Removed radiator no - now no hot water or heating

[Robomonkey]

Hi all

I drained my system earlier because I broke the radiator feed below the valve trying to undo the tightest nut in the world (still can't undo it with the rad off the wall!), anyway I've fixed the problem reinstalled a new valve and capped them off.

however now I have no hot water or heating, when I turn the boiler electrics back on I can hear the Groundfos pump upstairs start, but I don't hear the boiler fire up, the pump runs and gets very hot.

ill post some pictures in the next reply.

When I drained the system I did the following:
1. Turned the boiler mains off and switched the heating to off
2. Closed the gate valve from the small f&e tank
3. Also closed the gate valve on the heating circuit
4. Finally for luck also closed the hot water cylinder feed gate valve

5. Then I put a hose on the drain radiator downstairs and opened it
6. After awhile I opened the upstairs bleed valves then the downstairs

7. Then I did my repairs and capped the rad valves
8. Then I reopened all the gate valves and listened to the system fill up
9. Finally after a bit of groaning i bled all the rads from the bottom up and turned the boiler electrics back on

my system is a traditional vented system installed in 1994.

 

[Robomonkey]

ah crap, just realized ive posted in the wrong forum, could a mod move me please.

 

[CXR100]

air lock i guess?? it could even be that you snaped the gate valve , did you definatley get water out of the rads when bleeding?

 

[jase158]

Try leaving it on with just hot water on, make sure any air valves in airing cupboard are bled as well.

 

[Robomonkey]

cant seem to upload images directly so I put them here ImageShack® - Online Photo and Video Hosting ImageShack® - Online Photo and Video Hosting ImageShack® - Online Photo and Video Hosting

 

[Robomonkey]

Some more info,

ive re-bled all the rads, no air, and plenty of water coming out.

i can't find any bleed valves in the airing cucupboard.

Both f&e tanks are full and working, I.e. topping them selves up

 

[jase158]

the brass thing above pump with red lid on it!!

 

[jase158]

open red bit anti clockwise, like a car tyre

 

[Robomonkey]

Hi

Thanks do you mean the dead end bit, that looks like an ejector seat button?

isnt that meant to be automatic?

 

[jase158]

yes they are meant to be automatic but are prone to leak so many people leave them shut,

 

[Robomonkey]

That's awesome, you won't believe how much air came out of that.

I've now turned the boiler electrics back on, and the water is gurgling like crazy with the pump pumping water around, but the boiler hasn't actually fired up.

Should I leave this for awhile? Because I can hear the water gurgling that must mean air is still in the system will that eventually find its way to the aav?

 

[jase158]

yes, leave it open, turn system on for 10 minutes then turn off for 30 seconds and turn back on, keep doing this until boiler fires

 

[Koogatubac]

Dont bleed your radiators with the pump going, its most likely SUCKING the air into your heating circuit not BLEEDING the air out.

It sounds the exact same as bleeding radiators

 

[Robomonkey]

Thanks Jase158

The gurgling has virtually stopped now, but still no boiler, ill try the on\off system (do boilers run on Windows then)

 

[Robomonkey]

Thanks Koogatubac, the rad bleeding was done with the pump off cos I was scared it would burn itself out with no water. Anyways water was coming out of all the rads as opposed to air going in.

just need to boiler to fire now.

 

[jase158]

(do boilers run on Windows then)

not sure what you mean but the air will stay in the pipe and build up, when you switch boiler off it releases it and moves it upstairs, eventually it will move enough to get circulation around the system. may still have air in system and some rads may not work but should get system up and running

 

[Robomonkey]

Lol, sorry bad bad joke, I was referring to the 'turn it off and on again' magic fix that fixes most computer problems.

tried it 3-4 times, so far no luck

 

[jase158]

can you hear it gurgling when doing it?

 

[Robomonkey]

Not gurgling anymore, but small amounts of sloshing? I can hear water moving as soon as the pump starts.

as an aside, there's no more air in the aav

 

[jase158]

is there a reset on boiler? turn boiler off, turn power off, turn back on, does it make any noises?

 

[Robomonkey]

What should it cost to have an engineer look at this, and service the boiler at the same time?

 

[Robomonkey]

How do I turn the boiler off, as opposed to turning the power off?

 

[jase158]

depends where you live and what's wrong, but you need an Gas safe registered engineer to come and have a look as not much more advice I can give you

 

[jase158]

just had a look at pictures, turn the dial on front to the left, does it turn off completely?

 

[jase158]

look into the little hole, is there a pilot light? (small flame?)

 

[Robomonkey]

WOOT! It's working, found a reset button underneath, frightened the life out of me, laying on the worktop, when it fired up!

jase158, you've been very helpful, thanks for your time.

 

[jase158]

that's ok, wasn't sure if you had to take cover off so couldn't point you to it, but glad you got it sorted. if any rads aren't working, turn the rest off and leave one on until it gets hot, then move round the system until you get them all hot. (common problem with airlocks) boiler service should be between £50 and £100 depending where you are

 

[anz]

Good to hear that it's working.



I'd still recommend that you get the boiler serviced by a local engineer though.
It'd give you peace of mind knowing that it's safe and any other problems should be pointed out.

 

[Robomonkey]

I searched the forums for awhile before posting, and while I found several posts with the exact issue the OPs never actually posted the answers, or how they solved the problem.

so...

After bleeding all the rads, I needed to bleed the automatic air valve in the airing cupboard, this looks like an ejector seat button, and if you search google for pictures of a 'Bottle air vent' you'll see what I mean.

After that I had to reset my boiler, which luckily for me the reset button was accessible without taking the cover off, having read a lot about boilers in the last two hours, please don't open one yourself, call an engineer.

 

[Robomonkey]

I intend to get it serviced Monday if I can get somebody.

I can still hear water moving about, will that sort itself out?

 

[anz]

Post your location, perhaps someone local could assist?

 

[Robomonkey]

Ok, worth a shot, I'm in Norwich, if any gas-safe ppl are free sat/mon and fancy servicing a boiler PM me.

The water sound is like a whooshing, like the pump pushing a load of water through, but the e&f tank is full and all the valves are open.