potterton flamingo 50

[loznicholls]

my heating recently stopped working. although the timer came on in the morning and the pump started ,the boiler did not fire but the pilot light was on. We flushed the system out a few times and put some stuff in to flush out the sludge. it worked ok for that evening but the next day the boiler stopped firing again it will only fire if you manually do it with the min max switch and the it only fires for three minutes and then goes of for about 10, but sometimes it will not fire up at all once we have initially done it manually. i had to have my thermocouple changed last year and the year before could this be causing the problem this year. many thanks loz

 

[baxpoti]

it only fires for three minutes and then goes of for about 10,

Sounds like poor circulation
check the pump is actually moving the water

 

[JohnD]

If you have been desludging it then maybe some of the loose sludge lodged in the pump and jammed it. It is also possible (but less likely) that sludge has collected into a blockage somewhere.

A jammed pump that is trying to run will be too hot to hold your hand against, and hotter than the pipes on either side of it.

If the pump is OK, try bleeding an upstairs radiator to make sure the water squirts out well with plenty of pressure.

When you do get the boiler to fire for a few minutes, do the pump, the electric valve, the pipes to the cylinder and the radiator pipes all get hot? Or none of them? Some of them?

 

[loznicholls]

If you have been desludging it then maybe some of the loose sludge lodged in the pump and jammed it. It is also possible (but less likely) that sludge has collected into a blockage somewhere.

A jammed pump that is trying to run will be too hot to hold your hand against, and hotter than the pipes on either side of it.

If the pump is OK, try bleeding an upstairs radiator to make sure the water squirts out well with plenty of pressure.

When you do get the boiler to fire for a few minutes, do the pump, the electric valve, the pipes to the cylinder and the radiator pipes all get hot? Or none of them? Some of them?

they all get hot but we have a problem with getting the radiators hot to the downstairs. We have twelve radiators to run, will chnge the pump as it sounds likely this is the problem will a 15/50 be adequate or do we need a bigger pump

 

[JohnD]

Have you balanced the rads, and do you have Thermostativc valves?

 

[loznicholls]

Have you balanced the rads, and do you have Thermostativc valves?

yes we have thermostatic valves but we have not balanced the rads yet. Do you think the pump we suggested would be suitable

regards

loz

 

[JohnD]

I don't know what the trouble is yet.

You say "they all get hot" when the boiler is running for 3 minutes. In that case, the pump must be circulating the water.

But the boiler cutting out sounds like the boiler is overheating. I would not have expected that to happen if the water is being circulated.

I wonder if the normal thermostat on the boiler is not cutting off once the water has reached normal temperature and so it is overheating. If you turn the Flamingo's thermostat to "min" does it stop firing sooner than if you set it to "max"? Does it make banging and clonking noises as it is getting hot?

I am not a CH person and I can't see what the cause of the problem is.

 

[Soggy_weetabix]

Some basics here...

Will boiler fire?
YES...boiler unlikely to be at fault.

Will the hot water and heating circuit work?

Yes, then ignore the 1st comment.

Do rads get over hot?

If yes, you have a ranco stat that maybe can be recalibrated. BUT not always.

David