Problems with the hot water.

[judderi]

Hi.

Ive just moved into a new property and nearly everything went to plan. However there are problems with the central heating. The system is a Thorn Olympic gas boiler with hot water cylinder and header tank upstairs.

The radiators come on and work a treat. However the hot water is not so good. We get some hot, which isnt that hot really and it runns out really quickly. i.e i can only fill 1/4 of a bath with warm water (not even enough to lie in).

Last night i switched the boiler onto water only. It fired up and started to heat the water. Within 5 mins you could hear water bubbling, so i ran upstairs to the cylinder and header tank. There was lots of bubbling and noise then boiled water rose up from the cylinder and into the overflow on the header tank. The boiler then shut off. So i thought great its heated it to boiling point. Thats when i ran the bath and only got a small amount of hot.

When we moved in the water had been switched off at the mains. Have i maybe just got an air lock in my hot water cylinder? If so i could connect the washing machine cold feed to the hot feed and push the water and air through until it starts to fill my header tank? Am i heading in the right direction?

Please help.

Thanks

Ben

 

[Agile]

My first check would be the motor valve associated with the hot water.

I am not sure from what you have said so far if you have the necessary skills to know if its working though.

Depending on how important it is then it might be quicker to get someone in.

Tony

 

[judderi]

Ive already had 1 guy out who didnt even check anything then said i needed a whole new boiler. I didnt trust him so have arranged for somebody else to visit today. I will report back my findings.

 

[jobloggs]

Can you locate the motorised valves 3 port or 2 No. two port on your system.
(if not familiar with these search for pics on web) These have sliding levers that allow them to be set manually to open. Do this for the one controlling HW run system and see what happens.

Also check position and operation of the stat on the HW cylinder. Should be i/3 way up cylinder and set at 60C.

 

[judderi]

Thanks Joe.

Another guy came out yesterday. He cleaned out the boiler and said it should be ok now. But to be honest i think its just the same. We do get hot water but not much and id like it hotter. Plus it takes about 3 or 4 hours for it to heat up again once used.

The water cylinder does not have a thermostat attached, neither does it have an imersion heater. Im not spanner shy so might whip the boiler cover off and have a look for this valve you speak of.

Cheers

 

[kevplumb]

the valve (if you have one ) is not in the boiler

sounds more like lack of water or blocked cold feed

 

[Gasguru]

Be careful with this boiler - it has been recalled in the past.

Check you've had both enhancement kits fitted to turn the boiler into a negative pressure fan flue - it should have a label on the combustion cover indicating so.

 

[judderi]

Yeah i noticed that when i did an internet search. Scary stuff! Got a call from the boiler people today. They are re-visiting to add a chemical de-scaler to the system as its making a kettling noise.