Hi,
First things first:-
I came across this forum last week whilst looking for a new programmer for the central heating. Our heating has been poor ever since we moved in but had put it down to the previous owner, who was a bit of a miser, putting in a boiler that wasnt upto the job ( its a very cold 1930s bungalow ). However whilst browsing I saw a few posts that described exactly our problem - yep, sludge! Anyway we spent last saturday taking each radiator outside, flushing it and replacing the LSV's that were seized. I cant describe how much sludge came out but it took me 2 hours on Sunday to pressure wash the remains off the drive! Im suprised anything worked at all. Suffice to say the radiators got hot so we couldnt touch them, the hotwater got so hot it was scalding (yes I have turned everything back down to more sensible levels now!)
So a very very big thanks to everyone that contributed to the sludge questions over the months - it really is like having a new central heating system. First time the house has been really warm in nearly 5 years! We are over the moon.
I do however have a question or two left yet which Im hoping someone can put some light on ...
1) I have noticed since the desludging ( but I couldnt swear that its only since ) that the radiators only get hot if the water heating is turned off. The valve in the loft appears to be working correctly - it was replaced 12 months ago so relatively new. As an example yesterday morning with water+heating the radiators were not hot, I went up into the loft and turned the water thermostat down - the divertor valve immediately switched from the middle to heating positions and the radiators started to get warm.
I noticed that the bathroom radiator is very hot even when the other radiators are not (further more it is now apparent that the TRV on the bathroom radiator is on the outlet!).
The other radiators have TRV's and it appears that the pipes leading to the trv are hot whilst the radiator is cold - the TRV is fully on - its like the TRV is blocking the flow even when its set fully on and the room is cold. Could it be that there isnt sufficient water pressure to get through the trv when heating+water is selected. Given the amount of sludge I am now wondering whether the trv's are actually functioning at all and will do some tests tonight.
2) the system is currently running with sludge remover and I will be draining and filling with inhibitor this weekend. Does anyone have any guidelines ( I appreciate its not a hard and fixed period ) how often the inhibitor should be replaced. As far as I can determine the old stuff was in for 10 years and obviously stopped working a long time ago!
3) Im looking for some recommendations for a new programmer - I need dual channels, indivual programs for each day ( or at least 5+2 ), at least 2 on/offs each day and a "1hr boost" facility
4) as a newby, can someone explain pump overrun for me ( and this may have a bearing on question 1. Before the system was cleaned out pump setting 2 ( its a 3 position ) worked fine ( no overflow ) whilst setting three caused overflow. Since cleaning setting 2 causes a small amount overflow into the header tank - but only when water+heating is selected, heating on its own is ok (but I havent tested water on its own).
Lot of questions there - I apologies if the post is too long but Im quite excited about having a "new" heating system!
Thanks
Gareth.
First things first:-
I came across this forum last week whilst looking for a new programmer for the central heating. Our heating has been poor ever since we moved in but had put it down to the previous owner, who was a bit of a miser, putting in a boiler that wasnt upto the job ( its a very cold 1930s bungalow ). However whilst browsing I saw a few posts that described exactly our problem - yep, sludge! Anyway we spent last saturday taking each radiator outside, flushing it and replacing the LSV's that were seized. I cant describe how much sludge came out but it took me 2 hours on Sunday to pressure wash the remains off the drive! Im suprised anything worked at all. Suffice to say the radiators got hot so we couldnt touch them, the hotwater got so hot it was scalding (yes I have turned everything back down to more sensible levels now!)
So a very very big thanks to everyone that contributed to the sludge questions over the months - it really is like having a new central heating system. First time the house has been really warm in nearly 5 years! We are over the moon.
I do however have a question or two left yet which Im hoping someone can put some light on ...
1) I have noticed since the desludging ( but I couldnt swear that its only since ) that the radiators only get hot if the water heating is turned off. The valve in the loft appears to be working correctly - it was replaced 12 months ago so relatively new. As an example yesterday morning with water+heating the radiators were not hot, I went up into the loft and turned the water thermostat down - the divertor valve immediately switched from the middle to heating positions and the radiators started to get warm.
I noticed that the bathroom radiator is very hot even when the other radiators are not (further more it is now apparent that the TRV on the bathroom radiator is on the outlet!).
The other radiators have TRV's and it appears that the pipes leading to the trv are hot whilst the radiator is cold - the TRV is fully on - its like the TRV is blocking the flow even when its set fully on and the room is cold. Could it be that there isnt sufficient water pressure to get through the trv when heating+water is selected. Given the amount of sludge I am now wondering whether the trv's are actually functioning at all and will do some tests tonight.
2) the system is currently running with sludge remover and I will be draining and filling with inhibitor this weekend. Does anyone have any guidelines ( I appreciate its not a hard and fixed period ) how often the inhibitor should be replaced. As far as I can determine the old stuff was in for 10 years and obviously stopped working a long time ago!
3) Im looking for some recommendations for a new programmer - I need dual channels, indivual programs for each day ( or at least 5+2 ), at least 2 on/offs each day and a "1hr boost" facility
4) as a newby, can someone explain pump overrun for me ( and this may have a bearing on question 1. Before the system was cleaned out pump setting 2 ( its a 3 position ) worked fine ( no overflow ) whilst setting three caused overflow. Since cleaning setting 2 causes a small amount overflow into the header tank - but only when water+heating is selected, heating on its own is ok (but I havent tested water on its own).
Lot of questions there - I apologies if the post is too long but Im quite excited about having a "new" heating system!
Thanks
Gareth.
