New Boiler - New Problems, Spoof translations required.

thewintermute

Hey,

Apologies for the wall of text in advance.
Long story short-er...

3 bed Semi, approx 18-20yrs old, Closed Heating system, gravity fed from tank in the attic with one way valve on the feed pipe, 10 rads. No connector from mains to heating circuit. Pressure used to sit around 0.5 Bar.

Old Potterton Boiler went Kaput, got a nice chap in to do a new boiler install and powerflush. Went with recommendation of a Worcester Bosch Greenstar 24I. Good bit dearer than a Baxi, but good reviews, so went for it.

Pressure on the Greenstar after install was zero, to about 1mm above zero.
I figured this wasn't right but was informed by the installer that it's fine. Pressure not required for a Greenstar, wouldn't fire if it wasn't right etc, etc. I wasn't entirely convinced, but heating was working well....
(installer had cranked it up to the max setting, past the safety when leaving, I dialled it down to the top setting of 6 after I noticed)

Fine for a few days anyway. Then the two rads in the hall/sitting room stopped heating up. Totally cold. Checked with Worcester Bosch, they stated pressure should be 1.5 Bar or system would struggle.
Called installer, he came out and 'balanced' the rads. Before doing so he switched off all the rads except the two problem ones to flush out any air bubbles. So the rads were hot whilst he was there.
I again asked about the pressure and was told that there was no crossover pipe to pressurise the system and it would likely cause leaks anyway. When I mentioned what Worcester Bosch had said, he said he could put in the crossover pipework at an extra cost, but as the system was now working, no need.
The rads went cold and stayed cold soon after he left.
The installer is coming back again tomorrow, he says he can put in the pipework to pressurise the system to see if that sorts it.

I've never had any bother with rads not heating up before, I'm wondering what the problem might be down to.
That said, he's turned up on time when he says he will and seems keen to get to the bottom of it.

Is a Greenstar 24I powerful enough for a 3 bed semi?
Does it need the 1.5 Bar pressure?
Is it possibly still sludge in the rads (Whole house Powerflushed in less than 4 hours)?

Anything else I should be checking?

Many Thanks

Dtp1979

thewintermute wrote: »

Hey,

Apologies for the wall of text in advance.
Long story short-er...

3 bed Semi, approx 18-20yrs old, Closed Heating system, gravity fed from tank in the attic with one way valve on the feed pipe, 10 rads. No connector from mains to heating circuit. Pressure used to sit around 0.5 Bar.

Old Potterton Boiler went Kaput, got a nice chap in to do a new boiler install and powerflush. Went with recommendation of a Worcester Bosch Greenstar 24I. Good bit dearer than a Baxi, but good reviews, so went for it.

Pressure on the Greenstar after install was zero, to about 1mm above zero.
I figured this wasn't right but was informed by the installer that it's fine. Pressure not required for a Greenstar, wouldn't fire if it wasn't right etc, etc. I wasn't entirely convinced, but heating was working well....
(installer had cranked it up to the max setting, past the safety when leaving, I dialled it down to the top setting of 6 after I noticed)

Fine for a few days anyway. Then the two rads in the hall/sitting room stopped heating up. Totally cold. Checked with Worcester Bosch, they stated pressure should be 1.5 Bar or system would struggle.
Called installer, he came out and 'balanced' the rads. Before doing so he switched off all the rads except the two problem ones to flush out any air bubbles. So the rads were hot whilst he was there.
I again asked about the pressure and was told that there was no crossover pipe to pressurise the system and it would likely cause leaks anyway. When I mentioned what Worcester Bosch had said, he said he could put in the crossover pipework at an extra cost, but as the system was now working, no need.
The rads went cold and stayed cold soon after he left.
The installer is coming back again tomorrow, he says he can put in the pipework to pressurise the system to see if that sorts it.

I've never had any bother with rads not heating up before, I'm wondering what the problem might be down to.
That said, he's turned up on time when he says he will and seems keen to get to the bottom of it.

Is a Greenstar 24I powerful enough for a 3 bed semi?
Does it need the 1.5 Bar pressure?
Is it possibly still sludge in the rads (Whole house Powerflushed in less than 4 hours)?

Anything else I should be checking?

Many Thanks

4 hours isn't long enough for a flush. Did you notice if he used large magnets with his machine? This would shorten flush time dramatically. 24kw boiler is too much for a small 3 bed house. I'd say at best an 18kw would do.
If though gas boilers modulate down, it's still gonna fire at 24kw.
If the manufacturer says it needs 1.5 bar then that's what it needs. Out of curiosity, how much did the install cost? Did he fit a magnetic filter at your boiler?

roy rodgers

I don't think the problem is with the boiler. They are a great little boiler and have a 6 meter pump installed in them too so circulation for a 3 bed semi shouldn't be a problem.
However maybe some sludge could be caught at the radiators valves that aren't heating. He will have to open the valves to check if he is getting full flow.
Also get him to install a filling loop and set the pressure to 1.5 bar for your peace of mind it's not a big job to do. If you have a leak in the system now is the time to get it sorted before it blocks up the heat exchanger.
But I have seen them boiler working fine in a semi sealed set up.
Are the radiators that are not heating back to back on the wall? It could be a still an air lock

thewintermute

Dtp1979 wrote: »

4 hours isn't long enough for a flush. Did you notice if he used large magnets with his machine? This would shorten flush time dramatically. 24kw boiler is too much for a small 3 bed house. I'd say at best an 18kw would do.
If though gas boilers modulate down, it's still gonna fire at 24kw.
If the manufacturer says it needs 1.5 bar then that's what it needs. Out of curiosity, how much did the install cost? Did he fit a magnetic filter at your boiler?

Hey thanks for the reply.
Likely going to add a room and a half at the side of the house, so a bit of headroom to expand on the boiler mightn't be a bad idea.
Didn't fit a magnetic filter.
Job came in just under 2K (seemed just below average, got plenty of quotes). Big magnets were used in the flush, there wasn't a lot of sludge in it.

thewintermute

roy rodgers wrote: »

I don't think the problem is with the boiler. They are a great little boiler and have a 6 meter pump installed in them too so circulation for a 3 bed semi shouldn't be a problem.
However maybe some sludge could be caught at the radiators valves that aren't heating. He will have to open the valves to check if he is getting full flow.
Also get him to install a filling loop and set the pressure to 1.5 bar for your peace of mind it's not a big job to do. If you have a leak in the system now is the time to get it sorted before it blocks up the heat exchanger.
But I have seen them boiler working fine in a semi sealed set up.
Are the radiators that are not heating back to back on the wall? It could be a still an air lock

Thanks. I thought it could be loosened crud in the valves too. The rads are back to back either side of the wall in the entrance hall/sitting room. I think it's the end of the loop and the pipework is coming down from upstairs into the wall. I think getting the loop in makes sense if the manufacturer recommends a 1.5 Bar pressure system.
Hopefully it'll just be an air lock and that will sort it. It's a pain in the rear trying to organise time off work around the installers schedule and I'm getting a bit ratty.
Cheers for the input.

corkgsxr

Iv installed a good few of them and Iv always pressurised the system

Dtp1979

thewintermute wrote: »

Hey thanks for the reply.
Likely going to add a room and a half at the side of the house, so a bit of headroom to expand on the boiler mightn't be a bad idea.
Didn't fit a magnetic filter.
Job came in just under 2K (seemed just below average, got plenty of quotes). Big magnets were used in the flush, there wasn't a lot of sludge in it.

Did he use a powerflushing machine along with the magnets. It's either an annoying airlock or he has moved sludge and it's blocking valves or pipework