** Ive come back and edited to include the solution to the below problem now several months later.
This issue was solved by a good quality powerflush. They bloke came with high corrosive chemicals and a big powerful powerflushing unit (that cost him about £1,500) the muck that came out was unbelieveable. It has since worked fine for 1 year.
We had previously had it powerflushed so didnt think that was an issue, i realised as soon as this guy turned up that the other bloke may as well not have bothered. The first bloke had a small table top flushing unit and some chemicals from B&Q, he got virtually no muck out. I had been connecting up a hose to the boiler to clear it out with limited success, this bloke basically did that with some fairy liquid and charged me £500 for it....
The lesson is, find out what powerflush kit they have and what chemicals they are using.
It seems powerflushes are like cars, you could be getting a rolls royce, you could be getting a Ford escort......********
Over the last two years since we moved into our bungalow i've been having continued problems with our central heating.
The boiler regularly cuts out, each time after reaching a max temperature of say 70ish, then the temperature very quickly decreases down to 40c or so.
I paid a plumber to come out about a year ago who did a power flush, replaced the pump (which didn't need replacing), it worked again but only for about 6 months until the same issues started again.
It seems an airlock or possibly debris builds up in the boiler until it makes a clattering banging noise that builds up each day until it sounds like someone is trying to break in the kitchen window. Over time the period between when the boiler comes on and it cuts out because its over heating gets shorter and shorter.
The only success i've had is closing off the system and then attaching two hoses to the in and out of the boiler and blasting water through it from the outside tap. Sometimes there are small chunks of rusty debris that come out, about the size of a few needles put together, sometimes it only seems to be air that comes out. After doing this it usually works for another month, slowly getting worse until i have to do it again!
I am not convinced the debris is causing the problem, we have a Magnaclean tub attached right next to the in pipe of the boiler and it doesn't collect huge amounts.
We have replaced 5/8 rads with new ones, could the old ones be corroding and destroying the system?
I figure the problem has to be one of the below :
- Somehow air is getting in the system and into the boiler? (can't understand why the air wouldn't just be pushed out though)
- Debris is blocking the heat exchange in the boiler?
- Hard water has blocked the heat exchange?
- The pump is sited in the loft and doesn't have enough power? (seems unlikely, at times the boiler works perfectly)
- There is a blockage elsewhere in the system
Its so frustrating! at times the heating works perfectly, but then it slowly worsens each day until i drain the system, clear the boiler and refill the system.
I've attached some pictures incase anyone can spot anything!
The Boiler, pipes going up to the loft
The loft, pipes from boiler are at the back centre, pump in red, switcher just after it
The tanks, there is a air valve pipe that air accumulates in every so often
Any help, suggestions or ideas very welcome! I'll try anything! (my wife is due our first in 2 weeks and i need to fix this so she doesn't move out! )
This issue was solved by a good quality powerflush. They bloke came with high corrosive chemicals and a big powerful powerflushing unit (that cost him about £1,500) the muck that came out was unbelieveable. It has since worked fine for 1 year.
We had previously had it powerflushed so didnt think that was an issue, i realised as soon as this guy turned up that the other bloke may as well not have bothered. The first bloke had a small table top flushing unit and some chemicals from B&Q, he got virtually no muck out. I had been connecting up a hose to the boiler to clear it out with limited success, this bloke basically did that with some fairy liquid and charged me £500 for it....
The lesson is, find out what powerflush kit they have and what chemicals they are using.
It seems powerflushes are like cars, you could be getting a rolls royce, you could be getting a Ford escort......********
Over the last two years since we moved into our bungalow i've been having continued problems with our central heating.
The boiler regularly cuts out, each time after reaching a max temperature of say 70ish, then the temperature very quickly decreases down to 40c or so.
I paid a plumber to come out about a year ago who did a power flush, replaced the pump (which didn't need replacing), it worked again but only for about 6 months until the same issues started again.
It seems an airlock or possibly debris builds up in the boiler until it makes a clattering banging noise that builds up each day until it sounds like someone is trying to break in the kitchen window. Over time the period between when the boiler comes on and it cuts out because its over heating gets shorter and shorter.
The only success i've had is closing off the system and then attaching two hoses to the in and out of the boiler and blasting water through it from the outside tap. Sometimes there are small chunks of rusty debris that come out, about the size of a few needles put together, sometimes it only seems to be air that comes out. After doing this it usually works for another month, slowly getting worse until i have to do it again!
I am not convinced the debris is causing the problem, we have a Magnaclean tub attached right next to the in pipe of the boiler and it doesn't collect huge amounts.
We have replaced 5/8 rads with new ones, could the old ones be corroding and destroying the system?
I figure the problem has to be one of the below :
- Somehow air is getting in the system and into the boiler? (can't understand why the air wouldn't just be pushed out though)
- Debris is blocking the heat exchange in the boiler?
- Hard water has blocked the heat exchange?
- The pump is sited in the loft and doesn't have enough power? (seems unlikely, at times the boiler works perfectly)
- There is a blockage elsewhere in the system
Its so frustrating! at times the heating works perfectly, but then it slowly worsens each day until i drain the system, clear the boiler and refill the system.
I've attached some pictures incase anyone can spot anything!
The Boiler, pipes going up to the loft
The loft, pipes from boiler are at the back centre, pump in red, switcher just after it
The tanks, there is a air valve pipe that air accumulates in every so often
Any help, suggestions or ideas very welcome! I'll try anything! (my wife is due our first in 2 weeks and i need to fix this so she doesn't move out! )
