Viewing 29 posts - 1 through 29 (of 29 total)
  • Heatingtrackworld! Heating wont turn off!
  • bland
    Full Member

    Starting to feel like a pig in an abattoir!

    We have a boiler and tank set up, thermostat in hall and one for tank/water upstairs in the CH cupboard.

    Recently the hall thermostat just seemed to stop having any effect and when you would usually set it to say 18 degrees and it would click on and off at that temp, well recently it started being 25 degrees plus before it was knocking off and even then I wasn’t convinced it was working.

    I presumed the thermostat had gone so replaced it like for like and still nothing other than betty swollocks!

    There is a timer next to the boiler so if I set it to come on for an hour in the morning it will come on for that hour and turn off, no real issue when cold. In an evening it would usually be left on, and when cold it would stay on being controlled by the thermostat all night. Now the radiators are heating up to warp factor 10 and it only seems to knock off for a min or two before firing up again to try reach WF 11!

    I read somewhere that it could be a pump or 3 way valve, but could do with a second opinion before i go replacing parts willy nilly!

    rwamartin
    Free Member

    Electrician rather than a plumber but if it’s got a 3 port valve that could be stuck in the open position. If you turn the stat. off you should hear (and feel) the valve shut and vice versa. If the boiler is on for hot water and the valve is stuck open it will feed the radiators even with the stat off.

    Also, did you wire the stat correctly? They’re quite complex now but if it’s 3 core you’ll have a Live, Neutral and a switched live which, if I remember correctly, should go to pin 4.

    wwaswas
    Full Member

    If the water’s circulating it’s unlikely to be the pump?

    IF the issue is when you have water and heating on at the same time then I’d go for a stuck valve. There’s normally a ‘manual override’ lever on the valve – try giving it a wiggle too and fro (with everything dwitched off)and see if that frees it up.

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    bland
    Full Member

    Stat was wired exactly the same as the one i removed so not that.

    This valve, where are we talking then, by the hot water tank?

    mrmonkfinger
    Free Member

    This valve, where are we talking then, by the hot water tank?

    You could test the theory by turning off all the hot water times from the programmer. If the rads then start working normally again, then that’s your problem.

    They’re usually by the hot water cylinder. Will have three pipes going into it and a metal box containing the widgets that make the valve move. google image search for ‘3 port valve’ will help identify it.

    Its also possible you have 2x 2 port valves instead of a single 3 port. Most likely both these would both be fitted near the cylinder again (if fitted by a sane plumber).

    trail_rat
    Free Member

    was the stat you removed exactly the same as the one you removed …. wiring might have been different ?

    iamsporticus
    Free Member

    Sounds like a valve to me as well

    Happened here last winter – suddenly the Bahamas in our house instead of usual 17 degrees

    Simple fix, geting a tame plumber is the hardest bit but you can do it yourself if brave

    Cost me £140 all in for parts, labour and diagnosis
    Allegedly mates rates but Im not sure Id use him again, still at least it was done within a morning of breaking

    Good luck

    bland
    Full Member

    Trail Rat – Identical

    Mrmonkfinger, unfortunately the heating will not run without the HW on, it has the CH on by default. You can only have the HW on seperately.

    I can turn the thermostat down to min for the CH, will that have the same effect?

    bland
    Full Member

    pump is one of these

    Will hitting it with a hammer help?

    Any idea what the 3 settings on the side do?

    geoffj
    Full Member

    The settings on the side are the speed – they shouldn’t affect things too much, but I’d leave it set as is.

    In some systems, the pump is wired from the valve, which gets its signal from the thermostat and the controller.
    If the valve is fubarred, it may be hearing the stat calling for heat continutously and telling the pump to turn on continuously too. The boiler is probably cutting out as it over heats.

    Whatever it is, as has been said before, you need a tame plumber to diagnose and fix the fault.

    Good luck.

    bland
    Full Member

    Might have to admit defeat, the pump is working, cover has been off, turned with screwdriver and put a little fairy liquid in but its turning fine. The switch i now realise is the speeds and this works.

    Currently have the thermostat on lowest setting and still rads on full tilt. I suspect its a capacitor or similar somewhere

    iamsporticus
    Free Member

    DANGER, NON QUALIFIED INTERNET FORUM MEMBER BODGE CONTENT

    OK Im not an expert but Im pretty sure youre FUBAR’d without the valve working
    If you are utterly desperate then the vale will look like this, if youre lucky it may have a metal override slidey thing on it

    Google is your friend
    Track it down and mess with the slider and see if you can get it working

    I take no responsibility of course

    The above may be best done after a few beers tonight when the missus is oblivious 🙂

    But mostly you need a plumber

    bland
    Full Member

    ok danger fans!

    I have one of these

    The lever part is plastic and it doesnt appear to want to move in any direction, i have even tried sideways movement as teh one above suggests you have to slide it over then accross.

    Does this suggest we have a knackered actuator valve that wont close so letting all the hot water through to the rads?

