Advice needed - faulty heating programmer or something else?

[grumpypj]

Right then, a 12 minute experiment concluded. here is what i did
1. switched off hot water (now wondering if heating programmer is broken at all)
2. switched off all good radiators with TRV control
3. switched off towel rails with instructions from @terryplumb and @sxturbo
4. watched the display panel of the boiler at a minutes interval
5. checked rads in lounge

Results
1. BOTH living room radiators turned hot within minutes!! and after about 8-9 minutes they were REALLY warm to the point room felt cosy.
2. Boiler lit up i.e the gas sign came on 2 times during this period.

Status now : reverted the changes
1. hot water turned on
2. Good radiators turned on
3. Towel rails turned on
4. Bad radiators have STARTED cooling off

Now what?

 

[terryplumb]

There is nowt wrong with the living rooms valves ,or radiators ,and your system needs balancing.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

Probably - your system needs balancing. Flow needs to be restricted using the lockshield valves to force more flow to the living room radiators. Your 'good radiators' are hogging all of the flow.

 

[grumpypj]

I suppose its good news that nothing is broken @terryplumb & @Harry Bloomfield

I looked up balancing radiators instructions & first link was : https://www.homeserve.com/uk/living/how-to/balance-radiators/

I should be able to do it myself IF i can move the lockshield valves! I know already that lockshield valves for 2 radiators are immovable, I wouldnt be surprised if rest of the rads have same jammed valves.

Shall I proceed with usage of the following Wd 40 and then attempt rebalance?

https://wd40.co.uk/product/fast-release-penetrant-spray/

 

[terryplumb]

If your radiators were all working fine last year ,then something, that your not telling us about ,must have been done to alter the systems balance. Turning off TRV' s and opening them again after a few months wouldn't do it .
Show us pics of all pipework / valves / plumbing around your hot water cylinder.

 

[grumpypj]

If your radiators were all working fine last year ,then something, that your not telling us about ,must have been done to alter the systems balance. Turning off TRV' s and opening them again after a few months wouldn't do it .
Show us pics of all pipework / valves / plumbing around your hot water cylinder.

Hmm. I went through the thread again to check if i missed any details. There are 2 i feel could help. Last year, relatively speaking, those 2 rads weren't as effective as rest of the flat. They weren't 'cold' like this year but other rooms felt better. In 2019, there was a mains water valve replaced to improve pressure across the property. But that was on water mains coming into the property. besides these 2, I really can't think of anything. Boiler has had the annual service in both 2019 & 2020 and & nothing was flagged in those.

I am enclosing 4 pictures of the pipes around the boiler. Let me know which section you want me to get more detailed pictures for. There are a lot of pipes, i can get the details you need.

 

[sxturbo]

You have a 3 way valve, this is faulty and is why your radiators heat up with the hot water in the summer.

 

[terryplumb]

Is it only the two towel radiators that heat up when programmer is set to domestic hot water only ,or other rads as well ?

 

[grumpypj]

Is it only the two towel radiators that heat up when programmer is set to domestic hot water only ,or other rads as well ?

Other rads as well in summer of 2020. so 3 way valve is faulty?

 

[grumpypj]

Also, how urgently do i need to get this valve fixed? Can this wait till march or April? I am hoping Covid is spreading less by then.

Also - shall I proceed with the re-balance and for that use the WD 40 thing?

 

[terryplumb]

Other rads as well in summer of 2020. so 3 way valve is faulty?

Yes it is.

 

[terryplumb]

It can wait ,it's been like that for several months so a few more is neither here nor there.
I wouldn't tinker with the balancing until the 3 port valve is changed .

 

[grumpypj]

Got it @terryplumb.

If this icy weather goes on, is it ok to turn other radiators and water off like today's 'experiment' to bring some life into this room? It's the room where we spend most of our day in..

Finally,

1. Will the valve replacement require system to be drained and if yes, what other things need to be re-done? e.g inhibitor?
2. I am assuming re-balancing will be done as part of the same repair then by the engineer?
3. What will the total cost look like - parts + labour?

thx

 

[grumpypj]

Ok, one more clarification. I am doing the pictures of the pipework near boiler again. It seems that i dont have a 3 way valve and could have seperate 2 way valves for gas & heating respectively. Pictures attached.

 

[terryplumb]

Yep ,two zone valves . One for domestic hot water ,silver one ,and one for central heating radiators. Engineer required to do some testing !!