Hello,
We have an open vented central heating system (think this is the correct term). A couple of weeks ago our boiler (Baxi Solo 2PF) started making a loud gurgling/boiling noise as did the adjacent radiator. We switched off the boiler and later our plumber discovered that the circuit board on the boiler had burnt itself out (evident by a large charred area!) and replaced the board. The boiler subsequently worked fine but half the radiators in the house would not warm, and the pump made noticeable whooshing noises. Suspecting air we tried to bleed the radiators and were partially successful but some radiators would not bleed (we opened the bleed and neither air or water came out and in one case we think one radiator was sucking in air!).
Our plumber thought at the time that the line from the feed and expansion tank was blocked and that the system wasn't refilling (the ball cock valve works fine - you can push it down and get fresh water to enter the tank). Judging by the large amount of crud in the tank this seems a reasonable assumption.
We hoped at the time we had a small blockage and that our central heating system would slowly refill (with frequent bleeding of radiators), but this didn't work and the boiler eventually tripped out on overheat.
We tried draining the cental heating system to encourage it to refill from the expansion tank but this hasn't worked.
A plumber is coming round tomorrow. He is suggesting connecting mains water to the expansion tank vent to shift the blockage in the line from the expansion tank. If that doesn't work he suggests we have no other course of action than to have the line from the expansion replaced section by section until the blocked area is removed.
Is there anything else that can be tried or is this really the only option open to us if the applying mains water at the vent does not work?
Any suggestions anyone has would be very appreciated.
We have an open vented central heating system (think this is the correct term). A couple of weeks ago our boiler (Baxi Solo 2PF) started making a loud gurgling/boiling noise as did the adjacent radiator. We switched off the boiler and later our plumber discovered that the circuit board on the boiler had burnt itself out (evident by a large charred area!) and replaced the board. The boiler subsequently worked fine but half the radiators in the house would not warm, and the pump made noticeable whooshing noises. Suspecting air we tried to bleed the radiators and were partially successful but some radiators would not bleed (we opened the bleed and neither air or water came out and in one case we think one radiator was sucking in air!).
Our plumber thought at the time that the line from the feed and expansion tank was blocked and that the system wasn't refilling (the ball cock valve works fine - you can push it down and get fresh water to enter the tank). Judging by the large amount of crud in the tank this seems a reasonable assumption.
We hoped at the time we had a small blockage and that our central heating system would slowly refill (with frequent bleeding of radiators), but this didn't work and the boiler eventually tripped out on overheat.
We tried draining the cental heating system to encourage it to refill from the expansion tank but this hasn't worked.
A plumber is coming round tomorrow. He is suggesting connecting mains water to the expansion tank vent to shift the blockage in the line from the expansion tank. If that doesn't work he suggests we have no other course of action than to have the line from the expansion replaced section by section until the blocked area is removed.
Is there anything else that can be tried or is this really the only option open to us if the applying mains water at the vent does not work?
Any suggestions anyone has would be very appreciated.