How do I use Gas heating?

axer

Hi

I have just moved into a new flat that has gas heating. I have never used gas before and Im sure it is very straight forward but I am trying to figure out how the system works in total so I can use it properly/efficently. My landlord doesn't really know how the system works.

We have a Vokera Mynute 12e gas boiler, a Siemens RWB9 programmer (?) and a Siemens Temperature dial on the wall in the hallway, some sort of temperature dial on the side of the tank and some sort of small temperature dial on the side of the tank. There is also a switch with a light on the wall which is turned off but I have no idea what it does as it says on the tank that there is no immersion in it.

How do all these parts work together?

I have attached pics of each of the parts.

Here are the controls on the gas boiler:

1. I assume the Boiler is set to on but how high do I set the boiler thermostat?
2. Also the pressure showing in the pressure gauge is currently just over 0.2 when the manual says it should be between 1.0 and 1.5. Is this something I should get looked at?

Here is the programmer and unknown switch (that is turned off):

The siemens programmer (right) is in the small room with the tank. I assume this controls the boiler as it has controls for Hot Water and Central and timing functions.
3. I am trying to figure out what the switch to the left of it is. Any ideas? or how can I find out?

Thermostat/temperature probe for programmer?:

This siemens device is on one of the pipes and it goes back to the wall where the programmer is.
4. I assume this is a thermostat for the programmer so it knows the temp of the water coming out of the tank?

Temperature dial in hallway:

5. Where does this fit in the picture? Does it regulate the overall temperature of the central heating? How does it work with the boiler thermostat?

Small dial on the side of the tank:

6. Any idea what this is for? and how does it fit into the overall heating system?

I would very much appreciate if someone can answer any or all of my questions. I'm sorry for all the questons but this is all new to me and my landlord has been no help in finding out the information and I fear I might end up using the system incorrectly and waste a load of money on gas etc.

JohnnieK

OK. The siemens programmer is you point of contact to the whole system. You can put individual time settings into this for both hot water and heating. The dial thermostat in the hall is the central temperature control for your radiators. This will control the heating side of the silver box (3 port mid-position zone valve) in the hotpress. The other dial thermostat on the hot water cylinder is the cylinder stat and should be set to 60oC. This controls the hot water side of the valve. The boiler on/off switch should be left in the on position. The boiler stat usually about 2 thirds up.

So to recap. The programmer is set by you for heating and hot water different times if you want. The programmer activates the appropriate thermostat and if heat is required the stat send power to the zone valve telling it to open. It then activates a micro switch which in turn switches on the boiler.
When the heat demand is satisfied the stat closes the valve and the boiler turns off.

I hope you've grasped it with this.

Joey the lips

JohnnieK wrote: »

OK. .

I am glad you took that one because i would be still explaining...

I am just wondering about the unknown switch.

Although you would imagine its an on off switch it can also be used to power the zone valve solenoid if there has been any modification

The reason i am wondering is this happened is because the boiler is on but the switch is off....

Anyway your explaination sounds better.

axer

JohnnieK wrote: »

OK. The siemens programmer is you point of contact to the whole system. You can put individual time settings into this for both hot water and heating. The dial thermostat in the hall is the central temperature control for your radiators. This will control the heating side of the silver box (3 port mid-position zone valve) in the hotpress. The other dial thermostat on the hot water cylinder is the cylinder stat and should be set to 60oC. This controls the hot water side of the valve. The boiler on/off switch should be left in the on position. The boiler stat usually about 2 thirds up.

So to recap. The programmer is set by you for heating and hot water different times if you want. The programmer activates the appropriate thermostat and if heat is required the stat send power to the zone valve telling it to open. It then activates a micro switch which in turn switches on the boiler.
When the heat demand is satisfied the stat closes the valve and the boiler turns off.

I hope you've grasped it with this.

Excellent, thank you so much for this information.

Two things I am still wondering about that maybe someone might know about are:
1. the switch that is turned off
and
2. The pressure gauge on the boiler showing just 0.2 instead of between 1.0 and 1.5 as per the manual. Does it matter that it is this low? and is this the pressure of the gas or the pressure of water that it is heating?

Thanks again.

heinbloed

I'm not a plumber, only a Vokera client:
The main switch would be the left "unknown switch", controlling electricity input. The box right of it holds the fuse, 2-3(?) Ampere .

To check this switch-off the "unknown". The light at the fuse box(next to it) should switch off, at least after a few seconds, depending on the electric installations it is connected to.

Vokera recommends a seperate switch AND fuse for their installations.

On the EU continent at least the seperate fuse is not needed, they use fast reacting fuses in the fuse box over there. There should be a second fuse within the boiler anyhow. But this is beside the point....

The pressure (see gauge) would have to be at a min. of 0.5 bar when running the boiler's pump at full speed.
To be on the safe side Vokera recommends a 'cold' pressure of 1-1.5 bar.

If the pressure drops to such a low level (0.2 bar) two things need to be done:
1. Drain the rest of the pressure and after this check the pressure at the expansion barrel. This should read your recommended 1-1.5 bar. Adjust this, top it up.
2. Then top up the pressure in the central heating circuit to the recommended pressure.
3. turn on the pump(boiler) and let it run for a few minutes, maybe cold. Air would be expelled via the automatic air valve, the pressure drops again a bit.
As long as it is above 0.5 bar when running it is o.k.. The less pressure there is on the system the longer it will last. So don't put more onto it than necessary.