    If so, are they easy to replace, im presuming its just a bolt on off thing and rewire it in?

    iamsporticus
    Free Member

    As far as I could tell whilst making him endless tea rocket science it ain’t

    The biggie is do you feel lucky?

    You will need to drain down the system first so may as well work out where to do this anyway as it’s the first thing a professional will do before starting work

    Then the issue is Wickes and some brave pills or yellow pages 🙂

    Good luck

    Thread bookmarked

    mrmonkfinger
    Free Member

    Does this suggest we have a knackered actuator valve that wont close so letting all the hot water through to the rads?

    sort of sounds like it

    If so, are they easy to replace, im presuming its just a bolt on off thing and rewire it in?

    Pretty much. Don’t forget to empty the CH first… and then don’t forget the inhibitor when you refill.

    Best get an identical replacement for easy rewiring, there are a few variations of the valves.

    Or, get a plumber…

    bland
    Full Member

    Actuator removed!

    The metal valve that teh actuator operates only turns about 1/12th of a turn either way, is this normal? I would have thought a quarter turn would have been required at least to turn off heating?

    bland
    Full Member

    im not defeated yet, plumber can wait for the minute

    And draining the system, is this to replace the actual valve i presume? So i take it were thinking this is the cream crackered part, not the actuator as it wont move more than a useless amount!

    iamsporticus
    Free Member

    Good work Bland

    Is it tea break time yet?

    Fingers crossed

    EDIT:yes, drain system to enable dry swap of valve. Don’t forget to refill and bleed rads when job done

    bland
    Full Member

    Time for a rolly!

    Sat here frikking sweating like a geordie in a job centre here as i have had the damn thing on while banging about and climbing into the heating cupboard.

    So what do you want me to hit, disassemble next!

    iamsporticus
    Free Member

    If you’re really going for it get yourself down to screwfix, wickes or your local plumbers merchant to get an exact replacement plus some thread sealant to help keep it water tight when you reassemble.

    And to repeat I’m not a plumber or even remotely qualified to advise you 🙂

    bland
    Full Member

    Googles drain central heating system!

    Moral question for you!

    Hopefully the house will be sold in less than a week. We were meant to complete this Friday but a small issue of finding out on Friday just gone that the place were buying was underpinned 20 yrs back put a dampener on that.

    Anyway, underpinning or such can wait for another how to thread.

    The question is, am i an ass hole for just putting it back together, wetting the CH to come on for no more than an hour and just pretending i know nothing? Its forecast mild this week and im praying we complete by next Monday

    TP
    Free Member

    I know nothing about heating etc but…

    …Mine did this the other day and couldn’t seem to stop it. A bit of detective work and I figured it was the electric valve on the heating as the water side was fine. Switched boiler off (flame) and turned of electrical power to the system. Opened the cover to the valve and checked all wiring and checked that the valve was able to move. Everything appeared to be in order so other than a poke and a prod no fix effected. Put cover backed on, electrics back on and fired up the boiler and its all been working well since. Only time will tell if this is a permanent fix but its done a week so far. Assume it was a loose connection or such.

    I’m sure I’ve broken some rule or another but i figured that there wasn’t too much damage I could do having a look.

    bland
    Full Member

    What you didn’t drain your system!

    How am i going to explain to the wife we have a water feature in the lounge for nothing!

    mrmonkfinger
    Free Member

    If you’ve got more braveness than sanity, leave the heating system to cool down, and then use a few freeze packs on the pipes leading to the valve, then just unbolt, swap, and you’re ready to go.

    BTW, please post video of yourself doing this, if you choose this route.

    PS I have once watched a plumber cut into a boiler feed pipe when the valves to cut the system off were not in evidence (or even in the flat the boiler was in) using this method, lets just say it became quite messy after the plug gave way half way through sawing into the pipe. Give him his due, he did carry on sawing until he could get a valve on the pipe despite having radiator fluid pissing out into his face.

    bland
    Full Member

    Immoral route seems all the more appealing!

    molgrips
    Free Member

    We had that with hot water. Wouldn’t stop, kept getting hotter. New controller sorted it.

    We also have motorised valves. The actuator is magnetic and clips on, but you can also turn a little wheel to open and close it manually. And unplug it too sk you can diagnose.

    divenwob
    Free Member

    Clue 1, the spindle only turns 15 Degrees by design.

    coolhandluke
    Free Member

    Heatingtrackworld! Heating wont turn off!

    Can’t see this being a problem until April myself…

    bland
    Full Member

    ITS FIXED!

    Not really certain how but I took the actuator off and had a play with the valve and it did appear to make a difference through the small rotation. Then managed to somehow release the button/lever on the actuator and this moved it so I left it in a new position, then whacked the valve loads with some pliers and hey go, rads go off and thermostat seems to be working as it was!

    So moral of the story is bigger hammer!

Viewing 29 posts - 1 through 29 (of 29 total)

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