Central heating but no hot water

[zebulebu]

Merry xmas (though not for me it isn't!)

I have a problem with my Biasi combi (eight years old, serviced regularly - last service March 2007)

I have central heating, but no hot water unless the heating is on. If I turn the CH off I get no hot water at all. If I turn it on, the HW is lukewarm for a few minutes then gradually heats up. Turning up the CH to full makes the hot water flow a lot hotter.

This sounds to me like a problem with the diaphragm or the diverter valve - is there any way for me to tell which it is so that I don't get ripped off by some ten-gallon hat wearing cowboy? I know its the worst possible time for it to go (xmas bloody morning!!) but I have terrible trouble finding any tradesman in any profession living where I am that doesn't want to rip me off - it would be nice to let them know that I have some inkling of what the problem is before they turn up, drink three gallons of my wife's tea and then charge her 400 quid to replace four parts that have a combined price of about 100 notes whilst the problem causing the fault remains unsolved

Thanks in advance!

 

[alan m 1974]

I am not 100% sure what d/valve you have.So see if you can see a brass valve with 5 connections coming off it,next to the pump or very near it,now see the top of it will have a black round cap on size of a penny,and clipped on is a black box with microswitches in,turn the box so you can see inside and see the black cap,now ask someone to open hot tap,if black cap dosent push up and connect to microswitches its the diapraghm more than certain,so it wont need the full valve,you can then get a screwdriver and press the microswitches manually and it should fire up,

 

[Agile]

I expect it is a failed diverter valve which can usually be repaired by replacing the diaphragm.

However I dont see why you expect all boiler engineers to be cowboys. We are dedicated professionals who try our best to give good service at a reasonable price.

We would charge an inclusive £106, which includes a boiler service, for dealing with your problem within our normal operating area. Is that really such a cowboy price for a guaranteed professional repair in London?

Chris R from this forum is in Surrey but as he says its a big county!

Tony

 

[bengasman]

why not call the guy how serviced it all these years?

 

[technical engineer]

I am not 100% sure what d/valve you have.So see if you can see a brass valve with 5 connections coming off it,next to the pump or very near it,now see the top of it will have a black round cap on size of a penny,and clipped on is a black box with microswitches in,turn the box so you can see inside and see the black cap,now ask someone to open hot tap,if black cap dosent push up and connect to microswitches its the diapraghm more than certain,so it wont need the full valve,you can then get a screwdriver and press the microswitches manually and it should fire up,

hold up how do you know what biasi hes talking about becuase if hes talking about the 24s thats got 3 diaphrams one pump proving domestic and so on. the diverter valve your talking about is a givarnni diverter valves usually find them in vokeras and eurocombis i dont know a biasi with a givarnni diverter valve in it

need to know what biasi it is before you can say its the diverter. personally i dont think its the diverter it could be the flow switchor flow domestic diaphram!!! but if its a givarnni diverter valve then the flow switch is apart of the diverter valve

if the heating is coming on with the hot water or vice versa then yeah diverter valve is passing but it sounds like to me if you have just hot water demand on the boiler wont even fire and its natrual that youll get luke warm water when the heating is on but thats just a general thought you cant tell what it is untill you know what boiler it is

 

[zebulebu]

Whoops

Seems I might have p155ed some people off here! I wasn't for the life of me inferring that all tradesmen are cowboys. Its just that, in my experience, almost all the ones I've called for problems in the past have been like extras from Rogue Traders

Seriously - I'm in Croydon (North Surrey) which, for some reason, seems to have more than its fair share of cheating gits - witness the cheeky toerag who tried to charge me two grand to replace about 200 feet of guttering, or the thief who charged us 500 quid to unblock a drain...

If anyone knows of a reputable tradesman who is willing to make a trek to our house in deepest, darkest Croydon let me know - 106 quid is a perfectly reasonable price and I'd certainly be willing to pay that. What I DON'T want to happen is, as I said before, someone turns up whilst my wife is in the house on her own (no way I'll be able to be there as I work all the hours God sends) and tells her he 'needs a three-eighths gripley' and that it will cost 300 quid to replace a part that doesnt need replacing!

No inference was made that ALL tradesmen are cowboys - my mate is a sparks, I've got other mates who are plasterers and roofers and they're all fine. Unfortunately, my experience with plumbers has not been good - and I've yet to find one who was any good.

Incidentally - I've already rung the bloke who serviced it last and he said 'It's a Biasi - I can't get parts for it'. Quite how he has managed to 'service' it I'm not sure - presumably if he 'serviced' it and found a fault with a part he would have told me to call someone else to replace the part!

 

[Agile]

Parts are available for all Biasi boilers which have been sold in the UK.

London Corgi who very occasionally posts here is also in Croydon. Also known as John Brooks if you can find him on the CORGI search for an installer. I dont know what he would charge but he should be quite capable of repairing it for you.

Tony

 

[gas4you]

I think you mean Croydon corgi Tony My turn to ask if you've been drinking

Bet you've had a few good glasses of wine by now

 

[zebulebu]

I think you mean Croydon corgi Tony My turn to ask if you've been drinking

Bet you've had a few good glasses of wine by now

Damn - there's a 'croydoncorgi' registered here? Suppose I should have run a membercheck for 'croydon' and seen what came up! Any idea how often he posts? Might be worth me dropping him a mail if I can find his email address!

 

[Agile]

No, at the time I said that I had not had any drinks! But I had been changing the bath and unable to complete the swop because the waste parts were showing three different types none of which matched up.

So my mind was "****ed off" with the annoyance of the stupidity of having so many different types of non matching 40 mm tube.

Being five miles from my store with all the compression types which match everything was too far to go searching.

Went for about six miles drive for an Indian restaurant but the only one open was a bar with very small portions of food. So came home at 2130 and had dinner in front of the TV.

John Brooks probably is listed locally as Croydon Calorific.

Tony