Noisy Boiler

[CarHire101]

I’m currently private renting (temporary 12 month contract and own my property in another city miles away).
I’ve had all sorts of trouble with heating which I feel is now down to a very sensitive thermostat. It needs adjusting a lot to get heating going.
Now the boiler has suddenly become very very loud with gurgling noises which is all new. Asked the landlord and apparently GCS expires January but there’s been no sign of it since I moved in. Should I be worried?

gurgling is probably air circulating in the pipes.

common in old systems with a small feed and expansion tank in the loft, that have been neglected. The boiler would have no pressure gauge.

Water and sludge are not gas items so I don't suppose the gas safety certificate will have any interest in it. If that's what it is, it will get worse, until there is a blockage and it stops working. This will cost more to repair than if it is dealt with sooner.

There should be a copy of the GSC in the rental file. You can also look it up online I think, but irrespective of that, get the landlord to have someone look at it today, boilers on the fritz in winter are horrible

Thanks piglet and loofah- funny enough boiler has today stopped firing now with a continuous humming noise! So no heating and hot water will run out I’m sure! I knew this would happen and I did warn him. Landlord can only get plumber by Friday! He says we should just put up with the old and wear jumpers!

Sorry cold*

If it is as old as I think, it probably has a hot water cylinder. What colour and size?

There is probably an immersion heater. Do you know how to turn it on? If not, please post photos.

If you can get into the loft you might be able to get it going again, if the plumber takes a long time to appear.

Thanks again piglet
No access to the loft for sure! I think we will borrow some heaters and use the gym for showers... we don’t feel ok about attempting repair as the landlord is the type to apportion blame to the tenant. Also rent is very high for what it is.

Some pictures of boiler and not water cylinder

yes, I see you have a yellow-insulated cylinder, around 30 years old, and it has an electric immersion heater. It will take around 90 minutes to heat the cylinder, after which the thermostat will automatically turn it off. If you follow the thick, white, rubbery flex from the black cap on the top, it probably goes to a switch on the wall.

The first time you use it, do it during the day when you are at home and awake (not in bed) and feel the temperature of the hot water after an hour and a half, or use a thermometer, and then again after another hour. It should be not hotter the second time than the first. If it is scaldingly hot, you have another fault, which can be very dangerous, so I would only turn it on for an hour at a time, and have an urgent repair. Possibly there is some kind of time switch.

The fault I allude to is quite rare, and modern immersion heaters have an additional overheat cutout in case the thermostat should fail, but it is worth checking on an old one like yours.

Hi Piglet.. thanks again! Are you saying that we should still be able to get hot water at least despite boiler not working via this electric immersion heater?

I’m now really worried about the fault and would rather not touch anything. The landlord advised that we only need to set the timer with the switches (I’ll post a picture) to twice a day and we should get hot water. When I use the shower there is a really loud noise from the cupboard which I presume is the small black box/connected to the cylinder.

Also we looked up the boiler and it looks to be a model that is over 30-40 years old! Is it possible to repair it or will he likely need to replace? We are wondering how long that will take and if to move out temporarily.

Sorry this system is all new to me as I have combo boiler.

Here are the pictures of switches on the wall connected to white wire from the cylinder

1. Yes, the switch with the glowing neon

1. The timer is for the boiler, not the immersion heater

1. The loud noise is the shower pump

1. Probably

Thanks piglet,

That switch is on all the time so we should hopefully have hot water for showers all the time.

Regarding point 4 just to clarify are you think the boiler is unlikely to be repairable due to its age (it’s a potterton netaheat). I’m thinking parts would be difficult to get and we now wonder how long all of this will take...

Netaheat was a very good boiler 40 years ago.

I wouldn't think there are many still going. I think the oldest one down my road was scrapped due to flue and case corrosion (coastal site) around ten years ago.

There are still Profiles, which was a development of the Netaheat and also very good. Enthusiasts seem able to get new or reconditioned parts for them.

I suspect the problem on your system will be circulation related to a sludge blockage, which is more of a plumbing than a boiler fault

but the landlord might get talked into swapping for a new combi.

BTW when (if) you have a working gas boiler, it will be more economical than the electric immersion heater.

goodness me! there still are Netheat parts available.

Thank you so much piglet!