I wonder if anybody could help diagnose this problem?
I have a Thorn Apollo boiler - I think it's about 30 years old and is very basic. There's a gravity-fed hot water cylinder upstairs, and 6 radiators (4 upstairs and 2 downstairs).
This winter the system has developed a fault whereby the radiators will only heat up when the water in the hot water tank needs heating.
e.g when the heating first comes on in the morning, the hot water in the water tank needs heating, so the system fires up and the radiators all heat up too. But once the hot water in the tank reaches its proper temperature the boiler shuts off, so the radiators cool down. I can make it fire up again (and therefore heat the radiators) by running hot water from a tap until the hot water in the tank has cooled sufficiently to fire the boiler up again.
One other piece of information - since I've lived here (several years), the room thermostat has never worked as a control for the radiators - they would heat up regardless of the setting on the thermostat so I presume that it's not wired in, or at least isn't properly wired in. Like I say though, it has always been like that, and I have not had this more recent problem before.
Many thanks for any ideas you might have,
Bob.
I have a Thorn Apollo boiler - I think it's about 30 years old and is very basic. There's a gravity-fed hot water cylinder upstairs, and 6 radiators (4 upstairs and 2 downstairs).
This winter the system has developed a fault whereby the radiators will only heat up when the water in the hot water tank needs heating.
e.g when the heating first comes on in the morning, the hot water in the water tank needs heating, so the system fires up and the radiators all heat up too. But once the hot water in the tank reaches its proper temperature the boiler shuts off, so the radiators cool down. I can make it fire up again (and therefore heat the radiators) by running hot water from a tap until the hot water in the tank has cooled sufficiently to fire the boiler up again.
One other piece of information - since I've lived here (several years), the room thermostat has never worked as a control for the radiators - they would heat up regardless of the setting on the thermostat so I presume that it's not wired in, or at least isn't properly wired in. Like I say though, it has always been like that, and I have not had this more recent problem before.
Many thanks for any ideas you might have,
Bob.