Heatline S30 Compact Diverter Valver Spindle Leaking

[RickyD74]

I have a Heatline S30 Compact which was fitted in 2004. The diverter valve spindle is leaking through to the motor and blowing the fuses. I have purchased a repair kit 3003202082 but the black nut supplied in the kit is different to the original. The head on the slotted nut in the kit is 13mm deep whereas the original is approx 8mm.
When fitted and the motor refitted the control unit will not close since it now fouls on the motor itself.
Is this the right kit? The Heatline technical advice line suggested that there has only ever been one type of nut so it must be that I had fitted incorrectly. I have both nuts in front of me and they are clearly different.
I have had this problem before in 2009 but back then I resolved the problem by swapping the seals in the nuts over. I am reluctant to do this again since I feel that they may not have seated correctly leading to the problem reoccuring 14 months later.
Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[gasian]

Hi Ricky i've just done one on a c24 today, it was awful.

I swapped the nut and spindle but it still didn't seem right, so I rang Heatline at £ 0.60/min and Tom on technical was helpful and said that you need to remove the diverter valve housing and fit all the parts included in the kit this will then make up the difference in the thickness of the nut.

Mind you I think if you're not RGI then I would call an engineer to the job.

If you are best of luck, I struggled.

Best of luck.

 

[RickyD74]

Hi Gasian
Thanks for your reply. The problem was solved by using all of the parts in the repair kit. As you were told by Heatline, fitting all of the kit allows just enough room for the control unit to push back into position (although there is still only a gnats whisker of clearance). Whilst I am a competent DIYer I did resort to using an RGI to carry out the work and all has been well since. The engineer said that the boiler was in good order and should have several years left in it. He also serviced the boiler and fitted a magnaclean at the same time.
I have read on various forums that Heatlines are cheap and nasty unreliable boilers which are not worth repairing. Other than this issue which has cost me £200 in total (including a new motor and a magnaclean) it has been a good reliable boiler. When my boiler was fitted in 2004 I removed all of the radiators and thoroughly cleaned them out and flushed through the entire system with Fernox restorer and then added Fernox protector once it was up and running. Now when I remove a rad to decorate the water is yellowish but clear and completely free of black sludge. Perhaps my thorough cleaning has helped it to be more reliable than many others.

 

[Agile]

Heatline are good boilers using good quality parts.

The problem is that as they are cheap to buy they are always fitted by poor quality installers doing a cheap job. That means no desludging or inhibitor!

Tony

 

[Agile]

A photo of the old part would be interesting.

I cannot see ( yet ) how the inside parts will make any difference as the motor is held on with a clip which goes into the nut ???

Tony

 

[RickyD74]

I can't help with a photo since it was 12 months ago when it was fitted and I threw out the old parts. I agree that it seems illogical and it was for this reason that I conceded defeat as a DIYer, but it definitely works when the entire kit is fitted. I watched the engineer fit it and can confirm that he removed the entire diverter valve from the boiler first. This enabled another black nut to be removed from the back of the valve and then all of the spindle assembly to be withdrawn. Once that was removed the new spindle kit with new nuts fitted together perfectly. When he had finished I was watching and expecting the control unit to foul the motor once more but to my surprise it didn't. In my case a new motor was fitted so I thought it must have been a slimmer motor. But it wasn't, the old and new motors were identical. Therefore I can only summise that the replacement back nut allows for the front one to be tightened further in to the valve or that the motor recesses into the nut further.

 

[bell824]

tony it's all to do with spindle length, the back nut does not need replacing just the front nut and the gubbins therein.

 

[Agile]

Yes Bell, so everybody is saying!

But why does the spindle make any difference when the motor is held with its clip into the nut ??

I have one to do shortly!

Tony

 

[bell824]

The new nut is slightly thicker and the pins slightly different allowing the motor to move slightly more i have changed a few front nuts and pins and never had to change the back section.