Three way valve replacement - does system have to b drained?

[mehale2001]

Hi,

This is my first post so thanks for your patience.

I am having a problem with my heating. It seems that only when HW was requested did the boiler fire up. When it was on heating nothing happened. I spoke to a plumber who is coming round to service the boiler and he said it sounded like my three way valve needed replacing (quote so far is £90 for Honeywell valve plus 2 hours to drain the system i.e. at least £200 job).

I was just wondering if there is an easy way to determine if it's the motor or the entire valve that needs replacing.

I am making the assumption that replacing the motor is a small job and replacing the whole valve means the system has to be drained (is thi correct?).

I tapped the Masterswitch valve and it seems to finally churn round to the heating position and this morning everything kicked in fine but don't want to be stuck at Christmas with 12 guests and no heating.

Boiler is a glowworm and the valve is a Masterswitch.

Thanks for your help.

 

[nickso]

if it does need replacing he could bung the system if its open vented. many are too scared to do it though.

might just need a bit of fettling to get it working.

 

[bengasman]

Are you sure the valve brand is masterswitch?