
"Lobster" wrote
| "jason hunter" wrote
| Hi, hope someone can help,my girls heating will work upstairs
| but not down.
| /Frankie Howard voice
| Sorry, no idea, but I'm well impressed that you managed to get
| SEVEN plumbers out to look at it!! What's your secret?

Perhaps you should ask Jason's girlfriend what /her/ secret is :-)

Owain
Thanks to all who replied will try your airlock tips tonight when I go
over , Im inclined to agree as there was no heat at all at one point
until I did some balancing maybe more is whats needed.will let you
know.once again many thanks Jason PS Shes hot-the plumbers obviously
arent

Also your pump could be running slow.

Can also try hose pipe from mains pressure tap, piping into the central heating system at each radiator drain (assume you have one). Purge the air out of the pipe first before you connect. This will force water through and up the system, into the F & E header tank, hopefully clearing any air and blockage. By turning on/off the appropriate valve on each end of the Radiator, the water is forced up Flow or Return sections of the pipework.

Be carefull the F & E tank doesn't overflow, and also if you have something like fernox in your system, it may need renewing, due to the fresh water introduced. bear in mind, that if you do have a large amount of sludge in your system, you will be distributing it around.

Either way, it can and does work, just be careful on how you apply the pressure and watch the F & E overflow.