Problem with an Alpha 240X DHW system.
The DHW supply is intermittent. Sometimes I get hot water, sometimes luke warm but generally it is fairly variable. I have visually observed the operation of the diverter valve 'plungers pins' and microswitches and everything seems to work as expected from reading the maintenance manual. When the DHW tap is turned on both pins come out and operate both microswitches. Most posts seem to suggest a diverter valve problem - possibly that the actual valve is not operting correctly internally even though the external signs look good. Other posts suggest problems with the DHW heat exchanger. A plumber has advised a new diverter valve after the briefest of 'inspections' - don't think he even took the covers off the boiler.
Now the thing the really confuses me is that even when I get really hot water out of the tap the DHW outlet from the boiler never gets above luke warm and it is only the main larger CH outlet that gets hot. That suggests that the hot taps are fed from the CH circuit as well as or instead of the DHW outlet. That sounds strange to me but maybe I am missing the point somewhere.
I want to be confident that if I spend the £350 quoted to get the diverter valve replaced that it will fix the problem but it seems there may be other issues here as well. I don't know the history of this system so I can't say whether it has ever worked properly or has always been this way. Apparently it is about 12 years old.
Can anyone shed any light on this?
The DHW supply is intermittent. Sometimes I get hot water, sometimes luke warm but generally it is fairly variable. I have visually observed the operation of the diverter valve 'plungers pins' and microswitches and everything seems to work as expected from reading the maintenance manual. When the DHW tap is turned on both pins come out and operate both microswitches. Most posts seem to suggest a diverter valve problem - possibly that the actual valve is not operting correctly internally even though the external signs look good. Other posts suggest problems with the DHW heat exchanger. A plumber has advised a new diverter valve after the briefest of 'inspections' - don't think he even took the covers off the boiler.
Now the thing the really confuses me is that even when I get really hot water out of the tap the DHW outlet from the boiler never gets above luke warm and it is only the main larger CH outlet that gets hot. That suggests that the hot taps are fed from the CH circuit as well as or instead of the DHW outlet. That sounds strange to me but maybe I am missing the point somewhere.
I want to be confident that if I spend the £350 quoted to get the diverter valve replaced that it will fix the problem but it seems there may be other issues here as well. I don't know the history of this system so I can't say whether it has ever worked properly or has always been this way. Apparently it is about 12 years old.
Can anyone shed any light on this?