i am in a mess after emptying system ....

[timmy toad]

i am in a mess after emptying my radiators, i got some chemical stuff for cleaning the system through to get rid of the sludge and stuff.

i made sure the ball cock thingie was off in the loft, i drained the radiators 4 upstairs and 3 downstairs by putting a hosepipe on the drain pipe of the 3 downstairs radiators,had a bit of trouble with sticky plungers on two of them but did get all the water out, then found the tank was still full in the loft, then found the drain above the boiler, trouble here was the plunger was siezed so i couldnt drain that bit at all.

i got my VAX out of the garage and emptied the tank in the loft with that and then thoroughly cleaned the inside of the tank.

finally put the chemical stuff in the tank and refilled it with water.

so far so good, put the room thermostat on full, put the heating and the hot water on and nothing seems to be happening !!!

the pump is churning away with no effect, the boiler doesnt seem to be working at all, and no air is coming out of the rads.

what the hell have i done wrong .

tim

 

[powell30]

you're air locked or you have a blockage. I would suggest you read the posts/FAQ's on here. As a last resort you can backfill your system by connecting your drain hose to the cold mains......but you need to find out if you have a blockage first.

 

[seco services]

when you refilled the loft tank did it fill the system ?
as you say it never drained

 

[twgas]

I would say a blocked cold feed, and turn system off until it's sorted as you may do other damage - running boiler, pump etc when empty.

 

[timmy toad]

I do believe i have tracked down the problem, my missus (her who must be obeyed !) INSISTED that i phone a plumber, after a short chat with him he seems pretty sure the feed pipe down from the expansion tank is bunged up, probably that bloody air seperator thing, so as it involves a bit of cutting pipes and soldering etc, it is definitely NOT DIY ! as far as i concerned, so a professional is going to have to do it. LOL.

tim

 

[bengasman]

self evident; the same reason that stopped the tank from emptying, stops the system filling

 

[bengasman]

and leave your boiler and pump off until you are sure there is enough water in the system

 

[timmy toad]

great stuff, i was coming to that, so i have taken the fuse out and the boiler and the central heating control have gone off, as i cant be sure, as you so rightly say, if it actually has any water in it, anywhere, because i have done what the plumber man suggested i do, which was to tie the ball cock up, and get all the water out of the the expansion tank in readiness for his visit on monday or tuesday.

ps. the plumber also said i should also put the contents of the tank into a couple of buckets, which i did, for later use.

thanks everyone

tim

 

[timmy toad]

self evident; the same reason that stopped the tank from emptying, stops the system filling

but me, being, a NOT very good DIY man, didnt fully appreciate that, i was thinking that the pipe into the boiler had to drained as well (to fully empty the tank).

which all goes to proove, too little knowledge is a dangerous thing !

tim