No hot water, no central heating, boiler working fine?!

Hi, I'm a newbie so go easy

I've been on cold showers for the last 2 months as well, so go extra easy!

I've just bought a house. The heating/hot water were fine when I moved in. However, I hired someone to do some work and part of the job was removing a radiator. Ever since, there has been no hot water/central heating.

I've had 4 plumbers over to look at the system, they all suggest replacing the whole system, which would cost over £3000 ($5000) !!!

However, I've been told that the boiler is fine by one of the plumbers.

It's very frustrating, since I really don't think it's a huge issue, however none of the plumbers have given me an exact answer as to what the problem is, they just don't want to get their hands dirty working with an old system, so they walk off telling me to replace it as it would be simpler (obviously they don't realise that not everyone has £3000 lying around!)

Any suggestions greatly appreaciated.

Here's the system (from what I've been able to learn on the subject, hopefully I've understood):

- we have a hot water tank, and a gravity fed system with a cold water tank on the roof
- we don't have a combi boiler, just a standard boiler
- boiler heats water
- this water travels through hot water tank in a coil and induces heat into the water, thus creating hot water in the taps
- the water from the boiler then continues to travel through all the radiators, finally ending back at the boiler
- However, whenever I turn on the boiler, the water pump starts as expected, pushing the water through the central heating system, and hot water can be felt coming out of the pipes in the top of the boiler, however the water tank is cold.

 

There are several possible problems but lets start with the easiest. You need to have sufficient pressure on the system to push water to the highest point. If the pressure is too low, water will not flow thru the system. In the States, normal operating pressure would be between 10 & 20 psig. Your radiators should have air bleeder valves. Open the bleeder on the radiator which is the highest & furthest from the boiler. You should get a steady stream of water. If you do not, the pressure is probably low. If you get air or a sputtering stream, keep the bleeder open until the the stream is steady. Repeat will all radiators. Air will cause water not to flow.

 

Thanks for the answer. The pressure seems fine, I've already bled the top radiator, and yes there was quite a lot of air however it's gone now. Trouble is, the highest point in the system is not the top radiator, it's actually in the water tank in the bathroom (approx 1m higher than the radiator), and if you are saying that any air will rest in the highest point then it could be inside the heating coil inside the actual hot water tank.. Is this correct?

 

That is exactly right. Air tends to rise to the highest point in the system. There might be a bleeder on the hot water tank as well. You might want to bleed all of the radiators. Sometimes air can trap at other than the high point.

 

I've just bled all the radiators, however it was just the top one with the air inside. How would I go about bleeding the inducer in the water tank?

 

If there is no bleeder, you may have to purge the system at the boiler.

 

ah, ok..

any hints on how to do this, or any recommended websites where I can read up?

many thanks!

 

Some photos of the boiler & nearby piping could be a big help. You can post pictures on photobucket or similar photo hosting web site & post a link here.

 

Update:

OK I've bled the heating system by loosening the nut on the end of the pipe sticking up from the top of the tank. However, there was no air, just water????!

Any more suggestions anyone, I'm stumped and so are 4 professional plumbers!

 

I just had a brainwave!!

What if the central heating radiator system is on series loop - therefore when a radiator is removed the loop is closed and the hot water no longer flows???

Could this be the reason for my troubles??

 

In general one should never remove a radiator & just cap the pipes. The two ends should tied together. If this is what happened & you are on a series loop, you have discovered the answer.

 

Great! Thanks for your help.

Is it possible to tied the ends together now, or would it be a very difficult job? Does it just involve putting a piece of pipe from one cap to the other?

 

You would need to drop the pressure on the system unless there are valves on both ends to be tied together. After joining the two ends, the system would need to be refilled & the air purged.