Get the boiler/heating system serviced on a regular base.

yoshytoshy

axer wrote: »

1. the switch that is turned off

That switch could be a number of things ,usually a switch for a pump etc has a fuse ,so I'd hazard a guess and say it might be for a fan in the bathroom.

JohnnieK

axer wrote: »

Excellent, thank you so much for this information.

Two things I am still wondering about that maybe someone might know about are:
1. the switch that is turned off
and
2. The pressure gauge on the boiler showing just 0.2 instead of between 1.0 and 1.5 as per the manual. Does it matter that it is this low? and is this the pressure of the gas or the pressure of water that it is heating?

Thanks again.

1. The switch that is OFF is a power switch belong to something. The one beside it wiht the noen light on is a fused spur belong to the heating system. It should be a double poled switched spur but it's better than nothing. The other switch as yoshy suggested could be of a pump or maybe a crude immersion switch.

2. It is the pressure of the water in the system. It is low but if the boiler is on a semi-sealed system (which is gravity fed as opposed to mains fed) you would get pressure like that. They probably linked out the pressure switch in the boiler or manually adjusted it. I've come accros it loads of times on system boilers that were put on semi-sealed systems.
If it's a mains fed system then if there are no signs of a leak in the house I would suggest that the safety relief valve is letting by. There should be a small copper pipe coming out of the bottom of the boiler with NO valve on it and going outside. Check this outlet outside for water.

Also if you could take a pic of the whole hotpress it might shed light on a couple of things for me.

axer

Hi JohnnieK, Thanks for the information again.

Here is a pic of the bottom two thirds of the tank etc:


Here is the top that is missing in the above photo:


Here are some closer shots of the mid and bottom sections:

axer

Here are some other images that might be of use:

axer

Is this what is used for topping up the heating system?


The pipe goes straight up to what looks like the mains at the top:

JohnnieK

O.K. The bradded flexible pipe you have circled is the filling loop for the heating system. Your system is a mains fed system. You can turn the two black levers to re pressurize the system to one bar and turn them off again. I take it you live in an apartment you will have to check the out side wall behind the boiler to see if the pressure relief valve has a drip coming out of it or not. The pressure should not have dropped that low on a sealed system.

axer

JohnnieK wrote: »

O.K. The bradded flexible pipe you have circled is the filling loop for the heating system. Your system is a mains fed system. You can turn the two black levers to re pressurize the system to one bar and turn them off again. I take it you live in an apartment you will have to check the out side wall behind the boiler to see if the pressure relief valve has a drip coming out of it or not. The pressure should not have dropped that low on a sealed system.

Thanks. Yes, I live in an apartment.

At this stage I would assume I would get a plumber to repressurise the system? I am afraid that I might over pressurise? Do I bleed a radiator if that happens?

What are the effects of an underpressured system? Is it dangerous in any way or just inefficient? Just want to know if I get end up asking the landlord to get a plumber.

Thanks again.

JohnnieK

By all means if you are not confident enough get some one. If the pressure is too low it will lead to cavitation in the pump and will eventually damage it.

Turn both valves on for a couple of seconds and check the gauge and do this for as long as it takes.

axer

JohnnieK wrote: »

By all means if you are not confident enough get some one. If the pressure is too low it will lead to cavitation in the pump and will eventually damage it.

Turn both valves on for a couple of seconds and check the gauge and do this for as long as it takes.

Thanks for that. I have topped up the system now. It got as far as 0.6 then did no more so I left it for a while and turned on the central heating for a while and off again. When I then went to top it up I got to 0.9 so should be able to top the rest up tomorrow.

One last issue is the shower in the on suite doesnt start the pump when it is turned on.

I have to turn on a tap in the bathroom to initiate the pump which in turn turns on the shower. In my last place I had the same problem but I could shake the shower head which kick started the pump. I cannot do that here as the shower head is permanently attached to the wall. Any ideas?

Thanks again for all the help. I have learned a lot.

JohnnieK

You might want to talk to Joey the lips, about the shower, he is a bit of a shower God:D. Is the shower a separate valve in the wall or part of a bath mixer.

axer

JohnnieK wrote: »

You might want to talk to Joey the lips, about the shower, he is a bit of a shower God:D. Is the shower a separate valve in the wall or part of a bath mixer.

Thanks. The shower with the issue is a separate valve in the wall. There is a second shower that works fine but that is part of a bath mixer.

Joey the lips

JohnnieK wrote: »

You might want to talk to Joey the lips, about the shower, he is a bit of a shower God:D. Is the shower a separate valve in the wall or part of a bath mixer.

Anyway. Your answering the question about the shower without realising it. There is either an airlock in the pipe or a faulty flow switch. To test the switch i usually temp swop the hoses around however this might be a bit techanical you can take the head off the wall climb up with a hose and try push the airlock out or you can suck on the pipe which has worked for me in the past.

If it helps the airlock is most likely in the pump so once you open it you will be freeing it.