My little monster...

[Milavold]

My little monster turned down the thermostat to its lowest setting.. now the heating won't turn on.
We rent so I am unsure what to do, I tried turning the thermostat all the way to 21 and still nothing, all 3 pipes on the boiler are getting hot, the boiler will fire up to 75 then go down to only display the water pressure of 1.1 am I being daft here or is there a reason now why the heating wont turn back on again? We are getting hot water just fine. I just don't want to call the landlord or outsource an engineer if it is just a pressing a switch and a waiting game. Hopefully,I posted in the right place. I'm sure someone must have had the same problem and that surely turning the thermostat all the way down wouldn't just make the boiler break considering it is not displaying any error signals. Many thanks in advance,your advice is much appreciated!x

[Muchlywrong]

It is very likely to be a problem with the motorised valve, nothing to do with your child.
Sometimes, the system can be set up so that the heating won't run without the hot water also running at the same time, so best to check that out first. If the valve has been replaced recently, as your landlord seems to be suggesting, was the whole valve replaced, or just the head? If it was just the head, then the Draytons do have a tendency to get stuck and make it difficult for the valve motor to move. If so, it would be sensible to get your landlord to have the valve body replaced, any heating engineer should be able to find this out very quickly.
Another possibility is that when the valve was replaced, the wiring may not have been completed properly and you have a wire that is not always making contact.
The final possibility is that the motorised valve head is broken and needs replacing.
One way to know for definite yourself, is to remove the valve head from the valve body and see what happens when you start up the heating and hot water. It is relatively easy to remove on a drayton as there is a button on the side, to push in and lift off.

[Milavold]

I am still a bit confused.

My little monster turned the thermostat on LOWEST setting.

Motorised Diverter Valve ended up on W.

NO Heat for few days.

Toggled switch manually towards the M and turned on heating on control panel, switch automatically moved from M to H

Heating is on working,got too hot so turned heating off.

Ran hot water(as per google search) to investigate if the switch would automatically move from H to W.

Switch moved from H to W.

Now when trying to turn heating on this morning it will not move from W to H.

Switched water off on control panel and heating on, thermostat turned high.

No heating again.

Can someone advise me why the diverter switch automatically moves? It's not locked in and can move from H to W but now wont move from W to H.

I feel a very dumb!

[Milavold]

Yes,it has been boiler has been inspected,as well as as the gas. It has also had an annual boiler service and central heating checks too.

[PigletJohn]

if they are talking about a landlord's inspection, it's purpose is to see if the boiler is dangerous and liable to kill the tenant.

Not to see if it is in sturdy condition and can be guaranteed not to break down.

An annual service doesn't do that either (though it should detect this kind of fault if it has occurred prior to the service).

[Milavold]

@PigletJohn @VirtualHamster @Muchlywrong

it is the same diverter as this.
I am just happy to have heating. I messaged my landlord and they stated it did not need to be replaced as it was recently replaced and inspected by british gas and the landlordy even suggested that I do the same thing as you all suggested toggle the doodad. Is it meant to switch from H to W or stand in the M? As I toggled it to H as having no heat for two days was making us both sick.
The heater is on a programmable timer system,I just genuinely think it was the fact that children like to play with the mystery dial and turn it on the lowest setting and turn it back again thinking I wont notice.. so all I am assuming is that the lowest setting just made the diverter switch turn off the heat and toggle itself to the water side.
I am not sure what is more economical having the heating on all the time on timed intervals via timer or switching on the heating as and when I need it?

[PigletJohn]

monsters should not be able to make it go wrong. More likely there is still a fault, possibly in the 3-port valve motor, possibly in the thermostat, possibly in the wiring. If you have any wireless controls they are often the cause.

But if you have it working for now, you can afford to wait until the owners either come back, or answer your call. Presumably they have a regular gasman who does the servicing and safety checks.

You might find that the heat is permanently on, so the house gets too hot and your gas bill goes up. If so, you may be able to turn it off with the timer, or down with the boiler stat.

[Muchlywrong]

What make is it?

[VirtualHamster]

What you may have done is activated the override which means the heating now will always come on when the hot water is on (not a problem this time of year)

If you are in rented accommodation, I'd let your landlord know so they can have someone take a look at it as it may still need to be replaced but your heating should work fine in the meantime.

[Milavold]

MASSIVE THANKYOU FOR @PigletJohn @TheMorrigan76 and EVERYONE else who have commented... much love to all of you, it was the diverter switch!!!! You were all right! After watching a few youtube videos and everything it was the diverter switch! Toggles the switch and bam.. heating went on. Engineer tried to scam me big time! He did not even open up the boiler to have a look! Had a tool bag and said the diverter switch needed replacing when it doesn't it's all working.. I can only assume that when the little monster turned it down to the lowest setting that it pushed the diverter switch to the water only... thankyou so so so so so much everyone. Virtual hugs and have a wonderful weekend most importantly. Xoxox

[VirtualHamster]

There's normally an override, so you may be able to get the heating on, but it doesn't mean the diverter valve doesn't need replacing

[Milavold]

Hi everyone I did what you all said about the diverter valve switch... I moved it to the middle as per youtube videos with that kind of diverter switch and I will wait and see... if that engineer is scamming me I will give him a mouthful

[PigletJohn]

could you see a valve like any of the ones in my link?

[Milavold]

Hi everyone it's the diverter valve, I was told he had to order one and when I asked the engineer how much it would cost he said he didnt know. I am unsure if I am being scammed or not.

[Muchlywrong]

It sounds like your motorised/zone/actuator valve has got stuck shut. If you can find it from pigletjohns helpful link, there should be a switch on one end that you can push over to one side and clip it into position.

[PigletJohn]

OK.

What colour is the cylinder?

Near the cylinder or the boiler, can you see a pump?

Is it surprisingly hot (hotter than the pipes going into it)?

Can you see a motorised valve nearby? Are both (or all three) pipes equally hot?

If you bleed the highest radiator in the house, does water squirt out forcefully, and without dying away?

[Milavold]

Yes hot water cylinder and timer.
I have checked both. Tried contacting landlord but no luck as they are abroad.
Hot water working in schedule for timed.
Press central heating button on or set for timed and will trigger boiler in kitchen to heat with pilot flame but no luck both pipes on boiler in and out getting hot but no luck. I will call a engineer in tomorrow and fork out the money he probably will just flip a switch or turn a knob.
I've restarted the boiler a couple of times just wont work

[wowfudge]

It's Fault Finding in the manual - towards the back.

[wowfudge]

here's a link to a web page where you can download the manual

Try looking for trouble shooting.

[PigletJohn]

is there a hot-water cylinder?

is there a timer?

[Milavold]

It is a glow worm flexicom 18sx.
I am just playing the waiting game to see if it will turn on. The pipes are hot on the boiler, the radiators are ice cold.

[mencken]

why not call the landlord for advice? Sounds like there's a lot you don't know about this property.

[PigletJohn]

please describe this control panel

[TheMorrigan76]

Are you sure - have a wee look above it, it's often a bit hidden. If there is a reset button that'll do the trick too.

[Milavold]

Thanks so much for this, I will do it when I have some time. I have no idea where to turn off the boiler. All I have done is switch off the control panel in my bedroom and turn it on again and cranked up the thermostat in the hallway. The kitchen boiler has no plug or switch I can turn it off and on again?

[TheMorrigan76]

OP, if you can't post a pic, upload it here and paste the link to us -m.imgur.com/ and then we can see it :)

I had the same issue and sort of had to reboot the boiler by turning the thermostat up to maximum and then turning the boiler off and on - maybe try that?