Diverter Valves - help!?

[ebutterw2010]

Hi - I've got a Worcester Heatslave 12/14 (combi) which is happily heating water but wont heat the rads.

Judging by posts on this forum - its a surefire diverter valve issue. This was replaced 12 months ago but must have stuck/broken again.

The diverter valve is a Honeywell V4044F1125 and has a little protruding arm on the back of it to hook it off "auto" onto "manual".

I tried moving the arm to just over 50% and the electrical motor on the diverter switch pushed it back to its existing position ("auto"). Because of this I didnt force the lever the full way across.

Before I try moving it all the way across onto "manual" - can I check a few things:

1. is there no risk of damaging the electrical motor on the diverter switch by forcing it across to "manual"

2. If I force it onto manual - how do I know / adjust whether the boiler is heating the rads or the water?

3. Once forced onto manual - is there any risk of damage to the boiler if its left in that position for extended periods - ie a week?

It saturday night now and we're freezing - I would wait for a boiler engineer to do this but cant find one till Monday pm at the earliest and desparate to get a bit of warmth.

Any help would be amazing, thanks, Ed

 

[AfterburN003]

there is no risk moving it all the way accross.. once u move it accross u can lock it in position by pushing it up into the cut out groove. this means ur heating will be on constantly though.

 

[Burnerman]

there is no risk moving it all the way accross.. once u move it accross u can lock it in position by pushing it up into the cut out groove. this means ur heating will be on constantly though.

Thats bang on - and the rads will be controlled by the HW stat!
The genuine valve top is about £80 but Plumbcenter do a replacement for about £30.
The complete Honeywell valve is £150!
John

 

[Whitespirit66]

Was just the actuator head replaced, or the whole unit?

If just the head was replaced, perhaps the valve part is a problem. An entire new valve should last a lot longer/

 

[AfterburN003]

have to say , ive fitted a few of the centerbrand ones and had no problem with them

 

[Burnerman]

I bought the complete valve, as the boiler was 60 miles away. I suspected the power head but couldn't be sure, and I told the guy so over the phone. The supplier was good enough to go and get one for me personally. I paid £150. I had to get the heating on, as the weather was closing in, and there was a young family present.
Typical hero - I set off to assess the boiler, bouncing through the snow drifts. When I got there, the guy had gone out to seek a power head of his own initiative and the heating was on.
I returned home. The new valve is staring at me. I'm not taking it back - the supplier was so brilliant at getting me fixed up.
FAMILIES EH????
John

 

[ebutterw2010]

thanks chaps for such a speedy response. having switched the diverter across to manual - the boiler fired for about 3 mins and then the thermostat on the front of the combi boiler must have kicked in to switch it off....so the diverter doesnt seem to be the problem.

Under the hood of the boiler - it seems warm so everything seems to be ok its just that the rads are dead cold...maybe some frozen water in them? but no, as I've already bled them and they seem fine.

Any suggestions on the thermostat front or shall I just wait for the boiler man to get here in a week!

 

[Burnerman]

Can you tell if the pump is running? If the diverter is stuck one way, there'll be heating but no HW.
There may be a switch inside the power head that controls the pump - I'm not sure.
John

 

[ebutterw2010]

Hi John - the pump seems to be ok (its warm to touch) but I dont know how to tell whether its running or not...sorry! Hot water isnt the problem - its just the front dial thermostat on the boiler has no effect even when turned up to max - its as if the boiler "thinks" it doesnt need to switch to CH as the thermostat is telling it everything is hot enough. thanks for all this help - cheers, Ed