Any plumbers or central heating guys in the forum..?

[caveman_nige]

Guys

Do we have a plumber or central heating guy in the forum. If so and you don't mind me picking your brains can you let me know.

I will give you a basic outline of my dilema. My mum's house has a heating system which is crap in my opionion but thats subjective. The boiler (convector/combi) is only a few years old and is in her kitchen extension downstairs. There is an imersion heater in the airing cupboard upstairs. The heating sytems and hot water is controlled from a control in the kitchen also just a few years old. The pipework is that crap microcore stuff that was in fashion at the time (about 20 years ago). Now the problem is the rads upstairs get hot but the rads downstairs just a get a little warm. All the rads have thermostatic valves and numerous plumbers have either just come round and balanced the system (not) or added those valves. Each year its the same old problem and its starting to piss me off.

Basically what am I looking at as being the source of this problem, and what can be done about it, I am fed up with people ripping her off and more than inclined to rip out the existing pipework and install proper pipes and new more efficient rads to be done with it. However I am sure their is a proper and less expensive solution.

Thanks in advance....

Cavey

[aftermath]

have you tried bleeding your radiators, especially the ones that are not heating up fully.

Also check your model number of your boiler, and make sure it will work as many radiators as you have installed.

you could also try turning some of them off, the ones you dont use or dont need to use.

[caveman_nige]

Sure mate, bleeding them was the first thing i tried but to no avail. Boiler was fitted by British Gas so I would hope they knew what they were doing but that is a valid point and i will look into it...

[smokey_jnr]

it's probably to do with the boiler not supporting the number of radiators you have... one way to check this would be to turn all the upstairs radiators off and then check the ones downstairs and see what happens...

if downstairs radiators warm up like they should then what you could try to do depending on your mum's age and health you could get warmfront in to re-insulate the house and possible help towards getting the boiler changed..

[caveman_nige]

Will be going around there tomorrow to see what the boiler is etc and try balancing the rads again. Can't do it tonight as it cheap voddy night....

[caveman_nige]

Ok the boiler is a Glow Worm 18HXi. I am thinking more along the lines of the pipes being this crappy micro bore stuff and are clogged. As we know copper obviously reacts with water and as the pipe diameter is so small the crap cannot get through. I have just been advised by a somebody in the pub i am sitting in necking vodka that she should have been putting an inhibitor in her header tank.... Does this sound right....?

[smoggie]

not a plumber, but i know you do put inhibitor in the cold water tank to stop corrosion/build up of shit. think it should be done once a year

[caveman_nige]

thats exactly what i was told a few minutes ago, and she has never been told this since she bought the house 7 years ago.

[thered]

im no heating expert but i have installed a couple of heating systems with help i might add off a bloke who knows someone with a corgi

the inhibitor is a device i believe which is a bit like a filter and is supposed to attract the shit as the water flows buy

if you think it may be the pipes just bleed the full system with a hose i did mine not so long back and ~~~~ me a got some black shi*e out of the system then i took all my radiators off and shot the hosepipe in to give it a squirt out this also cleaned a load of crap out

im not saying this is the problem but if you feel for certain its the old pipes i would try to give it a good clean out it will definately help the flow at least and save the pump a bit of work

[caveman_nige]

to my limited knowledge of plumbing and central heating systems (have had a few ripped out and replaced in my short life) the inbibitor is a liquid that we put in the system to stop crap build up. I had a 'device' attached to my own system that stopped the calcium build up etc, but she does not need one of these... But I had no header tank... Therefore i am unfamiliar with how hers work which frustrates me as a 'have a go man'. I am the type a guy that needs to know how things work in my house, I am sure many of you guys are just the same. However this is my old mum's house and therefore falls under my area of DIY and 24hr callout (like many others here). It will cost me and not her to fix this as she cannot afford it...

We just wanna know where to go with it. keep the info coming guys... All much appreciated....

DK is the best forum.....

[smoggie]

i put my liquid inhibitor in the small plastic tank (in loft] thats tops up my heating system. probably wouldnt put it in as regular as i do but i get the stuff free of my bro who works for a plumbing firm. i still get that black shite though in my radiators though.

[johnboythompson]

johnboythompson

WHEN YOU BLEED RADIATORS YOU DID NOT HAVE CENTRAL SYSTEM RUNNING AS THIS ALLOWS AIR TO BE PULLED BACK INTO SYSTEM THIS IS A COMMON MISTAKE MAY SOUND SILLY BUT DOES HAPPEN

[smoggie]

as i say no expert, but i would
1: bleed radiators first, if no joy
2: as someone else suggested, connect hose pipe to downstairs radiator(draining it outside the house) and open valve so that system starts emptying itself/refilling and leave it doing this this for about 10 mins to see if it gets rids of any air locks

[HiTeck]

May need draining as advised then a cleaning agent to flush it through,

Have a read through this, theres also lots of other help on their.

How To Drain A Central Heating System

[teddyz]

Hi there,
like everyone else here i`m not a plumber but had the same prob as you .First i bled the rads but didn`t sort it fully. I had a gurgling sound in the boiler when it was on so i called an expert who checked a valve underneath the boiler and serviced it as he was there. He said the valve was set wrong and it was allowing air to get in or build up in the system.I wouldn`t take any chances with a boiler mate tooooo dodgey.Hope this is some help.

Cheers,
Teddyz