Central Heating stopped working

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South Glamorgan
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Hi all,

Im a new home owner, and have never had to deal with central heating or anything myself so please forgive me for having very very limited knowledge on the question I am going to ask.

When I originally moved in to my home, we had hot water fine, however we couldnt get the central heating working. After phoning a plumber, he advised me to tap the pump with a hammer if the central heating hadnt been used in a long time - I did this and it worked great. I have lived here now for just over a year, and the heating has been working fine all winter - however today I find the radiators downstairs have gone off and are cold - however the upstairs radiators are still hot. Ive checked and the thermostat is on fine, the pilot light is on, I have hot water, the heating is on - however when checking the pump, there is no vibration coming from it, and it is very hot to touch. Is it normal for a pump to get that hot? Should it be vibrating as it pumps the water around the house?

As I said, I have no knowledge really at all about this stuff, couldnt even tell you what sort of central heating system I have.

Sorry for the lack of information - just hoping someone has an idea just from what I have typed above. Do you think it is the pump that has packed in?

I currently have the Water and Heating set to constant, and thermostat up full to try getting the radiators to come on.

Really appreciate your help.

Kind Regards
Shane
 
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The pump could be failing or partially blocked. Would be worth turning off all other rads at one end and forcing the heat through to downstairs as it may just be an air lock where the pipe work drops.

Let us know what happens with this
 
Ok the pump is in the kitchen.

3 radiators downstairs - one in kitchen, utility room, and passage

4 upstairs, one in each of the bedrooms.

Which ones do you suggest I turn off. Again I apologise for such daft questions - computers are my thing, plumbing certainly isnt unfortunately :(

Thanks for your quick reply though Rob.
 
turn off the ones which are hot. then see what happens.

If your a computer man, maybe you can tell me why since upgrading to Internet Explorer 7.0 whenever i use a serach engine the results are bought up no problems however clicking a link re-directs me to some sort of advertising.

I have turned off all site restrictions and it doesnt matter what kind of site is selected. thanks
 
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I think it'll be the pump. You're getting a cetrtain amount of circulation by convection.
Switch it between speeds and you should notice the noise stop/change.

Remove the big screw at the end of the pump, (dribbles) insert a screwdriver and try to engage with slot in shaft end, and turn pump that way to unstick it. If there's a big black octagonal plastic nut or just a bolthead, undo that, pull towards you and use that to twist shaft of pump.
 
rob884 said:
turn off the ones which are hot. then see what happens.

If your a computer man, maybe you can tell me why since upgrading to Internet Explorer 7.0 whenever i use a serach engine the results are bought up no problems however clicking a link re-directs me to some sort of advertising.

I have turned off all site restrictions and it doesnt matter what kind of site is selected. thanks

Sounds like you have spyware on your PC to be honest. I have IE7 and it doesnt do that. Make sure pop-up blocker is enabled. Also do you search via the search bar in IE7 or do you go to the google website and search via that?

Let me know how you get on. Personally - I would recommend reverting back to IE6 or using Firefox. Im not a huge fan of IE7 yet. They need to release a few more updates and patches before I use it.

As for the rads, Ill give that a go.
The pump doesnt feel like its working at all. Usually you can feel if it is working cant you?

I got a fuse for the plug so Ill check that first. Someone said it could be something as simple as that. Thanks also Chris. I think if it comes down to that though - Ill get a plumber in, as Ill me a right mess of it lol.
 
I'm using ie7 and find it fine. Haven't even disabled pop-ups - hardly ever see any.
 
ChrisR said:
I'm using ie7 and find it fine. Haven't even disabled pop-ups - hardly ever see any.

You will probably find that the popup blocker is already enabled.

I suspect spyware to be honest.

Download Ad-Aware and run a full scan.

Also do you have any toolbars installed? You may be using a toolbar from something other than Internet Explorer. What search engine is it?

As for my problem Chris, I tried switching between speeds and there is absolutely no difference in sound at all. Im pretty sure the pump isnt working. First thing Ill try I think is changing a fuse in the plug.
 
O dogg. ive down loaded firefox now thanks. Was however using google main search engine page.

as for the pump, the boiler pump and all controls should be off one power suppy so if the rest are working then the pump should. You could always just test for 240v at the pump. But very likely its failed and will need replacing.
 
ChrisR said:
I think it'll be the pump. You're getting a cetrtain amount of circulation by convection.
Switch it between speeds and you should notice the noise stop/change.

Remove the big screw at the end of the pump, (dribbles) insert a screwdriver and try to engage with slot in shaft end, and turn pump that way to unstick it. If there's a big black octagonal plastic nut or just a bolthead, undo that, pull towards you and use that to twist shaft of pump.

Chris - I tried what you said. The Pump I have had a big black octagonal plastic nut on it. unscrewed and pulled it towards me. After doing this, there was a little bit of black water dripping out. I turned it in bother directions and it appeared to be turning fine. Ive screwed it back in, however when it screws tight - water drips. I unscrewed it a little to losen it - water stopped dripping.

Then turned back on - pump got very very hot again, and there was like a burning smell from it. Have turned it off now - but the burning smell wasnt there before now. Is it knackered?
 
As an update, there was a horrible plastic burning smell coming from the pump, so it certainly seems as though it is the pump that is knackered.

Looks like Im going to need a new pump. Have no idea how much these things cost :(
 

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