HELP !!! have hot water but no central heating

[cockneybloke]

hi i have a potterton flamingo 50 boiler, and a potterton ep2000 timer ,( i know they are about 20 years old but cannot afford a replacement) the problem is the slider controls work the water no problem and all fires up ok , however, when i slide central heating on, nothing, i turn up the thermastat on the boiler, and it clicks quietly but nothing else, it will not fire up, any idea what i could check, i dont want to fall intot he trap of replacing everything to find it is just something small. all suggestions appreciated as its freezing and skint . regards mark

 

[gas4you]

Do you know what type of system you have, gravity hot water or a fully pumped system?

If gravity HW check the pump has not stuck, see FAQ's.

If fully pumped, check any zone valve/s you may have. If you have 2 x 2 port valves, then check the one that controls the heating.

 

[weareleeds]

Probably your motor in valve upstairs in airing cupboard.With a flamingo 50 you will most likely have a y-plan valve so as a temp measure turn on dhw turn cyl stat higher & lock valve to open position (small lever on side of valve) until motor replaced.Otherwise it could be relay on clock or room stat

 

[cockneybloke]

thankyou for the rapid replies , however i went upstairs to the airing cupboard and slid the controller over and nothing, not a peep, i remember when i had this situation b4 i slid that accross and it fired the boiler downstairs, however not this time, so at the risk of sounding dumb, does that confirm the valve thingy is broken, and also i know its honeywell, but what is the correct term to call these, motorised zone valve is it ?.. thankyou

 

[gas4you]

Before jumpimg to any conclusions about the valve, you need to find out if the programmer is working and sending power to the valve, via the room stat etc.

If you are competent and safe to do so, you need to test for 240VAC at the valve wired connections.

 

[weareleeds]

As i previously posted you need to turn on dhw on clock & turn up cyl stat so you have a demand for hot water

 

[cockneybloke]

i am a total newby to all this heating malarkey, so abbreviations fly way over head, i do have hot water no problem, it is the central heating that wont fire up in the boiler when i turn it on ... hot water itself works perfectly, so now i have clarified that, shall i proceed with the instruction u gave ?,??, what do your abbreviuation mean, then i'll give it a whirl, many thanks for your patience and time taken to reply , i do appreciate it. regards

 

[gas4you]

If you hve 2 zone valves on your system, one will be for hot water control (dhw), the other will be for central heating control (radiators, ch)

On the valves, at one end or the other usually, you will see a metal lever.

On the valve that is for the ch, move this lever so it opens the valve manually, there will be an 'indent' in the valve at the end of the lever's travel. Lock this into this open position.

Now set the programmer for hot water, and when the boiler activates for the HW the rads will get hot as well. You may have to temporarily set the hot water cylinder thermostat higher to make the boiler fire.

This is only a temporary solution until the valve can be fixed, and the HW will be extra hot so be very careful when using it.

If you have a 3 port valve, just move the lever to manual and repeat above.

 

[cockneybloke]

damn you guys are good, seems that it's working.... ... i appreciate it's only a temperary measure but, wow, saves me chipping ice cubes from my little dogs feet in the morning ....... c(_) c(_) <, here's a pint each on me to show my appreciation .......