Central Heating Not working

[ivanhoe46]

Hi have just put a sink & towel warmer in the down stairs toilet at my brothers house the hot water is ok was a bit slow too start but after an hour or so its ok (put the sink in yesterday). The problem is refilling the central heating after i fitted the warmer, the water does not seem to be filling the rads or warmer, it started for a minute or so then stopped. Its a open-vented system ive noticed the tank in the loft did not drain could there be a blockage i tried opening bleed valves on rads but cant hear any air excapeing. have noticed other rads downstairs are full and seem to have a seperate drain cock. Could anyone help Thanks

 

[sooey]

You have a blocked cold feed, if you follow the feed pipe from the f&e cistern to where it tees into the system and put a magnet on the pipes you should be able to feel it being attracted to the pipe where the blockage is. You'll have to cut the pipe there to unblock it, it's a sign of a dirty system which needs a good clean out.

 

[ivanhoe46]

Thanks have tried to back fill system friday (did not see your reply went to bed early) and had to release air from rads the water did not reach the overflow tank. put the heating on but it did not come on would the blockage stop this? I told him to get the boiler checked by the gas board they are coming today (saturday) will let you know what they say later
Thanks again Ivor

 

[gas4you]

I agree with sooey. Cut out pipe work where cold feed joins system. If you can you could also turn off cold fill gate valve, undo bottom nut on gate valve, put bucket under it then open it to confirm no blockage between gate valve and expansion tank.

 

[ivanhoe46]

Hi the man from the gas board came around last saturday and back filled the system from the loft the heating and hot water are working but now the towel warmer i installed does not seem to get hot (did bleed towel warmer). Have tried turning off all rads and leaving the towel warmer on but it still does not get hot. the only thing i can think of is its on the end of the line plus it comes down from upstairs perhaps its not getting time to circulate around the warmer before having to make its way back upstairs. as anyone any ideas Thanks Ivor

 

[gas4you]

re my last post, have you correted blockage in cold fill t? This must be done Sounds like air lock to new towel warmer but until cold fill is sorted you probably won't get it working properly.

Back filling is only a one off cure to get you going temporarily.

 

[ivanhoe46]

re my last post, have you correted blockage in cold fill t? This must be done Sounds like air lock to new towel warmer but until cold fill is sorted you probably won't get it working properly.

Back filling is only a one off cure to get you going temporarily.

Thanks. I thought the man from the gas board would have picked up on the blockage, could all of the sludge have fallen to the bottom of the pipes where the towel warmer is, there is a drain cock about 18 inches from it i could open it and release the towel rail vent valve to see if it is sludge comes out (im going back around tomorrow to box in the pipes). Thanks again Ivor

 

[gas4you]

Yes it is possible, but do you know if gas man replaced blocked cold fill? If he had then he would not have had to back fill

I still suspect the blockage is there and needs cutting out

 

[ivanhoe46]

I don't think he replaced any pipes but he said the pipes where high in the loft and he could lower them for £150 which my brother declined sounded a bit dodgy its been working for years. will try opening drain cock tomorrow if it does not work. once we have fixed up the toilet i shall get him to ring the gas board and tell them it stopped working when they came last time. its a little fib but i do not feel comfortable cutting out the blockage
Thanks Ivor

 

[Lagerkhan]

I don't think he replaced any pipes but he said the pipes where high in the loft and he could lower them for £150 which my brother declined sounded a bit dodgy its been working for years. will try opening drain cock tomorrow if it does not work. once we have fixed up the toilet i shall get him to ring the gas board and tell them it stopped working when they came last time. its a little fib but i do not feel comfortable cutting out the blockage
Thanks Ivor

Do you know for sure it's blocked
Get a hose and connect to a mains tap and stick one end down the cold feed pipe in exp tank and turn on water......if it comes out the expansion pipe then you either have no blockage or you have cleared it

 

[ivanhoe46]

Do you know for sure it's blocked
Get a hose and connect to a mains tap and stick one end down the cold feed pipe in exp tank and turn on water......if it comes out the expansion pipe then you either have no blockage or you have cleared it

Thanks Lagerkhan
I think thats what the man from the gas board probably done when he said he back filled ( will check tomorrow). If it is cleared why does the towel warmer not get hot only i bleed it and turned off all but the towel warmer and it still did not get hot
Thanks Ivor

 

[Lagerkhan]

Do you know for sure it's blocked
Get a hose and connect to a mains tap and stick one end down the cold feed pipe in exp tank and turn on water......if it comes out the expansion pipe then you either have no blockage or you have cleared it

Thanks Lagerkhan
I think thats what the man from the gas board probably done when he said he back filled ( will check tomorrow). If it is cleared why does the towel warmer not get hot only i bleed it and turned off all but the towel warmer and it still did not get hot
Thanks Ivor

Shut bothe valves and undo the nut nearest rad (catch any water in bowl etc).Then open one valve and see if water comes out into bowl,then try other valve.....this will at least prove if you have water going to rad through both pipes...ie no air lock or blockage

 

[ivanhoe46]

Thanks will try tomorrow will post to let you know outcome
Thanks again Ivor

 

[gas4you]

If it is blocked I have never found one unblock with this method. Usually solid scale. If accessible try turning off gate valve as described before, undiong bottom hnut and put long screwdriver doen cold fill pipe. This will tell you if it is blocked and possibly clear it with a gentle tap with a hammer

 

[ivanhoe46]

If it is blocked I have never found one unblock with this method. Usually solid scale. If accessible try turning off gate valve as described before, undiong bottom hnut and put long screwdriver doen cold fill pipe. This will tell you if it is blocked and possibly clear it with a gentle tap with a hammer

Sorry i am a bit confused do you mean the gate valve between the tank and the pump (this one has no tap head) or the one of the other two will have to follow pipes, one comes from the emersion heater so i think its the other one you mean.