One of my 2 heating zones has stopped working...

mrcheez

I have upstairs and downstairs heating zones, the upstairs doesn't seem to activate any longer (i.e. pipes no longer come on no matter what the thermostat is set to).

Zones were installed in 2013.

I did notice for the past few weeks there was a very slight buzzing sound (like the sound from a fluorescent light) coming from the kitchen whenever the upstairs zone was activated. Hard to pinpoint exactly where the noise was emanating from.. it just came from somewhere in the ceiling above the kitchen. I thought nothing of it for a few weeks, but I'm assuming it was the death knell for the upstairs heating control?

The buzzing has since stopped.

I think I know where the switch is fitted, but can't be certain (somewhere in the walls or under floor boards, which are under carpet).

I doubt the guys who installed would remember where it is situated, so I imagine a lot of painful exploratory wall/floorboard ripping will be required :(

Is there anything I can try myself to see if I can sort it? Bleed all the rads perhaps? Fuse in the thermostat? Maybe that's one of the reasons it's not "kicking in"?

tnegun

Are there zone valves in your hot press? They should be accessible somewhere and not buried in the ceiling/floor at least I hope not!!

mrcheez

Don't have a hot-press, it's a combi boiler.

Car99

There will be zone controller shut off valves on the pipes from the distribution manifold to their respective zones you need to find them , usually they would be in a readily accessible location and can be manually over ridden.

bb12

that happened to me. turns out the zone valve in the hot press had broken while closed shut. plumber at the time was able to wrangle it to have it open all the time, as to replace the valve, he needed a full drain down of system and i didn't want to do that at the time because it was in the middle of a cold spell. still haven't replaced it years later.

mrcheez

These valves would be beside the combi boiler I assume?

Any idea what they look like?

KaneToad

Motorized valves look like this:

https://www.plumbingproducts.ie/423-motorised-valves-ireland

I had a similar issue with my one. I bought a new one and replaced it myself. It was as simple as taking off the old one and putting the new one on. No interfering with the pipes or any chance of getting wet. The specific one I changed was:

https://www.plumbingproducts.ie/motorised-valves-ireland/3647-myson-2-port-mpe23-4-motorised-valve-22mm.html

I am not a DIY expert by any stretch. I'm an enthusiastic amateur and I found this quite easy. Involved knocking off the power to the valve.

mrcheez

Hmm thanks. No nothing like that visible in the boiler house I'm afraid.

Looks like the geniuses put it in the walls or something.

cruizer101

Would be strange for it to be hidden away.

As well as the pipe it is on there would also be a cable going to it. From you controller/timer there should be a cable that goes to a wiring centre, from that there would be cables going to thermostats, valves and boiler. You might be able to trace the cable to try find where it is.

mrcheez

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118744210#Comment_118744210

yeah I guess they prioritised "neatness" over ease of access... I can't see any of the cables as they are all led through the wall panels in the kitchen. Would need to get in a carpenter.

They even put some pipes under concrete so if there are any leaks there I'll have to dig up the floor.

If I ever do buy another house, I'll make sure that when they are laying down pipes they put them in some sort of easily accessible boxing that has hinges to be lifted up.

In my naivety I assumed these guys would have chosen the best options when installing everything and I quickly learned you need to watch people when they are installing stuff (subsequent work I had done on the house by others I was always around to keep a keen eye and luckily was able to prevent a few disastrous decisions)

Car99

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118743031#Comment_118743031

You only have to change the motor not the compleye valve assembly