Potterton Netaheat

[pixey]

Hi all.
I wonder can anyone help me? My central heating system is gravity fed hot water with pumped heating.
I would like to change this to fully pumped but have a slight problem.
The boiler is a Potterton Neteheat and has two "flows" and two "returns". The way it is plumbed in at the moment one flow/return is used for the gravity fed hot water and the other flow/return is used for the pumped heating.
The easiest way for me to change this is for me to blank off one flow/return using the other for pumped hot water/heating with the help of a three way valve.
My question is this: is it ok on this type of boiler to blank off one flow/return?
I assume that within the bioler there is one area where the water is heated and it is then split with two inlets and two outlets. If this is the case I would think it should be ok, but I am hoping someone can confirm this for me.

Thanks in advance.

pixey

 

[pixey]

Can anyone help / advise me on the above??

pixey

 

[Gees]

be patient .. help will arrive

 

[breezer]

..........meanwhile in a cave near Gotham City..................

We all try to help out when we can, but like most, familys / work commitments must come first, and you do not always get a reply within minutes, sometimes it can be days, but as Gees says "be patient .. help will arrive"

 

[ChrisR]

Though you can do the sort of thing you are thinking about , there's more to it than what you describe. Do the obvious and you're building a bomb! ie the vent probably comes off the top of the HW primary at present - it can't stay there.

There are lots of options but too many to cover here - get a plumber/exp heating bod to advise - pay him £50 for his time! EG one solution can be to put a pipe stat on the rising HW primary, and a new pump in the hw return (turned on by pipe stat plus cylinder stat). Cheap and simple in principle but you need exactly the right bits, and to check you don't suck air in, etc etc.

 

[pixey]

Thanks for your advise, but as I am sure you understand, finding a plumber /heating expert that won't rip you off isn't easy.
If the boiler had only one flow/return I don't think I would have a problem, but I cannot find any diagrams that show a fully pumped system using a boiler that has more than one flow/return.
Maybe someone here knows where I can find one??

pixey

 

[ChrisR]

Look mate, you're getting free impartial advice from a corgi reg heating engineer who is not ripping you off, right now. You obviously don't know enough to do the job yourself if you think its just a question of how you connect the pipes at the boiler.

There IS no single way of doing it, it depends on several factors. It's too easy to do something which would work but would be wrong or dangerous. Get a pro to look at it.

 

[pixey]

"Look mate, you're getting free impartial advice from a corgi reg heating engineer who is not ripping you off, right now. You obviously don't know enough to do the job yourself if you think its just a question of how you connect the pipes at the boiler.

There IS no single way of doing it, it depends on several factors. It's too easy to do something which would work but would be wrong or dangerous. Get a pro to look at it."


With all due respect chris, the only advice I have had so far is get someone in to look at it for you. I thought the idea of these forums was to share info and help each other out, where possable.
Admittedly I don't know much about the specifics of any particular boiler but I don't have any problem with how a central heating system works.
I am only after ideas, safe ideas, about ways of doing this job. Getting someone in to look at is not really an option for me right now, but some usefull information may be of some use!!

pixey

 

[Gees]

Pixey. Chrisr knows what he is talking about. You asked for advice and on this occasion he suggests a pro. If he thought he could have advised you otherwise he would have done so. We all do our best on here we cant all be experts at everthing...

 

[ChrisR]

Thanks Gees
Pixey - it' s too much to go through on a forum like this.

"I don't have any problem with how a central heating system works. "
Yes you do, or you wouldn't be asking - and you are right to be wary.

The best way to change what you've got depends on what you've got - you wouldn't want to rip it out and start again. If you had the nous to call Potterton for the Installation and Maintenance Instructions - which you should have anyway, you'd have the standard layouts...

I thought I knew what I was doing when I put my own heating in 20 odd years ago. I got things wrong though, that a plumber would have pointed out in minutes. An hour's "labour" would have been a good investment.

 

[pixey]

chrisr, if you are such an expert why can't you answer a reasonably straight forward question. I fully understand how a fully pumped central heating system works, it is the dual flow/returns that are causing me a problem, as I have written earlier in this thread.
Maybe someone with a bit more nous, to use your words, will be able to answer this better.
Also I do have the installation booklet but it does not show all the options for installation.
I know my pump must be moved and that I need a 3 port valve and air seperator.
If you can't help, fine, but calling someone in, as I have said before, is not an option at the moment.

pixey

 

[corgiman]

I would have to agree with chris there this is a way too compilcated question to answer safely in a forum such as this Pixey

You are asking to much as one mistake will, as chris has rightly said, make your system a bomb.

I am a corgi register central heating engineer of some 15yrs experiance and if you were to call me and ask me about the whys and where fores of a job like this i would want to see it first.

So contact CORGI see what engineers offer FREE estimates in your area... who knows but you may be very very very surprised.

PS from reading some of CHRISR previous post the man knows his business so no need to give out to him, show some respect as he has helped numerous people on this forum and given them top advice

 

[masona]

I have to agreed with ChrisR,Corgiman & Gees on this issue.

Pixey,what you have to understand is,on this forum you can write how you see it your way & we could read it differently.It can be very difficult getting the messages across.One slip up can be dangerous.I try and help as much as I can,then I have to say not everyone can do what I do.I give you an example,if you look at one of the post written by Colclarke in the Project Section or see this ,he want to put a catnic lintel into a brickwall to open up the wall.I know the answer to this but will not tell him how to do it as it can go horribly wrong,the whole side of the house can collapse.I would have to see it first.Safety must come first.I have a City & Guilds in Carpentry,Bricklaying and part 1 in plumbing which I never completed ( I was told to get out of plumbing and was also told by a women who will never marry a plumber ) And I'm still learning,I don't know it all

Please don't think we're being awkward and I do feel guilty sometime when I won't give advice specially when I can.We have to draw the line somewhere,after all we didn't do our apprenticeship for nothing

There is a lot a free advice here but not for everyone.........

 

[pixey]

Masona, I fully understand what you are saying and respect that.
Corgiman, I appreciate what you are saying, but respect is mutual, I would not "give out" to chrisr, or anyone else unless I felt that I was being "spoken" to in a manner that wasn't deserved.

pixey

 

[ChrisR]

" if you are such an expert why can't you answer a reasonably straight forward question."
Because you might blow your boiler up you stupid incompetent person. Unfortunately it might not be you standing by it at the time. I and most others in the biz have seen such results, from arrogant ignorant people dabbling in things they thought they understood.

"Also I do have the installation booklet but it does not show all the options for installation. "
That implies knowledge of other options - which you do not have!

The Installation and Maintenance Instructions give all the inadequate information you are asking for. I have all the 6 different versions and have checked. I told you that already but I suppose you didn't want to read that either.

You will probably come back with some silly reply buy I shall not waste further time on you. I do not suffer fools gladly.