Heating suddenly stopped! - coal boiler working though

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Hampshire
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Today all the rads went cold - After having some issues when we moved in here the other month with only the upstairs radiators getting warm, I had taken the pump off of the timer/thermostats as they didn't seem to work and wired it directly to the mains.

All the rads then came on and all was well (although no thermostat/ timer) This was on Friday.

This morning, all the rads slowly went cold - the pipes coming off the back of the boiler are all cold, although the boiler is lit and burning well and the chimney pipe is hot. The pump is also working (judging by the gentle vibration it gives off when you touch it)

set-up:

Charnwood solid fuel boiler - fires up well
2 x Honeywell stats on pipes (disconnected)
Grundfos 15/50 pump
Rads all bled and have all been working.

We've been round tonight and re-bled all the rads - they all have water in them.

Any thoughts? - Just to also say thanks in advance for anyone taking the time to give us the benefit of their knowledge. It's very much appreciated.
 
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is the pump hot?

when you bleed the highest radiator in the house, does water squirt out forcefully? What colour is this water?
Is this radiator higher or lower than the pump?

Take out the screw in the middle of the pump and observe the spindle. Is it spinning?

p.s. if you are burning in the boiler and no heat is escaping up the water pipes, the boiler is going to overheat.
 
Hi

The pump is luke-warm

The water squirts out - not really forcibly though.

The water seems clean

The rad is higher than the pump

If I start to undo the center screw on the pump, water comes out - is this normal, do you want me to go and take the screw out still?
 
if you undo the radiator bleed valve, water should squirt out and continue squirting. You should be able to take a pint or more out without the pressure reducing. Cover any carpets with an old towel that you don't mind staining.

put a bowl under the pump and take the screw out. You can put it back after you have looked at the spindle.

is the pump hotter or cooler than the pipes going into it?

go into the loft and find the Feed & Expansion tank. What has it got inside it? How much mud at the bottom?

describe the pipes going into it (should be about 4) and the water level.

if you press the ball down, what happens?

can you post some pics of the pipes around the boiler; the pump; the cylinder, and the F&E?

Is the cylinder cold?
 
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Hi

I'll have a bash - do you know how to post pics on the forum?

I'll go and take them now anyway. back in a bit.
 
Pics are at: http://s272.photobucket.com/albums/jj196/busybloke/

There are two tanks in the loft:

Tank 1 is above the hot water tank for the taps (which Is on economy 7 and not part of the rad system - I believe). This is full and as you can see - has a lot of scale in the bottom.

Tank 2 is right over the back and as the loft isn't borded and the beams are 5 foot+ apart - I can't get to yet...see photos.

I'll go and have a look at the pump now.
 
The pump is spinning. The casing of the pump is luke warm which is warmer than the pipes going into and running out of it.
 
What were these things connected to before you disconnected them?

closer look please

pipes2.jpg
 
All I've done to the system is:

The pump (see pic Pipes1) was wired into the switch next to it on the wall which had the wiring for the pump, stats and timer. I disconnected the pump and put a cable on it to run it from the mains to see if it worked (didn't have a multi meter to do testing). It works fine now when plugged in to the mains directly - haven't tried wiring it back into the timer yet.

Is there anything you need a closer picture of. Can't get back into the loft right now as missus has gone to bed in a strop and it's a bit of a noisy process getting up there :oops:
 
those two thermostats must have done something. I wonder what?
 
I had a British gas engineer round this morning who said exactly the same thing - although he wouldn't touch any of the system. Now that we've moved to a coal fired property, our home care plan with British Gas no longer seems to work.

I "thought" that the stat on the far left was set to the temp you wanted the water to be at and the one on the inside was on the return (?) set at a low heat to switch the pump back on if the temperature of the water fell to that temp....can you tell that I don't know much about this yet :rolleyes:

At the moment, those stats are not playing a functional part as the pump just runs constantly from the mains until I can get it all figured out.
 
I had a British gas engineer round this morning who said exactly the same thing - although he wouldn't touch any of the system. Now that we've moved to a coal fired property, our home care plan with British Gas no longer seems to work.

I think you may need a policy with British Coal instead.

I dont really understand why you suddenly disconnected your controls?

Why not reinstate them and see if it all goes back to normal?

Tony
 
Hi

I disconnected the pump as nothing seemed to be working and the house was cold. The pump didn't feel like it was working. I wired a plug on it instead of having it powered through the timer/stats and it worked for the last 4 days and the house has been nice and warm. The pump is still working now, but the pipes are cold.

Hope that helps.
 
Have you checked your feed and expansion tank to see if there is any water in it ???

Tony
 

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