Underfloor heating wet system

[claire stewart]

Hi there, i have a wet underfloor heating system that is about 17 years old, it runs off of 3 manifolds around the house. In the last 4 years almost all of the actuators popped off, 3 of them seem to have burned out as there is scorching and the smell of burning when they popped off. Is this likely just a sign of age or something more sinister? I have attached a picture of it’s sorry state! Some of them are stuck on others stuck off. As you can see I did have 2 of them replaced with taller rectangle shaped actuators, but one of them is not heating the room, the pipe I’d hot at the bottom of the manifold and tepid at the top. Also the small valve on the top right hand corner of 2 of the manifolds has started oozing a green black liquid from the top which is slowly dribbling down and staining the floor. Again, something simple or potentially serious? No one I have have spoken to has been able to help and I’m at my wits end, during the summer it was okay as the outside temp override saved me, but now it’s costing a small fortune! I hav3 attached pictures in the hope it may help?

 

[ShaunCorbs]

@Uheat – Jake @Uheat – Wojtek

As for the auto air vent best get that replaced as it's failed

 

[Chuck]

In the last 4 years almost all of the actuators popped off, 3 of them seem to have burned out as there is scorching and the smell of burning when they popped off. Is this likely just a sign of age or something more sinister

My guess is that the insulation inside the solenoid winding failed, the coil got very hot, the plastic softened and then the top jumped off. (It would have been nice if a fuse had blown before they got that hot.)

Anyway, scorching and burning smells coming from electrical equipment is a sign that something is not far from catching fire just below that nice dry woodwork a couple of inches above the actuators. Scorching/burning plastic can also give off dioxins and cyanide.

Those are all potentially pretty nasty. I'd advise you to stop using the system and get a heating engineer to replace the whole lot without further delay.

 

[oz-plumber]

Also, the temperature gauge is above 60 C.
The system should be running at 45 C.
Might be worth having someone go over the system

 

[Uheat – Jake]

With the nature of the system and how old the system is I'd say it's probably best to replace the manifold and mixing unit if it has one, as parts will be hard to come by now.

If you'd like a quote, please feel free to give us a call 01394 384077

 

[claire stewart]

With the nature of the system and how old the system is I'd say it's probably best to replace the manifold and mixing unit if it has one, as parts will be hard to come by now.

If you'd like a quote, please feel free to give us a call 01394 384077

Hi jake, thank you for offering but I’m in the highlands, struggling to find someone with enough knowledge to come and do the work up here. I did hav3 someone come and ch3ck the pipes with infa red camera and all was good, the company that supplied the system gave me a contact for a good engineer that could fix it, he reviewed the system and said the manifolds were fine but other work was needed and parts upgraded, but then He disappeared, I was warned he was unreliable, but I’m Amazed how few people up here have knowledge of ufh. And the few plumbers I have had in seem to have done more damage fiddling than help resolve and none of them come back, some don’t even ask for payment

 

[Rob Foster]

Hi there, i have a wet underfloor heating system that is about 17 years old, it runs off of 3 manifolds around the house. In the last 4 years almost all of the actuators popped off, 3 of them seem to have burned out as there is scorching and the smell of burning when they popped off. Is this likely just a sign of age or something more sinister? I have attached a picture of it’s sorry state! Some of them are stuck on others stuck off. As you can see I did have 2 of them replaced with taller rectangle shaped actuators, but one of them is not heating the room, the pipe I’d hot at the bottom of the manifold and tepid at the top. Also the small valve on the top right hand corner of 2 of the manifolds has started oozing a green black liquid from the top which is slowly dribbling down and staining the floor. Again, something simple or potentially serious? No one I have have spoken to has been able to help and I’m at my wits end, during the summer it was okay as the outside temp override saved me, but now it’s costing a small fortune! I hav3 attached pictures in the hope it may help?

View attachment 35581

View attachment 35582

Where are you based I know a man that could, they have 45 vans on the road, the md is m best friend. Rob Foster aka centralheatking

 

[claire stewart]

Where are you based I know a man that could, they have 45 vans on the road, the md is m best friend. Rob Foster aka centralheatking

Hi rob, I’m on the Black Isle, about 30 miles north of inverness

 

[Rob Foster]

Hi rob, I’m on the Black Isle, about 30 miles north of inverness

Wow ! That would hurt my friend ...I am in a board meeting with him tomorrow he likes puzzles Rob Foster aka centralheatking

 

[claire stewart]

Thank you everyone, I’m look8ng for an underfloor specialist in my area and will pass on all of your thoughts.