Potterton 60e - flame stops

[jtheobald]

Apologies if this question has been asked a thousand times but I am about to lose all my hair. I have a Potterton 60e boiler serving 6 radiators, 4 upstairs, 2 downstairs. At the weekend I emptied one of the downstairs rads as it wasnt getting hot and I suspected sludge. Since then I have had nothing but problems.

First the pump starting making a whinning noise, I therefore replaced it.
Now the flame on the bolier comes on for about 5 mins and then stops. I have tried all the rads and none appear to have air. There is hot water in the pipe between the pump and the boiler but only one radiator, which I think must be the nearest to the pump gets warm. The rest are cold. The flame ignitor also gets stuck on the Boiler is this a safety feature as it eventually releases?

Help would be much appreciated as it's getting cold!

 

[adlplumbing]

think your pump gone as boiler cycling but can`t be sure with out looking

 

[StarTech70]

or your cold feeds blocked ??

 

[jtheobald]

Thanks for the replies. As I said I fitted a brand new pump yesterday. I have drained the systems and refilled it a number of time. If the water supply was blocked would I be able to refill the system? Could it be partially blocked?

Thanks

 

[Ronald0]

If you get a strong head pressure of water out of all rads and the HW circuit upstand bleed one would assume that the sytem is full and not blocked.

Turn pump up to full speed: have you bled it?

Boiler overheat stat may be shutting down main burner if there is not adequate circulation.

Piezo igniter not switching off after pilot has established is electrode, position of electrode in pilot flame, continuity of wiring to PCB or maybe PCB itself.

 

[jtheobald]

I used Sentinel X800 and this appeared to clear some of the blockage. The central heating now works but the radiator the furthest away from the boiler doesnt get hot. I have tried to bleed it and turn off the rest of the radiators but nothing happened.

There are four rads upstair all get hot. Two are new rads, two are fairly old, 20 years +. There are two rads downstairs both of which are old. As I said one rad wont get hot the other is cold at the bottom and not efficient.

I have already done quite a lot of research on the Web but my question is; will it make sense to replace the four old rads for news ones or should I flush out the entire complete system? I am proficient in DIY plumbing and know I can hire a flusher from TravisPerkins but just wondering whether its worth it if I replace the majority of the radiators.

The feed tank is metal and has quite alot of dirty and mould in it so I was also looking to replace the tank for a new plastic version.

 

[Ronald0]

If you are handy with bucket and spanner, loosen valve connection to downstairs radiators to check flow on flow side and then return side.

Then close valves, drain radiator, remove it and hose it through in garden.

Slop out and clean F and E tank, add sludge remover, drain after suitable time elapsed, add inhibitor.

 

[jtheobald]

Thanks Ronald0.

I took the feed end value off and so much crap came out. The water was black but I also notices clumps of mould. On refitting the radiator and bleeding it the radiator initially warmed up as did the feed pipe but has now gone cold again! Any idea why?

John.

 

[Ronald0]

When that rad gets cold (assuming boiler and pump are still running) is feed pipe also cold?

Any krud will form a pyramid at the bottom of the rad and thus be cooler in that area and be hot at the top (unless it requires bleeding).

Is the lockshield end of that rad open?