Heating not working - Charlesland Park

Dublin Chick

Hi all,

My sister is having problems with her heating in Charlesland Park. Can someone please give us some advice I don't want the poor mite to freeze over the weekend.

This is what is happening:
The heating is coming on and the radiator in the front hall is heating up but none of the rest of the radiatorss are working properly. She thinks that it's an airlock somewhere in the sytem.

Up until now she has been releasing a black valve in the hotpress and that was working.

Can someone please help?

Regards,
DC

pixbyjohn

How often did she have to open the black valve ?. Most of the heating systems are now "sealed systems" which means there is no continuous supply from the water main. If you have a leak in the system or some other fault that allows air into the system, then the black valve allows water from the mains in to fill the system again. But you will have to release the air which becomes trapped and the first way to do this is ... while the black tap is on now open the pressure release valve by turning it gently to let air out until you get a steady flow of water out of the release valve pipe. When you see that there is no gurgling or air left let the release valve close ... then close the black valve. If there is a pressure gauge at the black valve allow the pressure to rise to approx 2 bar (28 psi.) before turning off.
If you also have to bleed air from each radiator then open black valve while you are doing this to allow the system to be replenished of water as you let the air out.
The pressure relief valve (pic below) is situated at the boiler.
A lot of the time that water leaks from the system is because of a weeping faulty pressure release valve.

pressure relief valve by pixbyjohn, on Flickr

matt-dublin

Sounds like an airlock, turn the heating on and let the pressure build up then bleed all the rads.

Dublin Chick

Thank you so much have passed on the information and I will let you know how she gets on, much appreciated!

shay123

Hi, if you think that the problem is an airlock then carry out the following. Turn all radiators off. Turn central heating on. Start upstairs and turn on each rad one at a time. Turn each one on for a couple of minutes then turn off and carry on until all are done. If you hear a load of gurgling and air moving around then you have pushed the air lock out. bleed all rads. Problem solved.

d31b0y

I'd also check the actual pressure in the gas boiler too. We have a leak in ours and when it gets to a certain pressure, the radiators further away get cooler and the water in the tank stops heating up. I believe the pressure should be around 1.2 bars.

pixbyjohn

shay123 wrote: »

Hi, if you think that the problem is an airlock then carry out the following. Turn all radiators off. Turn central heating on. Start upstairs and turn on each rad one at a time. Turn each one on for a couple of minutes then turn off and carry on until all are done. If you hear a load of gurgling and air moving around then you have pushed the air lock out. bleed all rads. Problem solved.

There is more to it than that.

matt-dublin

pixbyjohn wrote: »

shay123 wrote: »

Hi, if you think that the problem is an airlock then carry out the following. Turn all radiators off. Turn central heating on. Start upstairs and turn on each rad one at a time. Turn each one on for a couple of minutes then turn off and carry on until all are done. If you hear a load of gurgling and air moving around then you have pushed the air lock out. bleed all rads. Problem solved.

There is more to it than that.

Yup......

It's definitely an air lock by the sounds of things mind you

matti

Just to test your knowledge a little further!!!
I live in 2 bed town house in Charlesland Grove, and my heat is not working either. Boiler is working and heating the water and all pipes in the hotpress heat up but no radiators. I have bled them all except the towel rail in the upstairs bathroom (because I don't know how!). Is it a plumber I need to call out to look at it??!

matt-dublin

in the hotpress is there a yellow handle? if so try changing its position and you shoulr hear a little rush of water.

sounds like your rads are turned off.

Charlie-Bravo

try your thermostat on the wall in the hall - is it set too low??? If you twist it round you'll hear a click - that's the current temp so set it a little above to get the rads on.

matti

Rads are on, and thermostat is set to max - not sure why as the heat is not working and its usually set to 15 - 20 though! Cannot see yellow handle in the hotpress either

Charlie-Bravo

sounds odd - could be an airlock somewhere. What's the pressure gauge at on the gas boiler? maybe pressure is too low even after bleeding the rads??

pixbyjohn

matti wrote: »

Rads are on, and thermostat is set to max - not sure why as the heat is not working and its usually set to 15 - 20 though! Cannot see yellow handle in the hotpress either

