Heating and hot water stopped working

[alexeix]

Hi,

Moved into a new house a couple of months ago and when we first needed to use the heating, found that the hot water had to be on as well.
Annoying, but we thought we’d get someone round to sort it when we got a chance.

However, today is the second time we’ve needed the heating and I noticed that the radiators downstairs don’t get hot, so I bled them when the heating was off.

I subsequently tried to turn the heating on again and it’s no longer working - and more importantly, neither is the hot water…

The boiler (Worcester Bosch, about 6 years old) is on, the thermostat is working and has new batteries.
The British Gas WR1 wireless receiver appears to be working - lights come on/off and it clicks, when I try to activate the heating.

One thing I’ve noticed is that the Grundfos Aloha2 15-60 130 pump does not have any lights and I can’t get the display to activate.
It did display information in the past when I’ve checked it.

Has the pump failed? Should the display on this one always be illuminated?

Any other advice on this?

I found some advice online for the WR1 and resetting it, but it hasn’t worked.
Other than that, I read something about possible component failure in the pump and/or WR1.

Going to call an engineer tomorrow morning, but I’m not holding out much hope to get a visit before the weekend and we have two little ones.

Thanks!

 

[CBW]

I’m sure your little ones can survive, as most did before central heating. Anyway, can you provide more information? What model of Worcester is it? Do you have motorised valves?

 

[alexeix]

I’m sure they will too, but if I can solve this problem without having to wait several days for an engineer, that would clearly be better.

Boiler is Worcester Greenstar 15Ri condensing boiler.

Didn’t know if we had a motorised valve or not, but looked it up and realised thatwe do.
I’ve set it to manual, then turned on the heating and it’s working, so it looks like the valve may need replacing.
The pump is on now and the display is illuminated, so there’s no problem there.

Thanks for the information!

 

[terryplumb]

Do you have a programmer ? What type of motorised valve do you have? Manually latching a motorised valve open doesn't usually fire the boiler up

 

[alexeix]

Do you have a programmer ? What type of motorised valve do you have? Manually latching a motorised valve open doesn't usually fire the boiler up

I set it to manual, then did a manual override on the programmer.
The heating and water are both on.

It’s one of those recent-ish British Gas programmers with a digital display.
Can’t see a model number.

 

[alexeix]

Motorised valve brand looks to be Danfoss.
Can’t see a model no. on that either.

 

[terryplumb]

You didn't say what type of motorised valve ,but I assume it's a 3 port. I suspect the heating will only stay on until the hot water cylinders water temperature is reached and it's stat is satisfied.

 

[alexeix]

You didn't say what type of motorised valve ,but I assume it's a 3 port. I suspect the heating will only stay on until the hot water cylinders water temperature is reached and its stat is satisfied.

Unfortunately, I don’t know what type it is.

It may well switch off, but that’s okay as a stop-gap solution - as long as we can have some heat and hot water for a while.

Am I right in thinking that this valve needs replacing?

 

[terryplumb]

Does the valve have 3 copper pipes connected to it ,so the brass body is a T shape ? If so ,it's not functioning as it should. May need replacing ,testing voltages at the wiring centre would confirm this.

 

[alexeix]

Does the valve have 3 copper pipes connected to it ,so the brass body is a T shape ? If so ,it's not functioning as it should. May need replacing ,testing voltages at the wiring centre would confirm this.

Yes, it looks like it.

So which part do you suspect needs replacing: the brass body, the electrical box or both?

I appreciate that it needs testing to know for certain; just wondering about your gut feeling?
Thanks.

 

[terryplumb]

The actuator head ( plastic box ,with wire coming from it) is the part that probably needs replacing ,not the brass body.

 

[alexeix]

I removed the Danfoss actuator, to check it.
The spindle which fits into it is a bit stiff and it seems like there’s some corrosion on it.
I need pliers to turn it easily.

Also, the actuator is quite warm, even though the heating went off a couple of hours ago.

I guess I’ll try swapping out the actuator first and if it doesn’t resolve the problem, I may need to change the brass body as well.

 

[terryplumb]

The spindle doesn't turn much ,but should move fairly freely. A drop of oil on it may help.
It has been moving when you manually latched it ,and they do remain quite warm even when you turn programmer off.
The difference in cost between just the actuator ,and a full valve isn't great. I would buy a complete valve and try fitting just the actuator.

 

[alexeix]

Thanks for all the assistance - much appreciated!

I’m guessing I’ll need a heating engineer to fit the brass valve.
That’s going to involve turning off the water, right?

 

[terryplumb]

Very good chance it's just the actuator , it's far more likely.
A plumber can change the body if your not prepared to do it yourself ,but it's not that difficult.