Stelrad W2000, no hot water or heating.

[NBSmith78]

Hello!

I've moved into a new house and have been unable to get any hot water or heating, I've checked the following:
1) Pilot light is on
2) Timer works
3) Electricity supply to pump is on
4) Pump seems to work (hums)
5) When timer switches to on, I can hear noise from boiler, extraction fan seems to come on. But there doesn't seem to be the "whoosh" of the boiler firing up.

Apologies for the not particularly technical description of the problem, can anyone suggest what I should check for next.

Many thanks!

 

[Agile]

It sounds as if you may need a CORGI engineer. I always advise a gas safety check in a new house.

One small possibility if you lit the pilot yourself, after lighting did you rotate the gas valve knob 90* to the operating position?

Tony Glazier

 

[kevplumb]

4) Pump seems to work (hums)

so make sure its working it may well be stuck

 

[NBSmith78]

Cheers for the advice.

Kevplumb, I see what you are saying! I assumed that because the pump made a noise and I could feel a kind of slight vibration through it, that it was working. It might be an obvious question to a plumber, but what's the best way to check if the pump is working?

Agile, I've got a CORGI engineer coming to service the boiler on Friday, I was wondering if I could do some fault finding myself in the meain time. I actually asked the previous owner and she told me it had been serviced spring this year, but I thought that it wouldn't hurt to service it now.

 

[kevplumb]

undo the screw marked bleed (spot of water so have a rag handy) and see if the shaft is turning or stick a screwdriver in the hole

 

[Agile]

If the pump was failed then the boiler would still fire up for a couple of minutes until it gets hot.

You seem to be saying this is not happening so that implies the boiler has a problem.

Tony

 

[NBSmith78]

Tony, yes thats right, nothing is getting hot. All the pipes coming out of the boiler are cold.

About your question "One small possibility if you lit the pilot yourself, after lighting did you rotate the gas valve knob 90* to the operating position? "

By that, do you mean the dial in the boiler? It was on 0 when I lit the pilot, then I turned it up to 6 (max) once the pilot was lit. That was what the instructions on the inside of the boiler cover panel said. Could there be another valve that I've missed?! I have checked the mains valve is open, and the gas cooker is working fine.

Kevplumb, thanks for the pump information, I'll take a look tonight.

 

[Agile]

NI, I am talking about the knob you pushed in to relight the pilot ( if its a round one! )

Tony

 

[NBSmith78]

NI, I am talking about the knob you pushed in to relight the pilot ( if its a round one! )

Tony

No, it was a square plastic button that needed to be pushed to the right, and pushed in. It didn't seem a particularly positive movement, and it didn't stay in place after the pilot was lit. So could it be the gas valve isn't staying open, if this button isn't staying depressed? I assumed that any valves must be open if there was gas to fuel the pilot.

Total guesswork on my part, I'm trying to learn what I can about how this all works!

 

[meldrew's_mate]

Assuming you bought the house, the solicitor should have established if & when the boiler was serviced.

I think the W2000 has an IEC power cable to the boiler, so if you flip down the front panel you can disconnect this connector. Switch on the heating so the pump works (or hums), switch the boiler stat to max, then reconnect the IEC connector and listen for the "clunk" of the main gas solenoid. If you don't hear this you may have a faulty gas valve.
You can confirm this if competant with a multimeter.