I am a decent 'DIYer' but my knowledge of boilers and central heating is limited! Any help on this issue would be appreciated...
My Potterton Performa 24 is always losing pressure, which suggests a leak. There is no leak upstairs or we'd know! One of the valves on the kitchen rads weeps, though not enough to make a puddle! I don't know if this would be enough to make the boiler lose pressure as much as it does (though I'm guessing the heat of the pipes would make much of the water from a weeping valve evaporate, so the leak may be worse than I think). The leak could be under the downstairs floor but this would be a nightmare to seek out (pulling up carpets, floorboards etc). The rate that the pressure goes down on the boiler appears to vary, sometimes fast, sometimes slow but I always refill it and it seems to be OK (only once did it stop working through low pressure but fired up again after refilling).
BUT...the other night, the hot water taps in the kitchen and bathroom stopped working. The kitchen cold water tap pressure was very low. (The bathroom cold tap was running ok, but this is fed from a cold water tank in the loft. We have an odd system (according to our heating engineer!), as we have a combi boiler in the kitchen and a cold water tank in the loft). I noticed the pressure was almost at 0 so I filled it to 1.5 bars. It didn't help, but the next day all was working ok. Would a faulty boiler affect the taps like this?
Next problem is, tonight the hot water taps were running cold. I checked the boiler and the burner light was not coming on. I fired up the CH and it still did not come on. The flame ignition light is NOT on, so it suggests something else is preventing it from firing up. Someone in a similar post mentioned an overheat thermostat switch. Could it be this? If so, is it inside the boiler and is it something I could do with my limited knowledge!?
Thanks in advance for any help.
My Potterton Performa 24 is always losing pressure, which suggests a leak. There is no leak upstairs or we'd know! One of the valves on the kitchen rads weeps, though not enough to make a puddle! I don't know if this would be enough to make the boiler lose pressure as much as it does (though I'm guessing the heat of the pipes would make much of the water from a weeping valve evaporate, so the leak may be worse than I think). The leak could be under the downstairs floor but this would be a nightmare to seek out (pulling up carpets, floorboards etc). The rate that the pressure goes down on the boiler appears to vary, sometimes fast, sometimes slow but I always refill it and it seems to be OK (only once did it stop working through low pressure but fired up again after refilling).
BUT...the other night, the hot water taps in the kitchen and bathroom stopped working. The kitchen cold water tap pressure was very low. (The bathroom cold tap was running ok, but this is fed from a cold water tank in the loft. We have an odd system (according to our heating engineer!), as we have a combi boiler in the kitchen and a cold water tank in the loft). I noticed the pressure was almost at 0 so I filled it to 1.5 bars. It didn't help, but the next day all was working ok. Would a faulty boiler affect the taps like this?
Next problem is, tonight the hot water taps were running cold. I checked the boiler and the burner light was not coming on. I fired up the CH and it still did not come on. The flame ignition light is NOT on, so it suggests something else is preventing it from firing up. Someone in a similar post mentioned an overheat thermostat switch. Could it be this? If so, is it inside the boiler and is it something I could do with my limited knowledge!?
Thanks in advance for any help.
