what do I do now????

[binman50]

Please help! I had a new Vokera HE36 Unica fitted 1st week in March and I've had problems since. Water has been fine but only upstairs radiators got anywhere near hot. Fitter has been back 4 times and said it must be pipes so after some discussion he changed the downstairs pipes but to no avail. Still cold downstairs! Then he said it must be radiators and I would have to pay for new. I have disputed this and he said my old system couldn't have worked before he fitted new. It worked ok apart from heat exchanger. Vokera sent an engineer to check the bolier, which was ok but he said there was a blockage in pipework from boiler to 1st radiator as nothing was circulating upstairs. I did say upstairs rads were hot but he explained it was just hot water seeping into them and water was going from boiler to 1st rad. and then back to boiler.
The fitter/plumber is now saying he has done what I have paid him over £2,300 for and I am stuck!!!! Who or what caused the blockage???
I would be grateful for any advice.

 

[gas4you]

Lets start at the beginning with a bit of history.

What boiler did you have fitted before? Was it on a fully pumped system or an old gravity sytem, or was it already a combi?

Do you have small bore pipes are is the system microbore with manifolds?

 

[binman50]

Lets start at the beginning with a bit of history.

What boiler did you have fitted before? Was it on a fully pumped system or an old gravity sytem, or was it already a combi?

Do you have small bore pipes are is the system microbore with manifolds?

Hi Dave
It was a combi before on a fully pumped system, microbore with manifolds but the pipes he has replaced i.e. dining room, living room and hall are now 10mm

 

[DP]

Was the system cleaned. If it was, how long did the process take.

Has he taken temperature readings to check primary water flow?

If he wants to change radiators, get a written assurance from him that that will cure the problem. One cannot assume anything. Diagnose and move forward for a cure. Personally, I would be looking at the present system to see why it does not work and then restore water circulation.

Remove the effected radiators. Turn off all the remaining rads and then go to first removed rad. Open the left hand valve and allow water to run off into a bucket. Close it then repeat test right hand rad valve. Run off from the both valves should be the same. Ensure pressure is around 1.5 to 2 bar and stays constant throught the check/ test.

Repeat above test on remaining rads, one at a time.

If circulation is poor, water flow from radiator valve will be poor for the effected pipe run.

If previous boiler was heating the rads, this should do the same.

As a matter of interest, what make and model of boiler did you have and why was the boiler repalced. Is the fitter CORGI registered (did you check his card)

 

[doitall]

The radiators can be taken outside and flushed out properly with an hose pipe, you sure as hell shouldn't want new ones

 

[kevplumb]

cant take the rads off dia

the moggs in the way trying to balance it first

 

[doitall]

Psssssssssssssssssssssssst you forgot the valve Kev

 

[ChrisR]

Seems a bit contradictory?

only upstairs radiators got anywhere near hot. ..... Vokera sent an engineer .... said there was a blockage in pipework from boiler to 1st radiator as nothing was circulating upstairs.

... and nothing downstairs, so nothing's getting hot now??


Unfortunately,
1) if you drain a system and refill it, hard flakes can accumulate and block pipes which had flow through before.
2) you can't always flush a blocked pipe
3) flushing agents don't dissolve everything
These problems are always worse with microbore (below 15mm)

 

[jeffreyw]

get him to repipe some of that micro bore out bet it works better then

 

[DP]

One bit I forgot. Turn off the hot rads and see if the cold get hot

 

[gas4you]

Make sure the rads that don't work have their pipe work reverse flushed.

I had a microbore system that I fitted a new boiler to and 2 rads wouldn't work. Reverse flushed them and then all was ok. There must have been a bit of crud that was sitting in the manifold being held in place by the direction of water flow originally.

Could even be a massive air lock.

Do as DP says leaving just one cold rad on, but put your pressure up to about 2.5 first.