Moved house, not familiar with this heating system. How does it work, best set up?

[Dutch85]

I've been used to using combi boilers with instant hot water previously.
This house has the set up as shown in the photos + 2 tanks in the loft.

I pressed the "heating advance" button assuming this would turn on the CH. However the pipes leading in to the cylinder were getting warm also, it heated up the water. Is that usual when pressing the "heating advance" button?

All of the radiators got warm apart from the downstairs living room which was still cool at the bottom.

Does the red grundfoss pump appear to be on the correct setting? Also the grey Drayton block with W, M and H on the side- what does this do?

I noted that turning the roon thermostat dial had no impact on the boiler being on/off.

Could anyone help with the this system please? Seems a bit more to it compared to the combi set up I've been used to.

Thanks.

 

[JonathanM]

Other people will hopefully give you a proper answer in a bit. But I just wanted to flag something up which looks weird to me, as I have the same programmer. Both the red lights on the programmer are lit, but the Hot Water is showing as OFF.

The Drayton is a motorised valve which switches the flow of hot water between the radiators and the cylinder, or both together. I guess H for heating, W for water, and M for mid-position, which means the water flows to both.

Also, how many radiators do you have?

 

[JonathanM]

The valve seems to be on M, which would explain why the water is going to both radiators and cylinder. Have you tried pressing the advance button on Hot Water, to see if that turns the light off?

 

[pcaouolte]

Pressing the heating advance button should have switched the heating on if it was off, as you expected. As JonathanM has pointed out above the red LED next to Hot Water indicates that the hot water is also switched on. It does look odd, perhaps the programmer is faulty.

How long did you leave the heating on for? Perhaps the living room radiator didn't have time to heat up or perhaps it is full of sludge at the bottom.

The settings of the pump will depend on the size of your system. It might be correct as it is.

The grey Drayton box is a mid position valve. It directs the hot water to the hot water tank (W position) Heating (H position) or both (M = Middle position).

It might be worth having the boiler serviced by a Gas Safe engineer and getting them to check the system and explain the controls while they are there.

 

[JonathanM]

What happens when you put the hot water on without the heating? Have you tried that yet? The valve should go to W, and only the cylinder should get hot.

EDIT: I originally wrote H, but of course it should be W. Changed it to avoid confusion.

 

[Dutch85]

Other people will hopefully give you a proper answer in a bit. But I just wanted to flag something up which looks weird to me, as I have the same programmer. Both the red lights on the programmer are lit, but the Hot Water is showing as OFF.

The Drayton is a motorised valve which switches the flow of hot water between the radiators and the cylinder, or both together. I guess H for heating, W for water, and M for mid-position, which means the water flows to both.

Also, how many radiators do you have?

6 radiators

Pressing the heating advance button should have switched the heating on if it was off, as you expected. As JonathanM has pointed out above the red LED next to Hot Water indicates that the hot water is also switched on. It does look odd, perhaps the programmer is faulty.

How long did you leave the heating on for? Perhaps the living room radiator didn't have time to heat up or perhaps it is full of sludge at the bottom.

The settings of the pump will depend on the size of your system. It might be correct as it is.

The grey Drayton box is a mid position valve. It directs the hot water to the hot water tank (W position) Heating (H position) or both (M = Middle position).

It might be worth having the boiler serviced by a Gas Safe engineer and getting them to check the system and explain the controls while they are there.

Heating was on for 45 minutes.

What happens when you put the hot water on without the heating? Have you tried that yet? The valve should go to W, and only the cylinder should get hot.

EDIT: I originally wrote H, but of course it should be W. Changed it to avoid confusion.

I tried hot water alone and it stays in the same position.
Also tried turning the hot water off when I've turned CH on, but the light remains whatever I press.

 

[terryplumb]

Your programmer would appear to be faulty ,or there is a strange wiring issue.

 

[Dutch85]

Your programmer would appear to be faulty ,or there is a strange wiring issue.

Would that stop the the motorised valve switching position - is there anyway that can be manually moved?

 

[terryplumb]

The motorised valve has a manual override lever ( not visible in your pic) which may be latched into the open mid position. Releasing it should allow the valve to move under spring tension to the hot water port.

 

[Dutch85]

I've taken the programmer off the wall. Should that switch be in the "G" position?

 

[Old Salt]

Nice of the previous occupants/landlord to leave no instructions. Not.

 

[terryplumb]

I've taken the programmer off the wall. Should that switch be in the "G" position?
View attachment 286277

Not with fully pumped set up as you appear to have ,but goodness knows what concoction you have inherited.

 

[Dutch85]

Not with fully pumped set up as you appear to have ,but goodness knows what concoction you have inherited.

I thought as much. I changed the switch to "P" the advance water/heat red light switches come and off as they should, but it's as if there's no communication with the boiler as it doesn't fire up in "P" mode.

 

[terryplumb]

The motorised valve has a manual override lever ( not visible in your pic) which may be latched into the open mid position. Releasing it should allow the valve to move under spring tension to the hot water port.

Did you check the motorised valve isn't manually latched ?

 

[JonathanM]

I thought as much. I changed the switch to "P" the advance water/heat red light switches come and off as they should, but it's as if there's no communication with the boiler as it doesn't fire up in "P" mode.

When it's on "P":

What position is the valve in with just the water on?

Does the boiler fire up when the heating is on by itself?