Hot water problems

[diylady]

Hi all

Was after some advice. I have a system boiler ( Ecotec plus 618) and a Heatsatre Mega flow ( 145l) about 20 years old . Over the past 6 months i have been experiencing hot water problems - specifically hot water just stops - i.e no water coming out of the hot tap . The cold water still works. Had 2 different engineers out ( only because my regular one wasn’t available the 2nd time round). Both have given different opinions . The first says its the internal expansion vessel is losing pressure and when it loses pressure it stops the water . The second when it happened - a different engineer came out and all he did was check it all and said it was fine. He opened all the taps and urned off the direct cold water supply and then turned it back on and the hot water came back. He said it was a sticky cold water feed tap.. So i have 2 engineers saying 2 diff things. The first one says i need to replace the Hot water cylinder and the second says to replace the direct cold water feed . I have had a few problems this year with the cylinder and have had a new pressure release valve fitted. At it stands today i can be running the hot tap and it suddenly stops and then i turn the tap off and then when i switch it back on it comes back on . Sometimes i have to do this a couple of times - sometimes i don’t. Any ideas as to whats going on? There is a bit of noise in the pipes - like a bang every bow and then

 

[diylady]

Forgot to say - Boiler is 10 years old. Have it serviced this year and it was all fine . I suspect the problems are with teh cylinder

 

[kidgreen61]

It will be a faulty non-return valve, 10 min job to change by a competent person.

 

[Gasguru]

And when the hot tap water flow ceases what happens when you open another hot tap...has that one also stopped?

 

[dilalio]

Replace inlet control group and check for blockage in outlet of UV.

 

[diylady]

Hi
Added a picture of what my engineer put in in August ( i think its a pressure relief valve?) 8 bar blue thing.

He also left a black 3 bar valve .. not sure what it is . He said it came in the pack and to keep it ..

 

[DP]

Forget the first guy that came to look at the cylinder. You do not need a new cylinder.
My money would be on the inlet group being faulty. You could phone Heatrae and talk with technical department for confirmation

It is the black thing that needs replacing
I am wondering if that valve is the correct one for your cylinder

 

[Madrab]

Can you take a picture of where the cold mains stop tap/valve into the unvented is? It should have a valve similar to the new one shown in pic one and two, beside it.

 

[diylady]

Can you take a picture of where the cold mains stop tap/valve into the unvented is? It should have a valve similar to the new one shown in pic one and two, beside it.

Please see attached pics

 

[Madrab]

Was the chap who did the work qualified to work on unvented? Did he show you his ticket?

Is there anything like the black topped valve anywhere on the supply pipework to the cylinder?

 

[diylady]

Forget the first guy that came to look at the cylinder. You do not need a new cylinder.
My money would be on the inlet group being faulty. You could phone Heatrae and talk with technical department for confirmation

It is the black thing that needs replacing
I am wondering if that valve is the correct one for your cylinder

When you say inlet group do you mean the pressure reducing valve black one in the attachment earlier? . I actually cannot locate where the existing pressure reducing valve is .. where should it be? . I google the pressure reducing valve for the heatrae megaflows andit comes up with the black one as in the picture. I’m confused because when i spoke to the second engineer he said if i had no cold water as well then he would have said he would have put the black valve in but because i did have cold water he said it didn’t add up

 

[diylady]

And when the hot tap water flow ceases what happens when you open another hot tap...has that one also stopped?

No - so it went when the shower was running the other day( it’s a mixer shower , not electric) and my partner said the hot water has gone.. i turned on the tap in the main bathroom and it was fine

 

[diylady]

Can you take a picture of where the cold mains stop tap/valve into the unvented is? It should have a valve similar to the new one shown in pic one and two, beside it.

More photos ofall the connections into the cylinder

 

[diylady]

Was the chap who did the work qualified to work on unvented? Did he show you his ticket?

Is there anything like the black topped valve anywhere on the supply pipework to the cylinder?

Hiya - he didn’t show his ticket but i have his gas safe number. I have checked and cannot find anything similar to the black valve on the existing pipiework. I have attached pics of what i can see.

 

[snb]

if it only affected the shower then the fault is with the shower. But when these older megaflow cylinders start to fail the internal baffle breaks apart and can then block the hot feed on showers etc. This cylinder is at least 20 years old and replacing it maybe the right thing to do. But i would get someone to check the inlet on the shower to see if it is the baffle disintegrating.