May I ask you ... when you bled the radiators did you open the supply to the boiler circuit ? If you just opened the rad vents without allowing the system to replenish you are wasting your time. On sealed central heating systems the mains supply is normally shut off by a ball valve with a small black lever, and there is sometimes a pressure gauge beside this valve. Lots of people will tell you that you probably have an airlock in your system...simple... but the way to purge the air from your system is to open the water supply valve while you are bleeding your radiators. A quick way to check that you have enough water in the system is to turn on the supply and open the pressure relief valve at the boiler until a steady flow of water appears at the P.R. outlet.
Regards and hopefully when you sort your problem you will post here.

matt-dublin

pixbyjohn wrote: »

matti wrote: »

Rads are on, and thermostat is set to max - not sure why as the heat is not working and its usually set to 15 - 20 though! Cannot see yellow handle in the hotpress either

May I ask you ... when you bled the radiators did you open the supply to the boiler circuit ? If you just opened the rad vents without allowing the system to replenish you are wasting your time. On sealed central heating systems the mains supply is normally shut off by a ball valve with a small black lever, and there is sometimes a pressure gauge beside this valve. Lots of people will tell you that you probably have an airlock in your system...simple... but the way to purge the air from your system is to open the water supply valve while you are bleeding your radiators. A quick way to check that you have enough water in the system is to turn on the supply and open the pressure relief valve at the boiler until a steady flow of water appears at the P.R. outlet.
Regards and hopefully when you sort your problem you will post here.

John I don't think the Charlesland units have pressure relief valves. I certainly dont?

I do however think that they all come with the radiator isolation valve to turn the rads off in the summer. Usually located somewhere around the hot water tank.

pixbyjohn

matt-dublin wrote: »

John I don't think the Charlesland units have pressure relief valves. I certainly dont?

I do however think that they all come with the radiator isolation valve to turn the rads off in the summer. Usually located somewhere around the hot water tank.

Every central heating system must have a pressure relief valve by law

Charlie-Bravo

modern systems have the pressure release integrated into the boiler hence a discharge pipe exiting from the bottom of the boiler to the outside.

Matt, have a look outside where your flue is - there'll be a small pipe below it which is cut short and goes nowhere.

Pressure needs to be between 1 and 1.5 bar for the water to circulate correctly.

matti

astrofluff wrote: »

modern systems have the pressure release integrated into the boiler hence a discharge pipe exiting from the bottom of the boiler to the outside.

Matt, have a look outside where your flue is - there'll be a small pipe below it which is cut short and goes nowhere.

Pressure needs to be between 1 and 1.5 bar for the water to circulate correctly.

Pressure on boiler is 1.1 which I think is ok... Having never lived anywhere with central heating before I also think the solution is beyond me so a call to plumber or someone will be needed! Thanks for your help

lakeroad

Matt, Charlesland Grove & Park have Glow Worm boilers installed which all have a built in pressure relief valve on the boiler unit.

pixbyjohn

matti wrote: »

Pressure on boiler is 1.1 which I think is ok... Having never lived anywhere with central heating before I also think the solution is beyond me so a call to plumber or someone will be needed! Thanks for your help

If you get a plumber in, ask him to give you a run through on your system. Its a good idea that you know how things work in your house.
Hope you get it fixed soon, regards

matti

The rads are heating up nicely now There is a red box at the back of the hotpress with a switch auto / manual. It was on auto and soon as switched to manual the rads started to get hot.... presume for now I'll control temp with timer.... thank god for daddys (and boards!!)

pixbyjohn

matti wrote: »

The rads are heating up nicely now There is a red box at the back of the hotpress with a switch auto / manual. It was on auto and soon as switched to manual the rads started to get hot.... presume for now I'll control temp with timer.... thank god for daddys (and boards!!)

So thats your electric zone valve which the electrical part has failed. Thank goodness for the manual part of it you can still turn the radiator circuit on and off.
Thanks for the feedback.

2011

Replacement 2 port zone valves are available for about €30 in Chadwicks and Heat Merchants, Boghall Road, Bray.

No plumbing required to replace as it is only the actuator part that has failed. Electrically they are very easy to reconnect. If you require free assistance to do this, try the Electrical Forum