What has happened to my heating!?

[Almi]

Hi

I just got home to some alarming problems with my central heating. Can anyone point me in the right direction for what has happened to it?

Symptoms:
- very noisy clunking and gushing noises from upstairs radiators (hot)
- silent and cold downstairs radiators
- slight smell of burning. Electrical maybe?
- Expansion tank empty. The overflow pipe that goes into the tank shooting out steam very fast. Condensation and dripping water all over the attic (I guess it has been doing this for hours). All a bit hard to see with all that steam!
- After I turned off heating and hot water the steam and noise gradually stopped and the expansion tank filled as normal.

What came before:
- Pump becoming noisy. I was meaning to replace it...
- Other half put heating on full-time I think

Any advice would be great!

Thanks

 

[ianmcd]

sounds like your pump has seized,

 

[Almi]

Thanks. Would that explain all those symptoms.
I will be very pleased if so. And have a new pump in by tomorrow night!

 

[CBF]

sounds like you have no water in the system, your roof tank shouldn't be empty, is your ballvalve stuck or knackered ?

 

[Almi]

No, the ball valve does work. It has filled up ok again now.
I think either the heat from a steam jet at the ball valve stopped it working during this problem, or the system was boiling off water about as fast as it filled (I know that seems unlikely).
It was quite hard to see before as there was so much steam!

 

[CBF]

I would say you also have a prob with the boiler stat & safety controls, it shouldn't get hot enough to make steam, I think replacing your pump may not be your only problem

 

[Almi]

@CBF - thanks for that. It would seem odd to get such a dramatic failure from a broken pump.
I'll check the boiler stat too.

 

[JonCa]

What came before:
- Other half put heating on full-time I think
Any advice would be great!
Thanks

Highly recommended to fit dummy programmable thermostat in hallway were other-half can play at leisure
The more options and display feedback the better
Fit at low level appx 1 metre as discourages both excessive use and seeking visual feedback when walking past her control unit

 

[Almi]

Hi again
I just finished changing the pump, but the system is still not working.
The boiler won't fire up now. The pilot light is lit. The room thermostat is calling for heat. The pump is running. The valve is moving between 3 positions according to controller settings.
Any ideas?
Many thanks!

 

[Whitespirit66]

Don't keep the make and model of your boiler a secret any longer!

 

[Almi]

It's a Glowworm Ultimate 60 CF.
Pretty old, but I could really do without replacing it just now!

 

[gas_man_gaz]

prob tripped the overheat

 

[Whitespirit66]

+1

 

[ianmcd]

If it is a gworm ultimate 60CF it doesnt have an overheat reset, it does have a flue blockage safety reset button on the left hand side of the gas valve but when it operates it interuppts the pilot and you say that the pilot is on ? are you sure it is definately an Ultimate 60CF ? as it does sound like an o/heat stat has operated

 

[Almi]

Thanks for your suggestions.
It looks like the thermostat is not working. When I short across it the boiler fires up.
So I have ordered a new one - will let you know if it works.