Hello, really hoping someone can help me out here.
Our boiler is a Potterton Kingfisher II, which is downstairs in the kitchen. The tank & pump are upstairs in the bathroom.
It has all worked fine since we moved in about 5 months ago.
There was 1 radiator which had been turned off for a while. About 3 weeks ago, I tried to turn it on. Later that day, we started noticing the radiators weren't working.
I assumed it was because there had either been trapped air, or trapped sludge in that radiator, which had got into the system.
I hoped it was the former, so I tried to bleed all the radiators. I managed to bleed all the radiators, apart from the one next to the tank upstairs, which wouldn't bleed at all - no air or water came out. The system still wouldn't work.
I tried bleeding the pump itself - it also would not bleed (no air/water coming out).
I checked the expansion tank had water & that the ball valve worked ok.
I tried turning back off the radiator that had seemed to be the cause of all this.
No joy.
I called someone out. He said no water was getting to the pump & that there must be a blockage in the pipe between the expansion tank & the hot water tank.
He charged what seemed to be quite a lot of money to "back fill" the system as a temporary measure (it was late at night).
He gave me an even more horrendous quote to come back and:
a) clear the blockage or run new pipe as required.
b) flush system.
c) service boiler.
The next morning the heating failed to come on with the timer. He came back & backfilled it again. The heating worked the rest of that evening.
The next morning - again no heating.
He said there must be a leak somewhere - probably pre-existing - his theory being that the water from the expansion tank had been able to keep up with the leak, but now that that was blocked, that wasn't happening.
So, 2 problems - get the system working as quoted for, then find the leak.
I wasn't quite sure how much I trusted this bloke, so I tried to see if any friends could recommend anyone, which someone did.
This new bloke power-flushed the system (it was full of gunk) & unblocked the pipe from the expansion tank (by pushing water back up it).
Still the pump wouldn't bleed. The downstairs radiators bleed, but now all the upstairs radiators refuse to bleed.
When you open up the big screw on the front of the pump to bleed it, if you turn the system on, you can see the pump is whizzing round, so it doesn't seem to be that the pump itself is shagged.
Anyway, the new bloke reckons I need a new boiler, which I am definitely not buying unless there is really no alternative.
I should say that not only were there the 2 times the bloke backfilled the system & got it working temporarily, but there were also 2 times in between, when (miraculously) the 1 rad that never wanted to bleed, decided to bleed - the boiler then instantly fired, everything worked for that evening (& then nothing again the next morning).
The point being that the boiler itself definitely seems to work.
So, my question is, if we assume that the boiler works, that the system has been flushed, so there's no gunk, could it be that the problem is now down to some simple issue relating to air in the system, that I might be able to fix myself?
Can it be, if none of the upstairs radiators will bleed?
Or do I have to call the first bloke back, who did at least seem to have some idea what he was talking about, even if I wasn't sure if I really trusted him not to shaft me?
Any help would be appreciated.
Our boiler is a Potterton Kingfisher II, which is downstairs in the kitchen. The tank & pump are upstairs in the bathroom.
It has all worked fine since we moved in about 5 months ago.
There was 1 radiator which had been turned off for a while. About 3 weeks ago, I tried to turn it on. Later that day, we started noticing the radiators weren't working.
I assumed it was because there had either been trapped air, or trapped sludge in that radiator, which had got into the system.
I hoped it was the former, so I tried to bleed all the radiators. I managed to bleed all the radiators, apart from the one next to the tank upstairs, which wouldn't bleed at all - no air or water came out. The system still wouldn't work.
I tried bleeding the pump itself - it also would not bleed (no air/water coming out).
I checked the expansion tank had water & that the ball valve worked ok.
I tried turning back off the radiator that had seemed to be the cause of all this.
No joy.
I called someone out. He said no water was getting to the pump & that there must be a blockage in the pipe between the expansion tank & the hot water tank.
He charged what seemed to be quite a lot of money to "back fill" the system as a temporary measure (it was late at night).
He gave me an even more horrendous quote to come back and:
a) clear the blockage or run new pipe as required.
b) flush system.
c) service boiler.
The next morning the heating failed to come on with the timer. He came back & backfilled it again. The heating worked the rest of that evening.
The next morning - again no heating.
He said there must be a leak somewhere - probably pre-existing - his theory being that the water from the expansion tank had been able to keep up with the leak, but now that that was blocked, that wasn't happening.
So, 2 problems - get the system working as quoted for, then find the leak.
I wasn't quite sure how much I trusted this bloke, so I tried to see if any friends could recommend anyone, which someone did.
This new bloke power-flushed the system (it was full of gunk) & unblocked the pipe from the expansion tank (by pushing water back up it).
Still the pump wouldn't bleed. The downstairs radiators bleed, but now all the upstairs radiators refuse to bleed.
When you open up the big screw on the front of the pump to bleed it, if you turn the system on, you can see the pump is whizzing round, so it doesn't seem to be that the pump itself is shagged.
Anyway, the new bloke reckons I need a new boiler, which I am definitely not buying unless there is really no alternative.
I should say that not only were there the 2 times the bloke backfilled the system & got it working temporarily, but there were also 2 times in between, when (miraculously) the 1 rad that never wanted to bleed, decided to bleed - the boiler then instantly fired, everything worked for that evening (& then nothing again the next morning).
The point being that the boiler itself definitely seems to work.
So, my question is, if we assume that the boiler works, that the system has been flushed, so there's no gunk, could it be that the problem is now down to some simple issue relating to air in the system, that I might be able to fix myself?
Can it be, if none of the upstairs radiators will bleed?
Or do I have to call the first bloke back, who did at least seem to have some idea what he was talking about, even if I wasn't sure if I really trusted him not to shaft me?
Any help would be appreciated.
and the bearings were ceramic.-metal shaft 
It's his fault...! 
