pleeeeeeeese help - no hot water - im starting to pong !

[preston2005]

hi , i have always used my emmersion heater for my hot water but it has packed up - possibly the heater or thermostat .... ?
so , i tried to get hot water via my boiler - all working fine , rads nice and hot etc .... i slide the switch to constant hot water but all i got washot rads ? could it be a simple thing imdoing wrong or could i need something repaired or replaced ? any ideas on possible causes ?

any help would be great , as i seriously need a nice hot bath !

many thanks

 

[Slugbabydotcom]

Could be a faulty diverter valve but it would help more if you read THIS

 

[preston2005]

ok cheers , boiler is a baxi bermuda 552 . ( back boiler )
when i slide the switch accross to cont hot water it just does exactly the same as when i turn the heating on - just heats the rads.
the pump feels hot _ not sure if its normal or not ?
the pipes are hot above the pump and below it . all the pipes feel hot except when they reach the emmersion heater ?

also im not sure if this is relevent but i noticed that on very cold nights , there is steam coming from the chimmny and also another place on the roof ? that is when just the heating is on .

sorry if im not very clear but im usless when it comes to plumbing ..... just ask any thing you may need to know and ill try to explain

many thanks

 

[gas4you]

Follow Slugs advice, or better still call in a heating engineer asap.

Slug, howd you get on at Ravenheat?

 

[preston2005]

there is a small box with a swich - auto / manual - this is set on manual, and has a turnable screw at the end of the pipe , which is hot , there is another pipe coming of of it which goes to the pump , and the emmersion tank . these all feel hot except when it reaches a gate valve near the emmersion tank .

this is the first time ive ever tried to have hot water via the boiler so nothing has been tampered with - by me anyway .

 

[gas4you]

Have you tried the gate valve to check it is open?

 

[preston2005]

yep ive opened them , but no difference . could they be broken inside ?

 

[preston2005]

all pipes are hot untill they reach the emmersion heater. the lowest pipe going into the emmersion heater is hot untill it reaches the gate valve even tho it is fully open .

 

[Slugbabydotcom]

Have you tried the gate valve to check it is open?

Heres what I can figure out from what you gave said so far.

Water comes up from boiler through the pump and splits two ways
1st way = heating which is hot
2nd way is HW primary flow to the cylinder which is also hot up to the cylinder

Below the HW primary flow connection to the cylinder is the Return pipe.

On this return pipe there is a gatevalve which is turned fully anti clockwise.

Theres usually about 4 turns between open and closed. Do you still believe that this valve is fully open?

could they be broken inside ?

Yes this does happen and if it hasn't been open for a while the 'gate' is more likely to snap off inside the pipe.

As you seem to be saying that the pipe is hot up to the cylinder then the water only needs to flow through the internal coil to heat up your cylinder.

Slug, howd you get on at Ravenheat?

Ravenheat course was great thanks. Second time round for me. Been invited back next year as well for the Low NOx course which I need to brush up on.

 

[preston2005]

hi , thanks for the advice , its a bit beyond me , so ill have to get a proffesional in to help BUT ............................. in the mean time , i will have to get my emmersion heter to work for the time being ..........so any help and advice would be great .....

ok , firstly when i plugged the heater in , i could hear the tank trying to heat up - but not as loudly as usual and i would only get a bit of warm water before it went cold so i have bought a new heater and thermostat.
i tryed the new thermostat first but is no different so that must surly mean its the heater .

being a complete begginer i would really appretiate any help regarding the best and easiest way to fit the new heater .

is it as simple as just turning off the gatevalve for the water tank in the loft , then draing the water from the tank via the valve at the bottom of the tank .
ihave the spanner for the heater but have been told these are very rarley ever easy to undo without causing damage ?