Replaced Pump, now heating wont work at all! HELP! Its freez
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marshallward
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Replaced Pump, now heating wont work at all! HELP! Its freez

Post by marshallward » Tue Dec 13, 2011 10:32 pm

I have an open system with header tank. Had problem in that upstairs rads worked continuously but downstairs were cold.
I have replaced the pump, but had to drain down the whole system first to do it.
I refilled the system, bled the rads. I then turned the heating back on at the controller and increased the thermostat.
The pump started no problem. I turned down the thermostat to stop the pump. I then bled any air out of the pump (large screw head in middle of pump).
Started again and left running, but pump sounds noisier that I thought it would.

My problem is that the heating doesn’t work!

I have used a hose to jet water via the 22mm outlet at the bottom of the header tank to move any air locks but still nothing.
The only time I can get any heat (or the boiler to fire) is if I have the pump running as normal and connect a hose to the drain outlet on the downstairs rad I used to drain the system. I figured it may push the air out having both ends open. (I also did it to make room in the header tank to allow me to use the hose to jet water in as mentioned earlier)

Hope this made sense??? Totally at a loss as to what to try next. Got to be an air lock but how the bleep do I get rid of it?

Thanks in advance

p.s. I am not a plumber but can usually do most plumbing jobs if its explained in plain basic idiot guide English (don’t tend to know the technical names for bits, tools or techniques)

marshallward
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Re: Replaced Pump, now heating wont work at all! HELP! Its f

Post by marshallward » Wed Dec 14, 2011 4:29 pm

UPDATE: Make sure you read the whole post, you'll be suprised by the latter part (maybe)

We actually have a HomeCare plan thru our home buildings & contents.

Sadly, when I first had the problem of downstairs rads not working and the pump being RED HOT, they weren't interested 'cos we had some heat & hot water.

Now we have no heat or hot water they have sent someone out.

Def an air lock. Finally got most cleared by removing heat cut off sensor from boiler and boiling or "kettling" the boiler. When hot water streamed out of the overflow in to the header tank he switched heating off (therefore boiler) and bled rads again.

Had to repeat a few times.

During the last attempt, his boss called him & asked to speak to me. The insurance company had called him for an update; they then told him to pull his man off the job immediately since I wasn't covered for an air lock!!!

He was very appologetic, but said he won't get paid from that point forward so had to comply with their request!

As luck would have it (for a change), as we were talking, there was a lot of rumbling and escaping air and the engineer said "I think i've cracked it".

Sure enough the boiler now stays lit and we have hot water and heat to all but 2 rads (both downstairs).

I've re-bled all rads but still nothing in those two. I will continue to run the system and try bleeding the rads periodically and hope it clears up soon.

I still can't beleive I pay for an emergency service who won't respond unless we have absolutely No Heat AND No hot water, and even then they won't get you up and working again if it something as simple as an air lock!!! :evil:

Steer clear of any homecare type insurance, especially if offered by ThePolicyShop (who are just brokers) since you are likely to end up with same cowboy provider that I've be lumbered with!

plumbbob
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Re: Replaced Pump, now heating wont work at all! HELP! Its f

Post by plumbbob » Wed Dec 14, 2011 10:09 pm

Try closing off all the hot rads. The extra pressure on the trapped air can sometimes shift it.

There are other tricks available for shifting trapped air.

By the way, not surprised about Homecare.

MartinS
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Re: Replaced Pump, now heating wont work at all! HELP! Its f

Post by MartinS » Wed May 30, 2012 10:34 pm

It's funny I read The Policy Shop above, I had a policy with them which they naturally described as being all singing all dancing ... when I made a claim for my faulty drain I discovered the claim limits were incredibly low...made me wonder what on earth I was paying for.

I was looking at British Gas Homecare on a site which feature a few others (www.homeemergencycompare.co.uk)...but not so sure now that hear negative comments.

The thing which concerns me is that how can you know if an insurer will be true to their promise of covering your boiler, central heating, home emergencies, etc, the only way you will know is on the day and then could turn out to be a dead loss!!!

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