underfloor gas heating not working...

bungaro79

tried to turn on the gas for the underflood heating for the first time two nights ago and have put it on for ages that past two nights but theres nothing coming through the floor. i looked at the boiler and it looks as though its not pressurized properly. is this something that i could fix myself or would i have to get someone it to fix it?? if its the latter can someone please recommend someone they used around the south cork area.
cheers

aujopimur

There should be a fiiling loop near the boiler or cylinder, it's short flexi hose with a little valve, if it's disconnected reconnect it and open the valve for as long as it takes it raise the pressure 1.5/2.0 bar.
If it loses pressure on a regualrar basis you have a leak which should be sorted out

bungaro79

thanks for the reply aujopimur, i'm trying to find that temporary fitting loop like you said and i'm not sure if its one of these levers underneath the boiler unit?? also when i do find it does it have to be turned on to be pressurized??

here's the pics of the valves underneath the boiler

aujopimur

You have a combi boiler, so I presume you don't have a cylinder/hotpress, if the filling is'nt near the boiler it's hard to guess where it's located.
When you find it you will need to turn the valve on long enough to raise the pressure and then turn it off.
If you can't locate a filling loop it may be an open heating system, you check this by looking in the attic for an expansion tank, if this is the type of system you have none of the above applies and your problem lies elsewhere.

It's not a combi boiler:), it's none of the taps shown and as a guess because you have underfloor heating I would say it's a pressurised, take show pics of the cylinder as that will help identify the type of system you have.

meercat

is there a room stat controlling mini valves (possibly in hot press)
check that these are operating correctly(they can get stuck with non use but can be over ridden by sliding control bar to manual)

bungaro79

thanks for replies everyone! i took some more pics, this time of the hotpress upstairs. if i do locate the valve for pressurisation how long would i be keeping it open for?? and i assume if i don't know what exactly the valve is for then i should leave it alone?!?

meercat

on the bottom picture

slide the metal bar into the reciever(this manually opens the valve)

bungaro79

legend, thanks meercat!!
should this take long to repressurise?? just wondering if i need my missus to be downstairs looking at the valve or is it a slow increase in pressure as i know i shouldn't let it rise above 2

DGOBS

Hi, your boiler is a Heatline Compact, and from what I can make out from your hotpress pictures the pipe one the left hand side heading up to your attic looks like your water feed into your heating system.
(to be sure follow it down and if it meets into the pipework on the left side of the cylinder, then that's your baby)
Follow it back up until you find a valve, crack it open in very short bursts (5-10 seconds only) and pressure your system to 1-1.5 bar when cold.
I following it back, you reach a water storage tank, someone has plumbed either as an open vented (underfloor??? should'nt be so) or so called 'semi-sealed' and would have to be pressured again with a filler pump

If it is pressure stopping the boiler from working (some will work with 0.3 bar, but Heatlines usually like 1.0 min) then the boiler will make no attempt to fire at all, if it's making noises, then the problem is most likely something else and you ay need an rgi registered gas installer to take a look

In the long run, if you start having lots of hassle with a Heatline, get rid! (IMHO)

PS. Meerkat is asking you to open the valve (with the metal handle) as he believes the problem maybe that zone valve is faulty, if locked in the open position all begins to work, then he is correct, but it will not pressure your system for you

meercat

DGOBS wrote: »

PS. Meerkat is asking you to open the valve (with the metal handle) as he believes the problem maybe that zone valve is faulty, if locked in the open position all begins to work, then he is correct, but it will not pressure your system for you

thanks dgobs
sorry didnt make my post clearer

bungaro 79
have you upstairs heating or any other radiators working?
is your hot water heating

aujopimur

Sorry for not looking at your pics properly (hungover), the 1/2" blue valve 2nd from the right appears to be your fill valve.

JCDUB

Hi lads,

I'm having a similar problem with my system. Last night I put the three room stats up to 22deg but they are still showing 18.5 and the boiler has not been on. There is obviously no heat coming from the subfloor.

Also (obviously) there is no heat in the flow and return pipes going directly into/out of the ground in the utility room.

I checked the pressure in the filling return(?? the thing that was mentioned earlier in thread beside my cylinder) and it was at 2.5 bar. Is this too high? The valve was open but is now closed.

The boiler is working if I put the rads on upstairs and the electronic control thing beside the pipes in utility room seems to be functioning.

Anybody any idea what the problem could be? Thanks in advance

DGOBS

Could be the thermostat, time clock,mini mvs, all really depends on what's on the system, has it been off all summer, if yes, could be a jammed circulating pump

Yes 2.5 bar (when system is cold) is too high, 1-1.5 bar cold fill pressure

JCDUB

Yes DGOBS, it's been off all summer.

I just left the stats in each room at 20deg and I'd imagine it wasn't needed all summer as the house is only 5 years old and is well insulated.

Then again maybe it was needed to boost the temp to 20deg but never came on and I didn't notice as the temp was near enough 20.

Suppose I should just call a plumber really? I haven't a clue about plumbing and I'll only make it worse if it's not a simple fix.

Thanks

BTW the valve has been closed since this time yest and the pressure is now reading 2.0 bar. Is this ok? If it's too high how can I lower the pressure?

bungaro79

ended up calling in an rgi guy in just to be safe. as well as a service he sorted out the underfloor heating, he opened the panel under the stairs where the controls for it are (never knew where it was!) and turned one of the screws which sorted out the problem!

thanks for all the replies though