Hi,
I am having a long ongoing saga with my radiators and wondered if anyone could offer any advice?
We have a Potterton Combi 80 gas boiler with a sealed system and 6 radiators.
Basically when we swtiched on the central heating this winter the upstairs radiators get hot but downstairs remain stone cold. We also do get hot water no problem. We called out BG Homecare engineers who first dianosed an air lock in the system, he did a lot of radiator bleeding and turning on and off the different rads. He also fitted a new pump.
This did nothing to help, he could get the rads to get hot once but couldn't maintain the temperature (even with the upstairs ones off).
He left and said that he thought that an air bubble was working it's way through and we should monitor it for a few days and see if anything changed.
Nothing changed. Over the following few weeks we had him out a few times and he changed the pump (again - apparently now it's the srongest pump you can put on this type of boiler and will go up about 3 bar, I believe it is currently outputting at about 2bar). After a few visits with no joy he recommended a system flush and possibly cutting pipework.
We arranged a Powerflush through an independant but when he came and connected the equipment he said that he wasn't able to complete the job as he couldn't get the correct flow round the downstairs, indicating a physical blockage. He also said that the pressure guage wasn't working properly so that the system was reading high pressure but not actually delivering it. We thought our problems were over, but they were not.
We called out the BG engineer again to look at the pressure guage, he said it ws working fine (apparently it is upside down on our boiler for some reason but other than that it's fine). He said we "definately" had a blockage in the downstairs pipework and needed to get it investigated and possible re-plumbed.
We employed a local plumber to investigate the pipes. He took up our floors and took the whole lot apart, he took the radiators off the walls and checked them everything with mains pressure water and both the rads and the pipes ran to full bore. He also re-plumbed a section of the pipework where it went over a beam and could've caused an air-lock. When he was finished nothing had changed. He suggested that it could be restrictions in the Heat Exchanger and recommended that the part itself was powerflushed or replaced. He also commented that although the upstairs rads are getting hot, they are taking a long time to heat up and the ones that get the hottest are the ones nearest to, and directly above the boiler. He said he suspects that the system is working effectively like a gravity system (only helped a little by the pump) so that there is not enough flow to reach the downstairs rads.
The pipework is 22mm out of the boiler and to the first rad and it drops downstairs in 15mm and is 15mm from then on. I know that it could be argued that it should be 22mm until downstairs but with a powerful boiler and only 6 rads in a really very small house I think this is not the problem!
We then got another BG eng out again and he dismissed what the plumber had said saying it was impossible, however, after saying he was sure there was a blockage downstairs and that he would prove it to me he tested both ends of the rads and both ends ran fine so he was flumoxed. He admitted that there doesn't indeed seem to be a blockage downstairs but doesn't know why we can't get hot water down there.
We are currently waiting for a manager's appointment but they haven't rung me yet. I am loathed to pay out more to the local plumber when we don't know for sure that the HE is to blame and then we will have wasted even more money!
Has anyone any ideas I am absolutely at my wits end with it!
Please help me get a warm house for Christmas!
PS does anybody know how to get an appoinment out of BG? I've already spoken to Trading Standards and written to their complaints department and quoted the 1982 goods and services act at them and they haven't even written back yet!
I am having a long ongoing saga with my radiators and wondered if anyone could offer any advice?
We have a Potterton Combi 80 gas boiler with a sealed system and 6 radiators.
Basically when we swtiched on the central heating this winter the upstairs radiators get hot but downstairs remain stone cold. We also do get hot water no problem. We called out BG Homecare engineers who first dianosed an air lock in the system, he did a lot of radiator bleeding and turning on and off the different rads. He also fitted a new pump.
This did nothing to help, he could get the rads to get hot once but couldn't maintain the temperature (even with the upstairs ones off).
He left and said that he thought that an air bubble was working it's way through and we should monitor it for a few days and see if anything changed.
Nothing changed. Over the following few weeks we had him out a few times and he changed the pump (again - apparently now it's the srongest pump you can put on this type of boiler and will go up about 3 bar, I believe it is currently outputting at about 2bar). After a few visits with no joy he recommended a system flush and possibly cutting pipework.
We arranged a Powerflush through an independant but when he came and connected the equipment he said that he wasn't able to complete the job as he couldn't get the correct flow round the downstairs, indicating a physical blockage. He also said that the pressure guage wasn't working properly so that the system was reading high pressure but not actually delivering it. We thought our problems were over, but they were not.
We called out the BG engineer again to look at the pressure guage, he said it ws working fine (apparently it is upside down on our boiler for some reason but other than that it's fine). He said we "definately" had a blockage in the downstairs pipework and needed to get it investigated and possible re-plumbed.
We employed a local plumber to investigate the pipes. He took up our floors and took the whole lot apart, he took the radiators off the walls and checked them everything with mains pressure water and both the rads and the pipes ran to full bore. He also re-plumbed a section of the pipework where it went over a beam and could've caused an air-lock. When he was finished nothing had changed. He suggested that it could be restrictions in the Heat Exchanger and recommended that the part itself was powerflushed or replaced. He also commented that although the upstairs rads are getting hot, they are taking a long time to heat up and the ones that get the hottest are the ones nearest to, and directly above the boiler. He said he suspects that the system is working effectively like a gravity system (only helped a little by the pump) so that there is not enough flow to reach the downstairs rads.
The pipework is 22mm out of the boiler and to the first rad and it drops downstairs in 15mm and is 15mm from then on. I know that it could be argued that it should be 22mm until downstairs but with a powerful boiler and only 6 rads in a really very small house I think this is not the problem!
We then got another BG eng out again and he dismissed what the plumber had said saying it was impossible, however, after saying he was sure there was a blockage downstairs and that he would prove it to me he tested both ends of the rads and both ends ran fine so he was flumoxed. He admitted that there doesn't indeed seem to be a blockage downstairs but doesn't know why we can't get hot water down there.
We are currently waiting for a manager's appointment but they haven't rung me yet. I am loathed to pay out more to the local plumber when we don't know for sure that the HE is to blame and then we will have wasted even more money!
Has anyone any ideas I am absolutely at my wits end with it!
Please help me get a warm house for Christmas!
PS does anybody know how to get an appoinment out of BG? I've already spoken to Trading Standards and written to their complaints department and quoted the 1982 goods and services act at them and they haven't even written back yet!
