Central Heating Not working

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I was away last week and came home to a cold house, where only two raditors upstairs were luke warm, the rest being cold. At that point the hot water was working ok.

I have a Potterton prima B gas boiler downstairs with a Danfoss FP975 controller, a hot water tank up stairs where the pump (Grudfoss 15/50) and two motorised valves (Danfoss HPA2) are and a header tank in the loft.

I tried bleeding all the radiotors to see if any air would come out - they seemed ok. (I tried this with the system on as well as off).

I checked the pump, it gets warm when switched on, I have also checked that the current is ok, it makes a very quite buzzing sound (I guess that must be normal).

I have two motorised valves next to the hot water tank, they both seem to work ok, the hot water opens when called for as does the other one when the raditors are called for.

When adjusting the main radiator thermostat the valves and pump switch on accoringling.

At this point I decided to drain the system (I have been in the house for 5 years and have not touched the radiors, although I had the gas boiler serviced about a year and a half ago). I switched off the gas and electrical supply to the system. Then stoped the mains water from filling the header tank in the loft. I opened up all the radiator thermostatic valves, then downstairs opened up the drain point on the radiator.
At first the water seemed clean but very quickly it became fairly black. I repeated this process once more as the water colour seemed to improve a bit.
I then filled the system to a point were the tank in the loft had a small amount of water in it. Then added some system cleaner (from Salamander, following their instructions - they say that this should remain in the system for approximatly 21 - 28 days before flushing out). I then topped up the tank in the loft.
Went around all the radiotrs to remove the air by opening the bleed valve at the top of each valve waiting for the water to flow out.
Then switched the electrical supply on so that the pump would run and re-checked for air in the radiators.
Once this was done I switched the gas boiler back on to find the system to be worse off as the both the hot water system and the radiators are not warming up.
Something I noticed is that when I switch the gas on, the gas boiler flairs up for about 1 to 2 minutes and then goes back to the pilot light regardless of the thermostat settings (which I can hear switch when I adjust them).

Do you have any suggestions as I think I am reaching the point where I need to call in the experts?
 
Thanks for the comment, any tips on how I could check or rectify a pump that is not circulating?

Would this explain why the gas boiler runs for the first minute or two when I switch it on, before returning to the pilot light?

Is there normally a pressure or flow switch fitted in the system?
 
I'm no plumber, just a householder, but I believe a siezed pump is not unusual after you've not run it for a while. On the front there's a screwed cover. remove it, catch a bit of water that will come out, and turn the shaft with a big screwdriver. With luck it will spin into action.
 
Thanks Guys!!!

I think we've got it sussed now, there are just two radiators that are not heating up yet.... I'll investigate further.
 
Garth said:
I think we've got it sussed now, there are just two radiators that are not heating up yet.
Is that what you call "sussed" - having a system that isn't working and not knowing why? :?
 
Well, I now know that there was a problem with the pump, which, when fixed, solved the hot water problem and the radiators .... well 4 out of 6 radiators.

What do you suggest the problem may be with the two raditors that are not working? One is upstairs and the other is downstairs.

So far I have tried bleeding these two again, as well as turning all of the good raditor thermostatic valves down without any success yet.
 
Garth said:
Well, I now know that there was a problem with the pump, which, when fixed, solved the hot water problem...
Eh? In your first post you said that the hot water was "working ok". :?

What do you suggest the problem may be with the two raditors that are not working? One is upstairs and the other is downstairs.
Well, there's a blockage, or blockages, or the rad valves are shut, or the pump is worn or faulty.

So far I have tried bleeding these two again, as well as turning all of the good raditor thermostatic valves down without any success yet.
When you vent the radiators, do you get air, or water, or nothing?
 
When I vent the two suspect radiators, cold water comes out at first, after some time the water coming out starts to warm up. It's the same for both the radiators.

Would that mean that there could be a blockage on both of the radiator outlets?
 
Garth said:
Would that mean that there could be a blockage on both of the radiator outlets?
Good guess, but the hot/warm water could be coming in via either end.

Have you tried shutting off all radiators except just one of the cold ones?
 

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