Oil boiler heating water but not central heating

[l55lee]

Folks

I could really, really do with some help please....

I have an Ecoflam Minor 1 Eurocal 50/70 S that I've had problems with over the past few months; it started with the boiler locking out after a couple of hours or so after which I would press the "red button" and the boiler would then kick back in.

Our local plumber has gone everything that he can think of; he's serviced it; ensured that it's not running too rich; we've tried an alternative controller (both on the boiler and the programmer) and replaced the filter on the oil tank. I may have missed something but I think that's probably everything that has been tried.

Well, the CH stopped working altogether on Christmas Day, ho ho ho, but we do still have HW. The HW locks out after roughly half an hour, so that's probably on its way out too.

Any ideas/thoughts please?

Cheers
Lee

 

[Kev F]

sounds like a circulation problem, have you got motorised valves, if the boiler lights for an hour and heats the hot water i dont think the boiler is an issue

 

[Hugh Jaleak]

Got to second that, if the boiler is producing heat, and its not getting round the system. Pump, motorised valves etc need looking at. If its an older system sludge may be an issue too.

 

[slapper]

If the boiler locks out,then you have a burner problem,could be solenoid coil or transformer.If youve got no heating but hot water then its a Plumbing problem. I would suggest you find out where you motorised valve/s are and place them in a manuel mode ie move lever on side to manuel and lock it off.

 

[l55lee]

Thanks gents that's really helpful.

Cheers
Lee

 

[l55lee]

Folks

Having followed your advice this afternoon I started to go through a process of elimination. I've uploaded an image of the pump and the pipes leading to and from it; you'll see that I've added a number of arrows to it.

• Green = direction of water flow (this is probably obvious)
• Red = hot pipe
• Blue = cold pipe

The red and blue arrows indicate the temperature of the pipes with the HW and/or CH switched on. Is it a fairly safe bet that the problem lies with the pump?

Thanks for your help!

Cheers
Lee

 

[Boilerman2]

Thats quite an old Euramo Gold pump any 130mm Pump will slot in I would go for a Grundfos UPS 15/50.

 

[l55lee]

Thanks boilerman2. Which 15-50 from the attached page is the correct one? Before you ask, yes I am a complete novice

http://www.screwfix.com/search.do?f...n_GB/$s=pump/brand=grundfos&fh_eds=ß&ts=94213

Cheers
Lee

 

[simond]

This is the one you want

http://www.screwfix.com/prods/50183...ps/Grundfos-UPS15-50-5-metre-Circulating-Pump

Looking at the state of your isolation valves it may be prudent to pick up a pair of these too

http://www.screwfix.com/prods/74843/Plumbing/Brassware/Gate-Pump-Valve-22mm

 

[l55lee]

Fantastic, thanks Simon!

Cheers
Lee

 

[l55lee]

Folks

I swapped the pump over yesterday and it's still locking out after a couple of hours but I'm not sure whether it's for a different reason now. After a fair amount of intermittent bleeding the radiators upstairs are working but the ones downstairs are not. Does the size of the house impact on the choice of pump? I have a fairly large three bedroom house with 10 radiators.

Every now and then I can hear gurgling throughout the system. Any thoughts on what can be done to resolve this please?

BTW I've started to motorise valve but haven't had any joy in finding it yet...

Your help is really appreciated.

Cheers
Lee

 

[Hugh Jaleak]

System could still have a fair chunk of air in it. Motorised valves need to be opened manually when filling the system, if you cant find them then that could be part of the problem... I'd try shutting off all the rads bar one, let the boiler and pump whack its full effort into one rad. If this get hot, open another, closing this rad afterwards. Work your way round, one at a time and see what happens. This should force any air either into the rad or out the system. (Rads should be bled of air with the pump/boiler off!)

15/50 should be ample for the job. Motorised valve(s) usually near HW cylinder, where the flow splits from the boiler to heat cylinder and/or rads. Try CH with HW off, assuming motorised valves are working as they should, then the water will take easiest path through the cylinder if the HW valve is open.

 

[l55lee]

Thanks Hugh Jaleak; having followed your advice the radiators are all now hot. Could it be that, having replaced the pump, the boiler was locking out because of the air in the system or is the lockout completely unrelated?

I'll continue my hunt for the motorise valve in the morning....

Cheers
Lee

 

[l55lee]

I've looked everywhere that I possibly can between the boiler and the HW cylinder, including around the water tank that feeds the CH and the boiler house itself. Is it possible that I do not have a motorised valve? If I don't what are the ramifications? I believe that the heating system was fitted around 13 years ago if that helps at all....

Cheers
Lee

 

[Terrywookfit]

If you have 4 pipes coming from the boiler then you probably do not have a m/v.
The non return valve would indicate that the primaries are gravity.
It could be stuck or blocked with cr@@p.

The burner locking out is totally unrelated to any circulation problem.