oil heating problems no heat downstairs

jamescc

hi ,
I have oil central heating (kersone). I have heat upstairs and no heat to any of the radiators downstairs. I tried to bleed them but no air coming out . I did this while hot. Should it have been done while cold? The pipes coming into the house from the boiler house are hot but the radiators downstairs are not getting hot.

I hope this makes sense.

thanks for any reply

PeteHeat

Hi,

It is possible that the actuator (head) of a zone valve may be suck in the closed position preventing the heat going to the radiators downstairs.

Usually it's the upstairs radiators that get cold first if the system has lost pressure / water, you should be able to check at the filling point which is very often in the hot press or beside the boiler, the guage should be reading about 1 bar pressure.

I hope the above helps,

.

jamescc

hi
thanks for help, i had a guy out looking at it this morning. it turns out that the pump had gone. so it is all sorted now E180. including parts and service.

Kashkai

Thats very expensive for a pump replacement. I fitted a new pump a couple of years ago and the pump cost €45 and it was a 15 minute job. Looks like your plumber got €130 for his time.

jamescc

in cost it is. but my mother is 72 almost and she feels the cold, even during the summer(what we had of one)the heating would have been on. and she suffers from bad arthritis of the knees . this would not have been a job that i would have known how to do.so from my point of view it was money well spent.

PeteHeat

Hi Prosporous Dave,

Not really expensive when you look from the service providers side, van, insurance, having the pump with him (money sitting in the van), drive time to customers home, diagnose the problem, ability to fix it, time spent on the job, drive time back to base.

Also its not always possible to replace a pump in 15 minutes even an hour, so much depends on how the original was installed and ease of access, also if the boiler is Gas he must be R.G.I. which is more expense.

You don't see the numbers adding up, I am not defending my prices as I didn't do the job

.

jamescc

i am not disagreeing with the price, i am just so glad that the guy was able to come out to me with half an hours notice. and have it done with in about an hour or so .
so with that said. i am delighted to have heat in the house, before it got really cold snow, etc. and i might not have been able to get anyone that fast.

Peatheat . What is R.G.I?

PeteHeat

R.G.I. is a Registered Gas Installer, it is against the law for anyone who is not a member or at least holds G.I.D. qualification to work on a gas boiler link

.

Kashkai

James, sorry if it appeared that I was being snotty in my reply. It wasn't my intention. Its just that replacing a pump is not a difficult job to do (if its in an accessible spot) and most people with DIY skills can tackle it.

I know what you mean about needing heat in the house as it was snowing when mine packed up in December 2009 and I was outside at my kerosene boiler, at night, in the pitch black changing the pump while my hands were turning blue with the cold and I was almost crying with the pain in them. I guess thats why I changed the pump in a hurry before I got frostbite:D

Pete, I understand that there are costs to be covered when running a business that most people don't take into account but charging €130 for a quick job is excessive. However there may have circumstances that made this job difficult that James didn't elaborate on, like an pump in a hard to reach spot, the system might have had to be drained down and refilled, build up of sludge, electrical issues etc.

jamescc

no offence taken in what was said.
My dad used to do all the jobs like that. but he has since passed away.
As I said it is an oil burner. it needed to be done. I am glad that it did not go during really bad weather.

but thanks for reply s.

jamescc

well back here again, almost a year three or four days short, and the pump has packed in again. i rang the guy that put it in last year. he said that he would be out tomorrow. would his work be covered in some kind of guarantee.