Vaillant ecotec boiler and no hot water to shower

[laney079]

Hi,
I'm not sure exactly where my problem is and whether it is in fact the boiler or if its my shower.
The boiler is operating fine and I think the ch is working. I say I think as I havn't actually tested the rads in this weather! There is hot water through the taps downstairs and the sink and bath upstairs. However there is no hot water coming through the shower.
The pressure seems to be ok on the boiler and at the moment is in the dark grey area on the guage. We took the bar valve from the shower off and turned on the water at the mains to check and also to blow out any potential blocks/dirt/grit in the pipes.
We had this problem before but it rectified itself through something we did but are not sure what and it seems to happen after we have turned the water off from the mains out on the street. (Our plumber did not install a stop cock but we are going to get one to do it for us)

We have since changed the bar valve (shower) for a new one thinking this may be the problem and it remains the same. We have also bled the rads, took the pressure down and let it back up again - still the same.
It has been suggested that it could be an air lock in the system but this boiler does not give any instructions on how to deal with this and the guy who installed it said there couldn't be. He said there cannot be an air lock in the boiler as it is a 'closed system'.
However, we can clearly hear air in the system when we turn on the taps. Also there's a loud cluncking noise when we turn taps on and off in the bathroom.
Another issue is the fact that we did have a little hot water through the shower when the hot tap in the sink and bath in the bathroom were turned on - surely this makes no sense as it should have reduced the pressure to the shower as its higher up? This has stopped happening now.

Does anyone have any ideas on this or know of anything that can help??
We are struggling with this and getting pretty annoyed as we have just moved in after a lot of rennovation and want to enjoy our hard work!
Thanks in advance

 

[Agile]

Hot water is mains powered so there is lots of pressure and cannot have air locks.

It sounds as if either you have a fault in your shower or there is a severe pipework fault or a faulty pressure balancing unit.

Unfortunately you seem to want to fix the problem yourself when you obviously dont have the required experience.

I dont know what it is from your description but a competent plumber is likely to be needed. He may need to do some diagnostic tests.

Tony

 

[laney079]

Hi Tony,

I'm aware I don't have the required experience or knowledge to fix this problem and was kind of using this forum as my last resort because I have already had 2 experienced plumbers round who have been unable to diagnose the problem plus have had conversations on the phone with the plumber who installed the boiler. These forums appeared to be useful for others so thought I'd give it a go!

Thanks for your advice all the same.
Elaine

 

[Agile]

Hi Tony,

I'm aware I don't have the required experience or knowledge to fix this problem and was kind of using this forum as my last resort because I have already had 2 experienced plumbers round who have been unable to diagnose the problem.

Elaine

Any competent plumber would be able to solve a simple problem like this. How did you find them? What do you use to judge that they are competent? I would say that they are not!

Obviously I dont know what the problem is or what you asked them to do. It may be as simple as you having the cold fed from a loft tank instead of the mains.

I always have to suspect that you may have expected them to diagnose the problem free of charge or some other complication which made them not want to find out what was wrong. I would charge about £74 in my local area to do the diagnosis! Would that have been too much for you bearing in mind the fix would be more?

Why dont you give your postcode and see if anyone from this forum would like to come out to you?

Tony

 

[laney079]

Tony,
I would be reluctant to give my postcode as I try to use tradesmen that have been recommended rather than just random.

I don't really want to get into some of the issues you have risen as I don't feel this is the purpose of my post nor is it the appropriate place to do so but lets just say that I expect to pay whatever I need to in order to have the job done properly. I appreciate the services of others.

I just posted on here to see if anyone had any suggestions. You suggest it is a relatively simple problem and that any competent plumber would be able to solve it - yet you state you don't actually know what it is - forgive my possible ignorance but what would your diagnosis involve? Are there specific tests you would conduct? We don't have a tank in the loft - both hot and cold are being fed from the mains.

Thank you for your time posting on here.
Constructive problem-specific responses are appreciated.

Elaine

 

[thunderacer6]

elaine,
firstly the hot water and the central heating are seperate so you dont need to bleed the rads ect...
secondly if you have hot water at the taps (at a decent pressure) there is nothing wrong with your boiler.

a good bit of advice is that just because its new doesnt mean it works!

you say you took the old shower bar off and blew out the pipes, did you do this yourself?
if so then try running the bath tap till it gets hot then take the shower off again and allow water to come out of the hot side, if its hot theres no problem with your pipes.

this just leaves your "new" shower bar........

Andy

 

[laney079]

Hi Andy,
Yes did that myself. ok so just to confirm - original problem was that only cold water was being pulled through the mixer. This happened with 2 separate bar valves. Today then I took it off, turned it upside down and now its only pulling hot which seems to me that its only pulling from 1 side of the mixer. So does this sound like a mixer problem or could it be anything else? Glad to hear its not the boiler anyway!!
Thanks for your post.
Elaine

 

[thunderacer6]

can't see it being anything else,
sounds obvious but just check the new valve hasnt got a stopper in the inlet, they sometimes put these in to stop dirt getting inside during transport ect.

 

[laney079]

I had checked that and taken the stoppers out. I have it fixed now anyway - Literally went and bought a new bar mixer and fitted that and hey presto it worked! I guess it was just bad luck to have two 'new' ones off the same company/manufacturer that didn't work. Thanks so much for your comments and help
Elaine

 

[thunderacer6]

a good bit of advice is that just because its new doesnt mean it works!

kerching!!!!!!