Morning all,
I was here this time last year with central heating problems, which you guys did a great job helping me out.
Unfortunately, I have similar problems again after a pump change and wanted to see if this is something simple I can tackle myself again.
This is what I know about my system:
Conventional boiler (Potterton RS30 – very old unit)
F&E tank in loft
7 radiators (3 upstairs, 4 downstairs)
Downstairs radiators are drop fed
Drained upstairs via drain on kitchen rad (directly below boiler) – other 3 rads downstairs drain independently
The old pump packed up in April. Diagnosed by heating engineer as water leak into electrical components. Pump has been changed to this unit: http://www.screwfix.com/p/flomasta-central-heating-pump-a-rated-230v/77771
When I fitted the new pump, I only drained upstairs, refilling and bleeding the rads upstairs when I’d finished.
The boiler then fired up, confirmed that the pump was working, but initially this struggled to get water past the outlet on the pump to the closest radiator.
I turned the pump on and off a few times which seemed to push the water along and I managed to get the radiator in the same room as the pump hot, but nothing else.
So this weekend I started again, drained the whole system down, refilled and bled bottom upwards, but I’m still having problems.
This is where I’ve got to, and what gets hot and what doesn’t:
Radiator above boiler – in same room as pump – hot
Radiator directly below this – in same room as boiler – hot
Radiator in downstairs bathroom – hot
Radiator in bedroom adjacent to where pump is – luke warm
Radiator in next bedroom – luke warm
Both drop fed rads – living room and dining room – cold (pipework feeding these 2 rads also cold)
I haven’t altered the balance of the rads from last year where they all heated up but could the new pump have some effect on the balancing of the system?
I also feel that the cold level on the F&E is too high – the ballcock turns off the call for water – but it seems to be at a high level. Not sure if this has an effect on how the water flows round the system, but worth mentioning.
The other thing I noticed is that, once the above rads have got hot, and the boiler stat stops kicks in (flame goes down), the hot rads tend to cool down quickly rather than keeping the heat in them.
So with the colder weather on the way and a new baby in the house, I’m under strict instructions to get this working again, any advice or pointers would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
I was here this time last year with central heating problems, which you guys did a great job helping me out.
Unfortunately, I have similar problems again after a pump change and wanted to see if this is something simple I can tackle myself again.
This is what I know about my system:
Conventional boiler (Potterton RS30 – very old unit)
F&E tank in loft
7 radiators (3 upstairs, 4 downstairs)
Downstairs radiators are drop fed
Drained upstairs via drain on kitchen rad (directly below boiler) – other 3 rads downstairs drain independently
The old pump packed up in April. Diagnosed by heating engineer as water leak into electrical components. Pump has been changed to this unit: http://www.screwfix.com/p/flomasta-central-heating-pump-a-rated-230v/77771
When I fitted the new pump, I only drained upstairs, refilling and bleeding the rads upstairs when I’d finished.
The boiler then fired up, confirmed that the pump was working, but initially this struggled to get water past the outlet on the pump to the closest radiator.
I turned the pump on and off a few times which seemed to push the water along and I managed to get the radiator in the same room as the pump hot, but nothing else.
So this weekend I started again, drained the whole system down, refilled and bled bottom upwards, but I’m still having problems.
This is where I’ve got to, and what gets hot and what doesn’t:
Radiator above boiler – in same room as pump – hot
Radiator directly below this – in same room as boiler – hot
Radiator in downstairs bathroom – hot
Radiator in bedroom adjacent to where pump is – luke warm
Radiator in next bedroom – luke warm
Both drop fed rads – living room and dining room – cold (pipework feeding these 2 rads also cold)
I haven’t altered the balance of the rads from last year where they all heated up but could the new pump have some effect on the balancing of the system?
I also feel that the cold level on the F&E is too high – the ballcock turns off the call for water – but it seems to be at a high level. Not sure if this has an effect on how the water flows round the system, but worth mentioning.
The other thing I noticed is that, once the above rads have got hot, and the boiler stat stops kicks in (flame goes down), the hot rads tend to cool down quickly rather than keeping the heat in them.
So with the colder weather on the way and a new baby in the house, I’m under strict instructions to get this working again, any advice or pointers would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks