Hello, I have an issue I would like some assistance with to understand if there is a fault or the system is working by design. My Mother has a Glow worm Flexicom 18HX system boiler, it is a vented unpressurised system, boiler downs stairs and water flows upstairs to airing cupboard where a combination cylinder is housed with a tamper proof stat which has no external dial. Within airing cupboard there is a new Magnaclean/Grundfos pump fitted this past month, from pump the pipe work leads to a 3 port valve body however there is a bypass (not sure if needed to be opened) before the valve, A goes to heating, B to cylinder, new Drayton actuator fitted as well this past month. No expansion vessel or pressure gauge within the system.
My question is that when the heating is switched on and boiler called upon, the actuator moves to Mid position and then heats both hot water and the rads but the rads heat very slowly, I find that the 5 rads upstairs heat first before the 5 rads downstairs do. The boiler is set to water temp 82c which over the years numerous boiler plumbers/engineers have said it should be.
I would rather have heating take priority when the heating is turned on rather than heat the hot water as well which seems a waste of gas/energy. I find that when the valve is set to Mid position the override lever has no resistance in it so can't move the valve to Heating. I have recorded the behaviour of the system this weekend which is below:
9pm turned on call for heating - boiler shows water temp 30c, valve moves to M
9.10pm the upstairs radiators start to warm up nothing downstairs, valve at M
9.20pm upstairs rads continue to warm, of the 5 rads downstairs 2 show some heat
9.30pm upstairs rads continue to heat up, rads in lounge and dining room no heat the other show some heat, valve at M, unable to move to H, no resistance in actuator
10pm upstairs rads are reasonably hot compared to downstairs, boiler showing water temp at 67c, decide to turn down water temp on boiler from 82c to 65c, the valve immediately moves to H
10.15pm rads downstairs show some improvement in heat, decide to set water temp back to 82c, valve stays on H
10.30pm lounge rad heating up well, boiler water temp 78c, dining rad heating up too but not as much as lounge
10.37pm boiler showing water temp up to 81c, all rads are hot to touch
12am turned stat down to 15c to turn boiler call off
12.30am room stat turns boiler back on
12.40am check boiler water temp at 76c, check rads not really warming up, check valve set to W, try to move to H (theres resistance) it moves back to W immediately.
I have been reading on how the actuator works (resistors etc), I am wondering if the programmer is not functioning correctly and giving the right voltage to the actuator therefore its not behaving as I want/expect.
Any suggestions would be appreciated, thanks
My question is that when the heating is switched on and boiler called upon, the actuator moves to Mid position and then heats both hot water and the rads but the rads heat very slowly, I find that the 5 rads upstairs heat first before the 5 rads downstairs do. The boiler is set to water temp 82c which over the years numerous boiler plumbers/engineers have said it should be.
I would rather have heating take priority when the heating is turned on rather than heat the hot water as well which seems a waste of gas/energy. I find that when the valve is set to Mid position the override lever has no resistance in it so can't move the valve to Heating. I have recorded the behaviour of the system this weekend which is below:
9pm turned on call for heating - boiler shows water temp 30c, valve moves to M
9.10pm the upstairs radiators start to warm up nothing downstairs, valve at M
9.20pm upstairs rads continue to warm, of the 5 rads downstairs 2 show some heat
9.30pm upstairs rads continue to heat up, rads in lounge and dining room no heat the other show some heat, valve at M, unable to move to H, no resistance in actuator
10pm upstairs rads are reasonably hot compared to downstairs, boiler showing water temp at 67c, decide to turn down water temp on boiler from 82c to 65c, the valve immediately moves to H
10.15pm rads downstairs show some improvement in heat, decide to set water temp back to 82c, valve stays on H
10.30pm lounge rad heating up well, boiler water temp 78c, dining rad heating up too but not as much as lounge
10.37pm boiler showing water temp up to 81c, all rads are hot to touch
12am turned stat down to 15c to turn boiler call off
12.30am room stat turns boiler back on
12.40am check boiler water temp at 76c, check rads not really warming up, check valve set to W, try to move to H (theres resistance) it moves back to W immediately.
I have been reading on how the actuator works (resistors etc), I am wondering if the programmer is not functioning correctly and giving the right voltage to the actuator therefore its not behaving as I want/expect.
Any suggestions would be appreciated, thanks
