Please Pigletjohn!

[SantaClauseMightWork]

I badly need your help to save us from freezing in our home.
We tried to put the central heating on timer. It is not enough and I want to override the timer but can't. I want to be able to switch it on and off manually, like I used to.
I have no idea what I was doing when I did this. It is an ancient system and I can't really afford to get an electrician or plumber to look at it for me.
Please please help me!

Like this.

OK. Did the boiler then ignite?

Can you see the pipes coming out of the boiler? Is one hotter than the other?

Now, look at the cylinder. Observe it has a round black plastic cap at a jaunty angle on the top. That's the electric immersion heater. It should be turned off. Follow the thick flex, it will go to an outlet or switch on the wall. Is it off?

What should happen now and when? Thank you so much pigletjohn. You must be on holidays and being very patient with me

I hope the boiler will ignite and the pipe coming out of it will heat up.

Is the immersion heater turned off? It sounds like the tapwater is scaldingly hot. We can fix that.

Boiler did not do anything. And still not doing anything.

In fact, it just switched on as I type this. About ten min after I put the black switch between max and min.

There are two main pipes coming out the boiler too. Both are equally warm, not hot. I can hold them forever. That was the case when I turned the black thing halfway. Don't know if they are turning hot as boiler switches on.

I think that by "thick flex", you mean the one single large wire sort of thing coming out of the black cap. I sort of followed it. Look at the pics of how I followed it. It is going int othe wall of the cupboard. This wall has two switches exactly opposite this wire on the other side of the wall; the switch on left hand side (the one at "off" right now) is directly above this wire. the other switch (with the fuse in it), is what I switch off and on again to fire up the boiler when we are freezing.

The switches on the other side are like this right now

Wait five minutes.

Just checked the boiler pipes. One of them is scalding hot. The other one just bearable.
However, the black switch has again sprung back to min. look at the pic I just took

The switch on the right hand side, with the fuseholder, might be the boiler.

The switch on the left, with a neon indicator and no fuse, is probably the immersion heater.

Later, when you have verified that by seeing what comes on and off when you switch them, you can write labels for the switches. As the cylinder is currently very hot, the immersion heater will probably not come on, even though the neon may light.

Find a permanent marker, and put "F" on the hot pipe and "R" on the less hot pipe. If the pipes are too dirty to write on, rub them clean with a green pan scourer and a bit of soapy water.

It's for Flow and Return.

Have any of the radiators warmed up?

I am sure that the one on the right hand (the one with a fuse) is the boiler. So the other one must be immersion heater.

Right now, all radiators are hot and the boiler is on. I don't understand how the black switch sprung back to zero. There is some sort of spring in there which is pushing against me turning it.
It just occurred to me: do I turn the black switch on boiler clockwise or anti-clockwise to take it halfway between min and max? I did anyoclowise. Should I try the other way?

And the boiler is off again.
I am marking the pipes right now.

Boiler is on again!

When the radiators have all heated, the R pipe will get hotter, and the boiler will stop firing.

The knob might be hard to turn when it reaches the end stop, and easy to turn through its normal travel.

Probably the spindle that the knob fits on is round, with a flat down one side, so it is "D" shaped in cross-section, and the knob has a "D" shaped hole to fit. It's possible to knob is turning and the spindle isn't, and the knob is slipping back. With a torch you might possibly be able to see the spindle, and if it is moving when you turn the knob. You should not use more than light finger pressure.

If the "F" pipe is too hot to hold, that's hot enough.

Just heard from their customer support again. This is their response.

"The thermostat in the picture on the 'boiler'. This is the hot water cylinder and this thermostat controls the hot water temperature. 60 is generally about right for that but it will have no effect on the central heating.

If there is no room thermostat then the heating should come on if the slider is in the 24 hours position.

From the picture you programmed to come on at 07:30 am go off at 01:45 pm, come back on at 7 pm and go off at night at 11pm.

As previously advised, without knowledge of the system it is assumed that if you set to 24 hrs and the heating does not come on that the programmer is faulty.

Thank you"

Please photograph your thermostatic radiator valves next.

You can also mark the large "F" and "R" pipes in the airing cupboard, especially the one connected to the pump. Don't mark the three pipes connected to the three-port valve with the square box on it, yet.

I have just tried to turn it again. Very lightly. I used a torch to see what was moving behind the switch. I have marked it with red. That's the bit that was moving. The other copper bit was stationary.
I also heard a click and the boiler fired up again.
But the switch is slowly moving back to min again.

Hats off to you PigletJohn. You're a wonder.

Here are the pics of radiator valves.
All of them are identical to this and, right now, this radiator is boiling hot.
I have also checked the cyclinder pipes again. I can just about hold the one on top (so i marked it Return) and can't hold the other one (side one) at all (so marked it Flow).

All the radiators are hot right now and I can hear whirring in the background (near the cupboard where the cylinder is). The boiler is off right now.

Update. Everything has cooled down and the place is slowly starting to get cold.

It's very curious that the knob on the boiler returns to min.

Put a spot of tippex or something on the top when it is at min, then turn it up and observe what the spindle does.

Look for any maker and model names, or a dataplate that should be somewhere on the boiler and might be exposed dur to the missing lower cover.

Without the pipe thermometers it's difficult to know if the boiler is reaching overheat temp.

Turn the cylinder stat down by five degrees, and tomorrow see if it is still scalding. If you have a kitchen thermometer, take the temperature of the hot water.

Looking at your timer-programmer, in your latest photo the dial was between 2 and 3, so it should have been at the "2" setting (HW off) but through a little indicator window I see a number "3." This might be due to pressing the "Advance" button. Observe it and see if the number catches up with the timer next time the numbered tappets go round.

The whirring you can hear is probably the pump (dark red, two pipes, black label, probably marked "Grunfoss." The motorised valve (three pipes, square metal cover) can also whir, but only for a few seconds at a time. The pump should whir all the time the system is trying to heat either radiators or cylinder.

If you have a room thermometer, note the temperatures of the rooms when radiators are heating, and when off. Just in case there should be a concealed thermostat somewhere.

Look out for a grey or cream plastic box, about the size of a book, with several cables going into it. May be near the boiler.

"Put a spot of tippex or something on the top" of the spindle.

you can put one on the knob as well, to see if they stay lined up.

p.s.

when you turn the cylinder stat down, you will eventually hear it click, and you might hear the motorised valve whir for a few seconds, as it shuts off the supply of heat to the cylinder. That's what it should do.

Did you manage to try seeing if the boiler turns on and behaves in the same way if the Central Heating is set to 24hr but the Hot Water is set to off?

Trying to assess whether the hot water setting is impacting your central heating behaviour.