motorised or 3 port valve

bruce 1411 · 7 Dec 2007

i have a gravity and pump fed indirect system and the "council craftsmen" who installed it have piped it to prioritise the central heating ie: no 3 port or motorised valve so the rads upstairs get instantly hot but if i put the pump on timer to warm the house prior to getting up the domestic supply takes hours to get hot.
i want to fix this and my instructor on my c&g 6022 and 6032 says put a motorised valve on the ch feed pipe but my uncle a retired plumber says i would have to change the cylinder if i did that, who do i listen to?
the system is also prone to airlocks and im tired of constantly either undoing the return/ draining and refilling rads/ or draining and refilling the whole system, advice would be greatly appreciated

bengasman · 7 Dec 2007

Best advice, do not mess with things you do not own. Hypothetically speaking, impossible to say what needs doing if we do not know more details. Before you even think of actually doing jobs, wait until you can work out the answers yourself. The way you presented the question leads me to believe you are not that far into the course. Be patient and keep your enthusiasm. Keep reading threads on this forum as much as you can, it will benefit your training greatly

bruce 1411 · 7 Dec 2007

thanks ben but we do own the house, we bought it 3 years ago or i would have called the council to sort it out, also i have successfully completed the course, im more of a do'er than an explainer so that might explain the way i posed the question, when i got the c&g i realised that i still knew no where near enough to call myself a plumber, as ive already spent 5k getting this far and i dont want to be a cowboy im looking for someone to take me on as a plumbers mate but at 46 its a bit difficult to find someone, i'll keep checking the forums though

gas4you · 7 Dec 2007

Perhaps you could tell us what system you have got already, exactly.

Is it fully pumped? Do you have a 3 port diverter valve giving HW priority?

What type of cylinder do you have? I don't know of any standard indirect cylinder that can't have a zone valve fitted to the ch.

I would change the system to a modern fully pumped with a 3 port mid position valve or if you prefer fit 2 2 port valves.

Upgrade your programmer and room/cyl stats as well and fit trvs on your rads.

bruce 1411 · 7 Dec 2007

thanks dave yes its fully pumped with a gas fired back boiler behind the fire its got your bog standard copper cylinder in the airing cupboard with the ch feed and return in the side and the ch is prioritised by means of a 28mm equal compresson tee in the feed

gas4you · 7 Dec 2007

How is this prioritising it then? A T is only a T whatever size it is

bruce 1411 · 7 Dec 2007

hi dave the pipes come from the f&e tanks in the loft to the cylinder and about 6 inches from the cylinder, theres an equal t on the feed and return pipes as they enter and exit the cylinder with another pipe feeding from the t's going under the floorboards to the ch, i forgot to mention before but the cylinder has an immersion heater in the top but they disconnected it when they modernised, and where the pipe comes out of the return t going back to the loft isnt horizontal so i braced it i hope this makes it a bit clearer, like i said im not much of an explainer

gas4you · 7 Dec 2007

Sounds like a standard uncontrolled system to me.

dal5band · 7 Dec 2007

Draw yourself a diagram and decide where you're going to put the valves. You need to on the right side of the expansion pipe.
I would suggest separate valves for HW and CH as the diverter ones are always going wrong and difficult to understand what's happening.
But remember the wiring will be even more complicated than the plumbing.

bruce 1411 · 9 Dec 2007

thanks guys i appreciate the help, this is a great site loaded with info

diynot

If you need to find a tradesperson to get your job done, please try our local search below, or if you are doing it yourself you can find suppliers local to you.

Select the supplier or trade you require, enter your location to begin your search.

Are you a trade or supplier? You can create your listing free at DIYnot Local

motorised or 3 port valve

Similar threads