Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Property/DIY

Join our Property forum for renovation, DIY, and house selling advice.

Original poster

Heating/Plumbing problems

24 replies

MrsKoala · 05/02/2015 06:03

Not sure what could be wrong - we moved into a victorian house which had a boiler needing replacing. So we did and the heating worked fine for a few weeks then gradually 3 radiators stopped completely and all the rest need constant bleeding (every few hours). I bled them all last night before bed at 10.30 and have got up at 5.30 to find them all need bleeding again Confused

We have that crappy external pipe central heating and the pipes clang like you wouldn't believe.

I called the plumber who did the boiler out and he bled them all/did something and they all came on, but within a day it was back the same and the plumber now is ignoring our calls.

I will call another plumber out today but i wondered if anyone new what it could be? I'm worried they are going to say we need a whole new CH system.

Thanks

OP posts:
schmalex · 05/02/2015 06:05

Is it a pressurised system? I think it's a leak somewhere if so.

Original poster
MrsKoala · 05/02/2015 06:10

i don't know. how would i check?

OP posts:
PrimalLass · 11/02/2015 14:52

Hope you're OK MrsK? Your other epic thread has disappeared.

Original poster
MrsKoala · 11/02/2015 19:07

Yes thanks, plodding on. Heating still not working. called a few plumbers out who say there's sludge in the system and it needs flushing thru but then none ever come back and don't answer my calls - too small a job i think. sigh. So i have fan heaters constantly on the go, costing us a fortune.

One plumber said to call next Weds and he would then be able to check his diary about the following 2 weeks. Cheers, 2 small children and the middle of winter, but no rush!

OP posts:
PigletJohn · 11/02/2015 19:12

does your boiler have a pressure valve on the front?

Original poster
MrsKoala · 11/02/2015 19:13

yes, pressure is fine.

OP posts:
PigletJohn · 11/02/2015 19:15

In that case it is extremely curious that it need repeated bleeding.

When it was installed, was the system powerflushed?

Have you got a benchmark certificate specifying the installation?

Original poster
MrsKoala · 11/02/2015 19:20

the boiler was installed in oct. the plumber put it in when i wasn't living on site so i have no idea what he did really. i called him out when the living room rad stopped and he chased an air bubble thru and it came on but then went off after 24hrs. He has never returned my calls after that.

i don't know what a benchmark cert is. what is it and what does it look like?

OP posts:
Original poster
MrsKoala · 11/02/2015 19:21

the people who have looked at it think it's strange and just say the rads probably have sludge in and need new valves.

OP posts:
PigletJohn · 11/02/2015 19:52

In the back of the instruction book for the boiler, or perhaps separately, there will be a certificate that the installer is supposed to fill out and give to you.

Presumably he was Gas-Safe registered and has notified it, but please check.

The manufacturers installation instructions are pretty certain to have said that if the new boiler is installed in old pipes or radiators, the system must be powerflushed before the boiler is installed, and may specify what corrosion inhibitor is to be added.

If you paid the installer, and he did not follow the manufacturer's instructions, then the manufacturer's guarantee will not cover problems caused by sludge.

I am not a heating engineer, but IIRC if you contact Gas Safe (use my link above) they can confirm if the installation has been notified, as it must be by law.

PigletJohn · 11/02/2015 19:54

See the On Completion section

PigletJohn · 11/02/2015 19:56

And Building Regulations

AryaUnderfoot · 11/02/2015 20:00

OP, does your council publish all planning applications/building control applications online?

If so, you may be able to look and see if your plumber has (as building regs require them to) notified them of the installation of a new boiler.

With our council I can search for our property and see that all the replacement windows and new boiler have been notified.

Quodlibet · 11/02/2015 20:04

Sorry to high jack thread OP but PigletJohn, since you are here do you have any idea what could be causing a pressure drop on our GCH system? I top up the system to 1.5 bars, then 2 days later it's back down to 1 bar again, though it doesn't seem to fall below this. Heating and hot water working fine - poss just a rad leak somewhere?

silverfingersandtoes · 11/02/2015 20:14

Just a thought. i have a been renovating a large Victorian house - thought I was getting to the end of it. It was completely stripped back a couple of years ago and at that time all the pipework was sorted out, though not replaced, new boiler, new rads. Two (adjoining) rooms have never been warm enough to sit in comfortably, and the rads have been bled and balanced numeruus times to no lasting effect. Heating engineers recently installed a pump, such as they have in B&Bs, on the boiler but it hasn't really helped either. Latest work (on a bathroom) has now knocked out all the heating on the ground floor, and the thinking now is that the problem is the actual pipes theselves - some are only 10mm and probably insufficient water is getting through to the rads they serve.

PigletJohn · 11/02/2015 20:22

Quodlibet

you have a leak.

start by looking. outside, at the wall behind the boiler, where a small copper pipe comes out and bends round so that any escaping water squirts against the wall, not on passers by. Also look underneath all radiators and pipes.

Quodlibet · 11/02/2015 20:50

Thanks Piglet John. I've found a slow drip underneath my towel rail, and a damp end to one rad. Would this be enough to cause a half-bar drop? And can I just tighten them to try to stop the leaks?

PigletJohn · 11/02/2015 20:52

you can try.

No more than a quarter turn, or you may make it more difficult to take apart and remake the joint. If the pipe itself starts to bend or twist, stop.

Original poster
MrsKoala · 11/02/2015 23:01

I've just checked and all i can find is a registration form he filled out for me to send off registering the boiler for the 2 year warranty.

He asked me for payment on completion and said he couldn't register it till i had paid. Which i did. But i have no receipt that he registered it like he said.

OP posts:
PigletJohn · 11/02/2015 23:36

so you may have paid for something he hasn't done?

Try to find out tomorrow.

BTW he is not supposed to withold notification awaiting payment. The notification is that he has done the work, it is not a notification that he has been paid.

Original poster
MrsKoala · 11/02/2015 23:44

Sorry - how would i find out? Do i contact the council?

OP posts:
PigletJohn · 11/02/2015 23:58

IIRC if you contact Gas Safe (use my link above) they can confirm if the installation has been notified, as it must be by law.

Original poster
MrsKoala · 12/02/2015 10:34

Ah yes, sorry Piglet - you did post that upthread.

I have called Gas Safe and Worcester Bosch and they have no record of it being registered. I have emailed the plumber to ask where he registered it and that it should be powerflushed on installation and that now we have sludge build up and it's not working.

He is registered as a boiler/gas installer, so i could report him i suppose.

OP posts:
Original poster
MrsKoala · 13/02/2015 09:04

I have had an email back saying he had registered it with Gas Safe but they 'have a backlog so will chase it up' (funny how he has ignored all my messages till i mentioned it wasn't registered).

He can squeeze us in next weds avo to come and look at it. He says he powerflushed it thru on installation so it can't be that.

OP posts:
New posts on this thread. Refresh page
Swipe left for the next trending thread