Motorised Valve Problem

8ofSpades

Hi

I have an issue with the motorised valve/actuator both upstairs and downdtairs in my house since we put the heating on last week.

We haven't used the heating all summer so when we started using it again last week neither the upstairs or downstairs radiators were coming on. The burner is working fine & hot water was fine & there was hot water in the copper cylinder.

So when I set the switch on the motorised valve to manual the heating started working. I did the same downstairs and it worked there too. I think these are motorised valves anyway, they are blue & have 2 ports with an electrical cable out of them.

Anyway the problem now is everytime the heating comes on as timed, the actual heating wont start working until I set the switch to manual on the motorised valve. Today I even set it to manual & left it on manual rather than setting it back to auto and its working fine.

Anyone any ideas why this is happening?

Also whats the signifigance of manual on the motorised valve as opposed to auto. I could understand if these motorised valves are faulty but would it be unusual for both valves to become faulty at the same time?

Any & all help appreciated

spireland32

Unusual both would go at the same time... They are prob controlled by room stats so make sure they are turned up. Someone may have tampered with them while they weren't being used. Failing that take the head off the valve and see is the motor turning if so try a little wd 40 on the valve and turn gently open and closed. Re fit head and try again.

DoneDL

It seems strange that they both failed at the same time, the fact that when you manually reset them calls the boiler on suggests that the fault should be with the motors. But I would check for a loose wire in the wiring box as there might just be a loose connection. Power off of course.

8ofSpades

Thanks for the advice, all appreciated

spireland32 wrote: »

Unusual both would go at the same time... They are prob controlled by room stats so make sure they are turned up. Someone may have tampered with them while they weren't being used. Failing that take the head off the valve and see is the motor turning if so try a little wd 40 on the valve and turn gently open and closed. Re fit head and try again.

Yeah it is unusual both are giving trouble alright which is why I'm stumped. There are 2 thermostats, one up one down, both are on max at the moment when im trying to figure out the problem. Will try taking the head off but would this be the cause when I switch from auto -> man -> auto and everything works fine until the heating goes off. Then the problem resurrects itself when the heating is timed to come one again.

DoneDL wrote: »

It seems strange that they both failed at the same time, the fact that when you manually reset them calls the boiler on suggests that the fault should be with the motors. But I would check for a loose wire in the wiring box as there might just be a loose connection. Power off of course.

Thanks, I'll take the head off and see what I can see, weird that its happened to both though and defo neither have been touched since last winter. So the wiring you would imagine would be ok.

DoneDL

8ofSpades, its not the wiring inside the head of the valve but the box where the controls, stats etc are all connected. You can buy the motors seperately but some valves have soldered connections.

spireland32

When you turn it to manual your making the micro switch that why it works. You want to take the head off to see if the motor is turning... So heating off, take head off, note position of motor, turn on heating and run upstairs and see does the motor turn! If it doesn't youll need to check if there's power going to the valves on the brown wire, prob a junction box nearby. If there is and the valve isn't turning motor/actuator is gone