Potterton Central Heating Problems - Please Help!!!

[woodie909]

can anybody help please???

i have a potterton 100 combi boiler which is causing me no end of problems. This time, the hot water is fine but when we put on the central heating, the pilot light comes on ok, stays on for approx 1 minute then goes out. Stays out for approx 2/3 mins then re-ignites for another 1 min. This keeps repeating for as long as the central heating switch is on. You can hear the water within the boiler is boiling and the pump (new) is very hot but for some reason i dont think the pilot light is staying on long enough to push the heat to all the rads..

If we turn all the rads off upstairs, the downstairs rads heat up slightly but are by no means hot. I did think it may be an airlock in the pipes stopping water from reaching the downstairs rads but if they get slightly warm when the upstairs ones are turned off im not sure this is this case.


At least the weather report shows a temperature of -5 this weekend which is nice.

CAN ANYBODY PLEASE HELP???

 

[Geoffgas1]

You say the pump is new. How long ago was it changed? Has the system been re-pressurised correctly since? What is the reading on the pressure gauge? Have you bled the radiators?

 

[woodie909]

You say the pump is new. How long ago was it changed? Has the system been re-pressurised correctly since? What is the reading on the pressure gauge? Have you bled the radiators?

the pump was changed 3 days ago and the system has been re pressurised. The pressure gauge is fine and all the rads have been bled so there is no air in them. My plumber is trying to get me to have new pipes around the house at a cost of approx £1000 but im hoping its something simpler.

 

[Geoffgas1]

Feel the flow and return pipes a couple of feet away from the boiler if you can. Are the pipes hot? If not, check he hasn't done something dumb like leave the flow and return isolation valves closed off after the repair. These can be found directly under the boiler.

 

[woodie909]

Feel the flow and return pipes a couple of feet away from the boiler if you can. Are the pipes hot? If not, check he hasn't done something dumb like leave the flow and return isolation valves closed off after the repair. These can be found directly under the boiler.

the one going out is hot but the return is not even warm really

 

[Breesey]

More likely to be diverter valve wax cap or CH thermistor or both.

Check that you don't have any dripping hot taps/shower. This can cause the CH not to fire. If you find a drip - fix it.

 

[woodie909]

More likely to be diverter valve wax cap or CH thermistor or both.

Check that you don't have any dripping hot taps/shower. This can cause the CH not to fire. If you find a drip - fix it.

ok thanx a lot...will look into this over the weekend (if i dont freeze to death first) and let you know.

thanks again..

 

[bengasman]

Most likely to be the wax valve on these, known problem

 

[pers5579]

Ho woodie,

I have a Potterton Puma 80 and have the same problem.

I would say for the last 2/3 years I have had endless problems with the boiler (it is 10 yrs old). All problems with CH. Dont get me wrong the Hot Water is fantastic all of the time (fingers crossed).

At the minute Im getting Hot radiators upstairs, and Cold downstairs. I had a plumber out saturday and he said the usual it will be the Pump or the Radiators need balancing. I explained politely, that in the last 3 years I have had 4 new pumps and the radiators balanced 6 times!

Anyway he replaced the pump and balanced the rads AGAIN (the current pump is 4 month old) and was suggesting an airlock in the pipework. He then spoke to his supervisor who said the Pumas have a known problem with the Wax Valve and it should be replaced, so he is coming back in the morning to replace it! I hope it works!

Sorry for the long reply!

 

[bengasman]

= in the last 3 years I have had 4 new pumps and the radiators balanced 6 times!

your system needs cleaning

 

[pers5579]

[/quote]your system needs cleaning[/quote]

OK. Bear in mind I'm a newbie to Boilers & Central Heating - how do I clean the system and with what do I clean it with?