It's nice and hot in my house - just don't take a shower!

[robhynes]

Hi -

I have an oil boiler (there's no attic tank - just a small tank fitted inside the boiler unit - (I think it's a Worcester)) which was serviced and had some new parts fitted in March including a new 3 port valve and a new expansion vessel. At the time the plumber noticed my oil tank was leaking at the top and letting water in and suggested I fix it. What did I do ?? You guessed it ! Nothing

ok - forward to 2 weeks ago - boiler makes a popping sound and dies, won't restart. Get the same plumber out who tells me my oil tank is now feeding water into my boiler.

So I'm a £100 lighter - could have been worse I suppose. The central heating came on fine after pumping out the water from the tank and supply pipe.

This is when the problem started.

The central heating seems to be working ok - except:

1) The pressure is reading 4 bar
2) The hot water is freezing cold

Solution : Turn of the central heating - the pump stops, once the pressure goes down to 2.5 bar (ish) - the water gets hot.

Before I get the plumber out again - does anybody have any ideas what could be wrong? I've tried bleeding the rads but they're all fine - thought there might be air in the system.
I'm guessing it's the 3 port valve that's gone but I'm surprised seeing it was only fitted in March. Would have thought any water damage would affect the burner unit and not the valve.

Any advice appreciated.

RobH

 

[Softus]

At the time the plumber noticed my oil tank was leaking at the top and letting water in and suggested I fix it. What did I do ?? You guessed it ! Nothing

ok - forward to 2 weeks ago - boiler makes a popping sound and dies, won't restart. Get the same plumber out who tells me my oil tank is now feeding water into my boiler.

So I'm a £100 lighter - could have been worse I suppose.

Did this "plumber" do any work on the boiler?

If so, did he test it, and the heating system, and make sure that he left it in a fully functioning state?

 

[holty]

is it a heatslave by any chance for one id be worried it got past 3 bar without the prv kicking in also.

2) The hot water is freezing cold

thats a bit confusing i hope you mean the dhw is cold,when you turn a hot tap on without central heating on does the boiler fire up.

 

[robhynes]

Hi,

Thanks for the replies. No the plumber didn't do any work on the central heating system but when he fired it up after pumping out the water it *seemed* to be ok. It was only after he'd gone we noticed the problems I mentioned. I should add - he did actually pump all the water out of the tank and pipes for us.

Holty - I've noticed I'm now topping up the system - I guess this is a sign the pressure release valve is kicking in. I'm confident the rads are not leaking.

2) The hot water is freezing cold

that is confusing isn't it

The hot water *tap* is producing freezing cold water. The boiler is on (i.e. c.h. is on and hot water is on)/pump is running.
Like I said - the only way to get hot water is to turn everything off - once the pressure goes down I start to get hot water from the tank inside the boiler.

And it's a Worcester Heatslave 20/25.

Thanks

Rob Hynes