radiator fell down central heating has stopped

[johnkay]

A radiator came away from the wall(plaster board),it had been in place fixed for 20 years. A small leak from both in/out pipes occured. I cut the in/out pipes(micro-bore) and just sealed them by flattening & folding them to stop the leaks.

But now my cental heating is not working. I have a tank system with an Ideal minimiser gas boiler approx 10 years old. I tried to make the c/heating come on and the boiler fired up but shut down after 3 secs. The same happens if hot water is switched on, the boiler switches off after 3 secs. The pipe out of the boiler going to the pump gets hot half way to the pump. The pump carries on working and seems ok.

I went into the loft & found the header tank only half full, the ballcock had become jammed with some string which i released & the tank filled up to normal. But now the boiler will not turn on as if a fuse was blown. The electical spur to it is lit, but I am not sure if there is an internal fuse.

So I think the rad falling down & c/h not working are just coincidence?
I think the head tank not filling might be the reason for the boiler turning off after 3 secs?
Now I think some fuse might be blown?

Any help would be much appreciated.

 

[JohnD]

I am postulating that you have lost some water from the system and the boiler is overheating, and an overheat sensor is shutting it down. Drain a jug of water from the system and see if an equivalent amount flows out of the feed and expansion tank to top it up. If not you probably have a blockage.

It is very common that the supply pipe gets blocked by corrosion sediment, and you don't become aware of it until you lose some water from the system (most often by takling off a radiator e.g. for decorating, and finding that the system doesn't refill when you put it back.

If there is a blockage, it's most often where the 15mm pipe from the feed and expansion tank joins up with the bigger circulating pipe, near the cylinder or pump or boiler. If so, you will have to take the joint off to clear it, either by undoing the joints or cutting.

 

[johnkay]

I think there is no blockage but it was shortage of water in the header tank. now I have cleared that but now the boiler has gone dead. i switch on the programmer for either c/h or h/w and the electricity spur light comes on and i rotate the thermostat on the boiler to max but the boiler does not ignite at all. It appears like a fuse blown, any idea if the boiler has internal fuse? before i was able to get to fire up several times.

 

[Ed Sirett]

It's possible that the pump ran dry and is now dead.
Then the boiler over heated and has locked out
I'm not familiar with this model but look around and under to if there is a reset button.
might be tucked away underneath.

 

[johnkay]

It does seem like the boiler has locked out, but I cannot see any reset button, could it be that i need to take the cover off?

 

[johnkay]

Found the reset button on the boiler, and central heating now working, so it seems that the header tank was low on water especially after rad falling down and leaking some water.
thanks everyone for their help, especially Ed Sirett for pointing out about the reset.