No hot water?!

[fenny666]

Hey all.advice needed please.apologies in advance as i know nothing about central heating systems but i will try and give as much info as i can.

i have no hot water at all. i have a hw cylinder type system with a baxi boiler.

when i switch on the water with the central heating switched off, the boiler fires up but it heats up all the radiators in the house but not the water???

of the two pipes coming from the cylinder the lower pipe is very hot and the pipe slightly further up is much much cooler.

probably worth mentioning i had to change a tap washer so had to drain the hot and cold water. i did this by turning off the main stop cock and opening up all the taps.although i cant say whether the hot water worked before this as we haven't used it for ages as we always have a shower.

any help greatly appreciated.

 

[bengasman]

Do you have a diverter or zone valves?

 

[fenny666]

thanks for reply.i have no idea.how do i tell the difference?

 

[picasso]

two of these

honeywell 2 port

• picasso
• 18 Oct 2010
• 31

or one of these

honeywell 3 port

• picasso
• 18 Oct 2010
• 26

should be near the hot water cylinder.

 

[fenny666]

i have just one of those.

 

[fenny666]

is that good or bad?

 

[twgas]

There should be a lever on the end of the valve, is it loose or does it move only under pressure?
If it's loose, isolate the power to the heating system and try it again, then let us know.

 

[fenny666]

thanks for reply.just to make sure im checking the right thing, is it the actuator.if so its a drayton MA1 by the way.

the lever wobbles a little in its position(does that make sense?) but won't budge when i try moving it down.also the button on top moves freely.

 

[Hugh Jaleak]

If you can, lever needs to be moved to 'MAN' (manual) position. This will 'lock' the valve open, and get you some hot water as a temporary measure. You need to either repair or replace the valve for a long term solution.

 

[fenny666]

thanks to everyone who helped me with this post.You were right about the actuator.

i actually broke it trying to force it into the manual position so i figured how to take it off and turned the valve by hand.it worked!

i now this is a temporary solution and i am now after a new one.

looking on the internet some people are of the opinion the ma1 is prone to failing. Can anyone recommend a better one please.
ideally one with identical wiring etc so i can do a straight swap.

thanks again

 

[Hugh Jaleak]

If you haven't already sorted it, I've used these guys http://www.heatingcontrolsonline.co.uk/index.php before without any hassles. IMO you get what you pay for, so go for a Honeywell. I think it should be a straight swap, but check before purchase to make sure please!