Potterton Flamingo II - help please ?

[RJH]

Approx 18 yr old Potterton Flamingo II with two 'issues' - my wife and I would be really grateful of any advice you could give on the following:

- it is situated in garage and has a 'frost thermometer' next to it. Over the last week the boiler has randomly come on during the middle of the night (when not programmed to do so). We are presuming this is due to the frost thermo 'kicking in' but we can't recall this ever happening before - any suggestions as to why this has started happening and how we can stop this 9as it is waking us up at 4am !).

- when we put the 'water only' timer on the upstairs radiators also come on. Any ideas on what may be causing this >

Is it worth investigating etc further and getting fixed or time for a new one ?

Many thanks all (& Happy New Year).

 

[swbjackson]

Check the temperature setting on the frost stat. It may have been knocked. Long term replace the frost stat with a frost stat and pipe stat so that the boiler will only switch on briefly to stop the pipes etc. freezing. With just a frost stat the boiler is trying to heat the garage to above the temperature the frost stat is set at with the heat from the pipework.

Mike

 

[gas4you]

Can we assume that you have a gravity HW system?

If so the rads upstairs will get warm due to the gravity circulation of hot water rising.

If it has never done this before there may be a check valve that has now stuck open.

 

[JohnD]

the fact that it has been unusually cold the last couple of weeks may be why it has been coming on more than usual.

I don't know how well insulated or draughty your garage is, I expect it is pretty cold. Assuming you have no radiator in there the source of heat is going to be the boiler casing itself (and any uninsulated pipes)

The Flamingo has a pilot light so I would have thought the boiler itself would be unlikely to freeze. Presumably you have the BS grade of Climaflex on all the pipework?

 

[TicklyT]

We had something similar happening a while back... A builder working on the house had stacked bags of cement in the outhouse containing the boiler in such a way the door wouldn't shut, so the frost stat worked overtime.

I seem to remember similar happening to a friend after he changed his garage door - the rotten old wooden doors were better insulation than his nice new steel door.

If the heating system is making enough noise to wake you up, then maybe it's worth looking into what is making the racket. Maybe the system is in need of a clean out. That could also lead to a bunged up check valve as above.

 

[RJH]

Check the temperature setting on the frost stat. It may have been knocked. Long term replace the frost stat with a frost stat and pipe stat so that the boiler will only switch on briefly to stop the pipes etc. freezing. With just a frost stat the boiler is trying to heat the garage to above the temperature the frost stat is set at with the heat from the pipework.

Mike

Thanks Mike - very helpful. Could you confirm where the FrostStat temp is set please ? I have taken the cover off and am presuming it is in the '12 o'clock' position ? Is it ok to set it lower than 5 degrees ?

Will look into getting a pipe stat installed.

RJH

 

[RJH]

Can we assume that you have a gravity HW system?

If so the rads upstairs will get warm due to the gravity circulation of hot water rising.

If it has never done this before there may be a check valve that has now stuck open.

Yep - gravity HW system and has been doing this constantly. Is there therefore nothing I can do ?

 

[swbjackson]

Normally at 12 O'clock. It may have gone out of calibration. See what temp it clicks on and off at and compare with the actual temp.

Mike