Boiler going on/off regularly

[xMeta4x]

Hi All,

When my heating/water is on, my boiler seems to run for multiple short periods at a time...on...off...on...off. Is that normal?

I have the boiler stat turned to max and the pump also set to max. My thinking is that this should heat the house up quicker.

Does it sounds like the pump isn't running fast enough to carry the heat away? Should I turn the boiler stat down and/or get a faster pump?

Cheers,

Andy

 

[corgiman]

go on gissa clue
what boiler is it

there have been quite a few different ones made over the years u know

 

[xMeta4x]

Sorry, forgot that rather obvious bit of information!

It's a potterton profile 60e...

 

[ChrisR]

Need lots more info.
DO the rads heat up quickly and evenly?
TRV's?

How old's the pump? What size is it?
What speed's it on?
Is there a bypass?
etc ....

 

[xMeta4x]

The Rads seem fine for the most part. Some get hotter than others so probably a balancing issue.

Many rads have TRVs but not all

The pump is a celcius multi head at setting 3 (max) pumping 1800 somethings!

I'm not sure what bypass you're talking about.

 

[nickso]

The pump is a celcius multi head at setting 3 (max) pumping 1800 somethings!

egads!!! is it noisy in any way?

 

[xMeta4x]

Sometimes it kettles a little. I had it serviced recently and the nPower (servowarm) engineer didn't spot anything wrong.

 

[nickso]

i meant is the pump noisy? not the boiler.

bypass could also be wide open as previously mentioned by someone.

 

[xMeta4x]

Sorry, no, the pump is very quiet. It is vibrating if I touch it though. Both feed and return pipes to the boiler are hot to the touch (about equally).

What/where is the bypass?

 

[nickso]

follow the pipe that leaves the pump to go and heat the rads/cylinder. somewhere on that pipe there may be a gate valve or a valve of some sort that connects the flow and return from the boiler. this is the bypass.

you may not have one if you have a 3port valve to control your heating.

 

[xMeta4x]

I kind find anything like this on the system (I've grown to know it quite well). All rads get hot so I assume that any hidden gate valves would be open.

I have a motorized 3 port valve upstairs (I have a strange system), which operates CH/HW/Both etc.

I'm sat listening to the boiler now. It'll fire up, run for a minute or two, shut down for a minute or two then repeat that cycle all the time!

 

[nickso]

you wont have a bypass with a 3pv.

it can cycle like that if its up to temp and there is no anti-cycle delay on the pcb, i dont know if this boiler has anti-cycle, id guess not.


edit, no harm in trying a new pump as that BG one is garbage.

 

[xMeta4x]

Thanks for all the replies nickso. I'm guess the pump is good (well working anyway) as everything get hot around the house.

Just struck me as odd that it comes on and off like that. Friends have boilers that seem to run continuously!

I know the heating is still calling, so I guess the boiler is just bouncing off the internal thermostat again and again.

Could it be that the water is getting hot too quickly? Maybe dropping the boiler stat would allow it to keep the water hot and give the rads time to disperse the heat? (trying to think back to GCSE physics now...!)