HW but no CH

[gregmundo]

Hi all, hope someone can help. (excuse terminology)

We use an old Stanley for HW/CH/Cooking. A programmer has the option to activate HW or CH or both. Until recently, everything was fine. Now, the programmer doesn't fire up the Stanley if its set to CH manual run. LED lights up but doesn't ignite Stanley. HW is fine and starts up boiler.
This is with the hot water tank cold (stone cold, like the house ) or with the tank hot.
No pressure when I try to bleed radiators (guess this is because pump hasn't been told to turn on).
Pipes gargle a bit, have two water tanks with plenty of water.
Anyone able to shed light on this?
Stanley problem or plumbing?

Thanks in advance!

 

[oilman]

There are several models of Stanley, I assume if you have the controls on the cooker which control the oven and the boiler, they are set to boiler = idle when you want to use the oven, and vice-versa.

I would suspect the programmer, or its connections or the motorised valve. Sounds a bit like the latter.

Pump should be off when bleeding, and if there's no pressure, it is likely the feed from the tank is blocked. This is a cut and thrust job to clear the pipe.

 

[gregmundo]

Thanks oilman,

Here's what I found out,

After hunting around on this forum, found out there's something called a honeywell diverter which is the motorised valve you mention (I know you knew this, but its all new to me!). Mine was set to auto. When I moved it to Manual (but not lock it) it moves back again to auto. Good sign so far, its got power. When I have the Stanley on CH (baffles set to idle), nothing happens. . . .UNLESS... I move the lever to the extreme open position, to which the Stanley kicks into life and everythings great again. When I say extreme however, I mean extreme, literally touching the metal housing! Unfortunately, if I put it into "lock", it moves ever so slightly toward centre to rest but its still far enough to de-activate the Stanley.

So what do I do next? Is it simply a faulty valve and I just ask a plumber to fit a new one or is it that the programmer's connections aren't forcing the valve to the correct position?

 

[oilman]

It sounds like the valve head is faulty and the gear teeth are stripped. The lever will move on it's own from MAN to AUTO because of a spring. It doesen't need power to do this. You can get a replacement head from Plumbase etc, then it's a 2-screw job to take the head off the body, and a rewire job. You can also get a replacement motor from screwfix, but the mechanics wear anyway, and unless the head is in good condition, replace the head.

 

[gregmundo]

Thanks very much for your help oilman, I'll be getting the plumber in to replace the whole head.

Once again, many thanks.

 

[gregmundo]

Now the matter is solved, for those interested, it was just the motor that got replaced. 10 minute job.

 

[oilman]

Er.... not really 10 minutes, there's ordering the part, getting to you, changing the motor, packing up tools, getting back home (or wherever), admin for invoice and any amount of other bits.

Just so people don't get the idea that a 10 minute job takes 10 minutes.

Glad you got it sorted though.

(And just a thought, it took me a lot more than 10 minutes to type the posts )

 

[morris]

where is oilman? i have a problem with my super stanley cooker

can anyone help?

my super star stanley provides both h/w and CH and is a cooker

its ok on the cooker mode, fires up fine. but now it will not fire up when put on auto or manual for hot water and or CH

what can i do to solve it. imy stanley lives in northern brittany!! i will be there living from friday so need to sort asap