Hot water/ heating wiring problems

[Softus]

Sorry to disagree Softus.

I can't imagine why you'd be sorry - do you not have faith in your own judgement?

Now then, which bit of what I wrote do you disagree with? For example, the following statements seem to align:

Why all this talk of "proper" sparkies and engineers?
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these things really aren't very complicated, but you can't guess your way through it.
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find an engineer/plumber (whatever) who's been recommended to you by someone you trust. It doesn't matter what their qualifications are.

An half decent apprentice could trace the wires with a meter.
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Rocket science it is not

Can't see any basis for disagreement there, so it must be one of the following:

bachippy, what you need is someone who understands domestic heating systems.

Are you disagreeing with this? If so, I agree that an apprentice can trace wires, but which wires? And what do those wires do? And what if all the wires go where they should? And what if it's a valve fault, or a blockage, or an air lock?

Or are you disagreeing with this?

If you can't find a recommended tradesperson, then select one from local advertising and ask them politely, but before they come out to you, how they charge generally, and specifically how they charge for a problem when it might be (a) intermittent and (b) difficult to find. You're not asking for a quote, just a guide of how the charging will go.

Or are you disagreeing with this?

Keep searching until you find one that, much like Agile, will offer to guarantee to solve the problem, not just look for it, and for someone who will limit the fee if they take too much time to fix it.

 

[doitall]

Bad choice of words perhaps Softus.

What I'm saying is :- we have the wiring diagram, and any numpty with a meter can trace the wires, and at the same time check if the fittings are open circuit or not.

3days prodding around with a neon screwdriver is not the way to go.

Lets make it easy Room stat has a red wire, must find the other end, look at drawing, Oh there it is, check with meter if its the right one, that will also tell you if the wire is broken.

O goody now for the next colour

 

[Softus]

Bad choice of words perhaps Softus.

What I'm saying is :- we have the wiring diagram, and any numpty with a meter can trace the wires, and at the same time check if the fittings are open circuit or not.

Fair play - I concur.

3days prodding around with a neon screwdriver is not the way to go.

Totally with you. I'd be ashamed to be in the same room as that plonker.

 

[meldrew's_mate]

The 3 way valve, room stat and programmer were new with the boiler parts and have been wired in by a qualified electrician according to the wiring diagrams using a Honeywell 10 way junction box, he has used new wiring for all the components thus rewiring the whole system as per the diagrams.

All new wiring? Not using any existing wiring at all? I am a little suspicious of your "qualified" electrician's credentials.

In these three days has he not "meggered" all conductors to ensure no cable faults?
Has he used 4 core heat resistant cable for the cylinder 'stat. I suspect not as the Honeywell 'stat should have a Earth connection, and he's used the green/yellow wire for a signal.
In these three days has he not checked the output from the 3-port valve (orange wire) under various demands, there are only 8 combinations on a typical heating system, yours has only the froststat as an extra input (which can easily be eliminated).
After these three days can he easily identify the 3 outputs from the programmer at the Honeywell junction box terminals (CH ON, DHW ON, and DHW OFF)?
Has he used a "normal" 10 way terminal box, not one of those awful types which try to make it simple by having lots of dedicated terminals, and links to cut all over the place? To me they make it three times as hard to fault find, and three times as likely to get a belt off the links
And finally, has he registered the installation with Building Control as per Building Regs Doc P? If he tries to charge for three days of head scratching this might be a pertinant question.

 

[bachippy]

Thanks for all the replies but I think a few have gone a bit off post.

What I was hoping for was for someone to recognise the problem, maybe they had same symptoms, and suggest what component was likely to be wired wrong and how it should be.

The wiring is through a Honeywell 10 way box. The cables were all replaced as the original ones to the boiler were very untidy and hanging as too short to clip to wall and the room stat was relocated.

And no I haven't been charged for all the days he has been coming back in his own time inc weekends.

Thanks again.

 

[Softus]

I suggest that you remove the powerhead from the valve body (isolate electrically before removing the cover), and operate the valve manually to prove that (a) it's not stuck and (b) you can shut off the flow to the CH.

If that's all OK, then first set the valve in the central position and then use the system controls to operate the powerhead. While you're doing that, test that an electrical supply is reaching the synchron motor.

From the above tests you should be able to work out whether the problem is in the valve, the powerhead, the synchron motor, or the wiring to the powerhead. Check for an electrical supply to the relevant MZV wires at the wiring centre - if not as expected then some other component is at fault, possibly the programmer.