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heating problem

  • 11-03-2013 2:47pm
    #1
    Curry Addict
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,274 ✭✭✭


    I have a gas fired volkera mynute 14se central heating system about 12 years old.
    since i got the attic done and a rad installed there i have been having problems. mainly the boiler is cutting out due to low pressure but only during very cold spells. note the pressure gauge in the boiler doesnt seem to work.
    one side of the rad in the attic is T'd into the mains water line via a linear adjustable ball type valve.
    I used to solve the low pressure problem by simply opening the mains ball valve a tad and i could feel the pressure in the line to the rad boosting the pressure. The heating would then work grand and i would turn this valve off a few days later and it would continue to run fine until the next really cold spell.
    2 days ago again i got the low pressure boiler cutting out problem. I go up to the attic to open the ball valve a little. I open it but there is no pressure there and the low pressure problem persists, i left it open a bit but now 2 days later there is no change.
    Im thinking that maybe the mains line is frozen somewhere in the attic and therefore there is no pressure. is this a credible diagnosis or could there be something else at play? what is the proper way to increase the pressure?

    It was never an ideal solution to open the mains to pressurise the heating system anyway so I checked out the tanks in the attic. the tank for the heating system has 3 lines going into it, 1 from the other and 2 other lines. the two other lines have a tap valve on them and the taps are both closed. I would have thought one of them should be open?

    any thoughts on whats going on and how to fix it appreciated....


Comments

  • #2
    Irish Steve
    Moderators, Motoring & Transport Moderators Posts: 6,522 Mod ✭✭✭✭Irish Steve


    Curry Addict wrote: »

    any thoughts on whats going on and how to fix it appreciated....

    What's going on is highly confused, and from the description you've given, it sounds like the header tank has been taken out of the system by putting valves in to cut it off, and it's now a pressurised system, with possibly incomplete and or inappropriate pressurisation system controls, and possibly a leak somewhere which is causing it to lose pressure.

    I would STRONGLY recommend that you need to get a qualified plumber who is also a RGI to look at this as a matter of urgency, to determine what really is going on with the system, and to make sure that it is safe, and not putting you at risk from several different directions. The faulty pressure indicator on the boiler is not helping, so that also needs to be looked at, it's there for a reason.

    Without seeing the layout, I suspect that the heating header tank is on the attic floor, so below the level of the radiator in the attic, so it is never going to be able to fill the radiator in the attic area, so on the basis of the description you've provided, a quick and dirty conversion has been partially done, and is now confusing the issue completely.

    Opening the valves on the header tank will not help, and if the system is hot and pressurised, you may run the risk of hot pressurised water going where you don't want it to, so leave well alone until a professional has looked at it.

    Shore, if it was easy, everybody would be doin it.😁



  • #3
    Curry Addict
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,274 ✭✭✭Curry Addict


    thanks for your input steve it all makes sense.
    today the temperature outside rose a little outside and now its working fine again. im reluctant to get someone in who will just tell me my system is just badly done. Im wondering how it should have been done so at least ill know what needs to be done to make it work properly rather than someone doing another botch job on it.


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