Heating not working upstairs

harry1

Hi,

I have zonal heating (oil fired) in a 2 story house, controlled by a terminal in the kitchen. I.e. Upstairs and downstairs can be switched on independently. There are also thermostats in the hall (downstairs) and on the landling.

If I switch on the downstairs heating, everything is fine, boiler fires up and the rads heat up.

But if I switch on the upstairs heating, nothing happens. The boiler doesn't even fire up. I turned the stat upstairs right down, but this makes no difference.

Could there be something simple wrong here that I could try myself? Or do I just need to get an expert in. Any help appreciated, winter is coming!

Thanks

Carlow52

harry1 wrote: »

Hi,

I have zonal heating (oil fired) in a 2 story house, controlled by a terminal in the kitchen. I.e. Upstairs and downstairs can be switched on independently. There are also thermostats in the hall (downstairs) and on the landling.

If I switch on the downstairs heating, everything is fine, boiler fires up and the rads heat up.

But if I switch on the upstairs heating, nothing happens. The boiler doesn't even fire up. I turned the stat upstairs right down, but this makes no difference.

Could there be something simple wrong here that I could try myself? Or do I just need to get an expert in. Any help appreciated, winter is coming!

Thanks

I turned the stat upstairs right down:

do you mean up?

IMO the problem is the stat based on what you say so can you safely by bypass it to see it that works

harry1

Hi,

Firstly thanks for the reply!

And yes, I meant up. I turned the stat right up, so I expect the boiler to fire up.

ART6

If you turn the stat right down to cold and then turn it up again slowly and listen carefully you should hear a click as it passes by the temperature in its area. No click means faulty stat.

youtheman

If, as suggested, you turn the landing thermostat up and down then you should hear it 'click' (this click will indicate the actual temperature on the landing). So do this first.

Then repeat the exercise and see if the zone valve for upstairs opens and closes in response to the thermostat.

Hard to know how your system is wired, but in mine the controller sends out 22O volts, through the thermostat (which could be open or closed, depending on the set point and the temperature) and onto the actuator of the zone valve. So all it does is open and close the valve. There is a separate wire on the valve open and closed limit swticthes to tell the boiler 'on' or 'off' respectively. So the only thing that tells the boiler to fire in the zone valve open switch. If your actuator (on the valve) has a 'manual over-ride' then move it open to see if it fires the boiler.

harry1

Thanks for the suggestions folks, much appreciated, I'll have a look over the weekend.

indie armada

came across something like this recently and it turned out to be the spur for the control valve for upstairs had been switched of. maybe check the spurs in the hotpress or where ever the valves are to see if a fuse is gone or they have been switched off. might not be relevent but thought it was worth a mention.

meercat

harry 1
the mini valve is probably stuck in the off position(usually in hot press)
it has to go into on position to allow auxilliary switch turn on boiler
there should be a manual override bar on the side of the mini valve which allows you to slide into the on position
sometimes by just moving this bar and releasing the spring, the problem clears itself
also have a look in the plumbing forum as this problem has been tackled already
them posters there are spot on
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055968629&highlight=mini+valve+stuck

harry1

Thanks all. It appears to be a faulty actuator after all.