cylinder only heats up when central heating is on?

[sidmc99]

i ve noticed that water in storage cylinder has only been heating up when the central heating has been on. since the weather has been warm recently i have turned the room thermostat down so the heating stays off. since doing this i have realized that the water in the cylinder has not been heating up separatetly even though its is programmed to come twice a day. it seems to only heat up when the central heating comes on?

what could be causing the bolier not to heat the water cylinder even though it is programmed to?

 

[seco services]

poss a zone valve
have you 2 zone valves next to the cylinder ?

 

[sidmc99]

just the one i think as i can only see one, it says drayton zone valve actutor model ZA6. is this the white box attcahed to one of the pipes?

 

[seco services]

this is a ZA6.

is it a fully pumped system you have ?
whats that one you can see on the entry to cylinder or heating ?

 

[sidmc99]

yes thats the i can see.
not sure if its fully pumped or what that means, but there is definetly a pump near the boiler. the zone valve is also located near the boiler.
Infact the pump, zone valve and programmer are located in a cupboard above the boiler in the kitchen, with the cylinder upstairs in the bathroom cupboard.

 

[seco services]

sounds like a gravity hw pumped heating.
do you have to select hw to be able to switch heating on ?
as in heating can't be selected on its own on the programmer ?

if i remember a ZA 6 is the 6 wire actuator for a c plan system.

 

[sidmc99]

no i dont think so. the programmer has hw on the left hand side and central heating on the right hand side. can you set different times for both the hw and central heating

but the boilder only seems to come on when the central heating kicks in.

 

[seco services]

would say you have a m/switch fault on the actuator.
when hw selected the valve is opening but not sending 230v down the orange to fire the boiler.

does sound like a c plan system.

how many pipes come out of the boiler 2 / 4 ?
is the pump on the same pipe as the valve ?
what programmer is it ?

 

[sidmc99]

i can see 4 pipes coming out of the boiler.
no the pump and valve are on different pipes.
the programmer says british gas model UP2.

 

[seco services]

as i thought c plan system
pumps on heating pipe valves on hw pipe.

fit a new actuator all should be ok.

you can check with a meter when hw on the orange should have 230v on it.
and the lever on the end should be floppy.

 

[sidmc99]

ok thanks for that, will have a look at prices. any ideas?

did not quite understand that last point about a meter? and which leaver are you referring to?

 

[seco services]

ok thanks for that, will have a look at prices. any ideas?

probably about £45 upwards

did not quite understand that last point about a meter? and which leaver are you referring to?

if you select hw and use a multi meter and check the orange wire from the valve you should have a 230v reading and the black lever on the end should be floppy.

when hw off the lever should have resistance on it.

 

[sidmc99]

ok thanks very much, will give this go.

 

[seco services]

check you should also have 230v on the grey perm live
live on the brown when cyl stat calling for heat.