Heating not working - any plumbers about?

[mechsympathy]

Before I get the heating bloke in I could do with a bit of help witht he basics.

Put the heating on a few days ago and it worked well initially but now doesn't. The boiler works fine so we can at least still wash but there's no activity when I switch the heating on.

I assume it's likely to be the pump and I can't see anything obvious but is there likely to be a seperate fuse? There's a fused spur that feds into the timing control box (which still works) an then feeds into a wiring distribution box. Is that likely to have an additional fuse in it?

Any other ideas?

[Munter]

Hot water. But no heating. Sounds like a valve to me. It's "stuck" in the hotwater position I bet over the summer. Now it wont move over to heating.

Just my guess. Not a plumber.

[Slikk]

Check the three way valve near your hot water tank to see if that is operating.

[NikB]

^^^ exactly what happened to mine, check the valve, mine was clogged up and needed replacing.

[mechsympathy]

Slikk said:

Check the three way valve near your hot water tank to see if that is operating.

Check? How so? I assume clobbering it with a hammer isn't the approved technique

[Munter]

mechsympathy said:

Slikk said:

Check the three way valve near your hot water tank to see if that is operating.

Check? How so? I assume clobbering it with a hammer isn't the approved technique

*cough* percussion adjustment sir?

[Davi]

Munter said:

Hot water. But no heating. Sounds like a valve to me. It's "stuck" in the hotwater position I bet over the summer. Now it wont move over to heating.

Just my guess. Not a plumber.

exactly what happened to ours this year as well.

You'll probably find the three way valve will have a little lever on the side of it to manually switch between heating and water - operate it manually a few times and it may well unstick itself like ours did



You can see the lever sticking out the side on that pic - just a short metal tab. Just to note - to manually operate it you may need to turn the thermostat up full to get it "trying" before the lever will do anything but flop about, then once operated turn it right down to switch it off to get it to release. Repeat a few times.

Edited by Davi on Tuesday 14th October 12:32

[mechsympathy]

Munter said:

*cough* percussion adjustment sir?

It's good enough for a landy.

[M3ax]

happened to me last year. Got the plumber out. He fiddled around, checked everything, all ok. Then he replaced the battery in the thermostat...... All fixed. This year I stuck a new battery in myself - much cheaper!

[Munter]

mechsympathy said:

Munter said:

*cough* percussion adjustment sir?

It's good enough for a landy.

I think Davi's advise is probably a better 1st option.

[mechsympathy]

Davi said:

exactly what happened to ours this year as well.

You'll probably find the three way valve will have a little lever on the side of it to manually switch between heating and water - operate it manually a few times and it may well unstick itself like ours did



You can see the lever sticking out the side on that pic - just a short metal tab. Just to note - to manually operate it you may need to turn the thermostat up full to get it "trying" before the lever will do anything but flop about, then once operated turn it right down to switch it off to get it to release. Repeat a few times.

Cheers. If I operate it manually the heating comes on, but it switches off when I release it

[esselte]

mechsympathy said:

Davi said:

exactly what happened to ours this year as well.

You'll probably find the three way valve will have a little lever on the side of it to manually switch between heating and water - operate it manually a few times and it may well unstick itself like ours did



You can see the lever sticking out the side on that pic - just a short metal tab. Just to note - to manually operate it you may need to turn the thermostat up full to get it "trying" before the lever will do anything but flop about, then once operated turn it right down to switch it off to get it to release. Repeat a few times.

Cheers. If I operate it manually the heating comes on, but it switches off when I release it

Is that with the thermostat on full?

[mechsympathy]

esselte said:

Is that with the thermostat on full?

I don't have a thermostat, just thermostatic radiator valves (AFAIK)

ETA although I have just worked out how to latch it open, so I'll leave it running for a bit.

Edited by mechsympathy on Tuesday 14th October 12:47

[mark69sheer]

mechsympathy said:

Davi said:

exactly what happened to ours this year as well.

You'll probably find the three way valve will have a little lever on the side of it to manually switch between heating and water - operate it manually a few times and it may well unstick itself like ours did



You can see the lever sticking out the side on that pic - just a short metal tab. Just to note - to manually operate it you may need to turn the thermostat up full to get it "trying" before the lever will do anything but flop about, then once operated turn it right down to switch it off to get it to release. Repeat a few times.

Cheers. If I operate it manually the heating comes on, but it switches off when I release it

wedge it with a bit of folded paper..

[Davi]

mechsympathy said:

esselte said:

Is that with the thermostat on full?

ETA although I have just worked out how to latch it open, so I'll leave it running for a bit.

Edited by mechsympathy on Tuesday 14th October 12:47

Keep operating it for a bit, just in case it sticks open

[moles]

If there is power going into the valve then it will probably be the synchron motor inside gone. What make is the valve- Honeywell, ACL Drayton, Sunvic?. Most of the valves you can undo 2 small screws and replace the motor (£10).

[mechsympathy]

moles said:

If there is power going into the valve then it will probably be the synchron motor inside gone. What make is the valve- Honeywell, ACL Drayton, Sunvic?. Most of the valves you can undo 2 small screws and replace the motor (£10).

Honeywell 9144 on the end.

[Pigeon]

M3ax said:

happened to me last year. Got the plumber out. He fiddled around, checked everything, all ok. Then he replaced the battery in the thermostat...... All fixed. This year I stuck a new battery in myself - much cheaper!

WTF is a central heating thermostat doing with a battery in it? Given the amount you have to rip a house apart to install a central heating system, the excuse of "avoiding the need to run a cable" is unbelievably pathetic.

[moles]

http://www.plumbworld.co.uk/honeywell-v4073a-3-por...

Does the valve have a small raised dimple on the top section (metal case) at one end?. If it does you can either change the whole head with the above or just the synchron motor inside http://www.uk-plumbing.com/honeywell-40002737003-2...

[kambites]

Is it a combi boiler or do you have a hot water tank?