water meter repaired now no hot water

DazQ87

DazQ87

DazQ87

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Milton Keynes
Hi guys, thought I would pick your brains about a problem we are having.

We recently had our water meter repaired or replaced (not 100% sure what Anglian water actually had to do) due to the fact it was leaking to the point where we couldn't take a reading properly.

This work was done on Friday, and since then our hot water taps/shower have been getting colder and colder to the point now where there is no hot water left at all.

We moved into our current house about 5 months ago, the house was sold to us buy a building company who took it as a part exchange, so we never got to speak to anybody who lived in the house about how the heating/hot water system actually works. Although we were supplied with some rough details and instruction manuals it seems it is more complicated than I understood it to be.

We have a modern condensing boiler in the kitchen downstairs (which I assume is for the central heating which we haven't had the need to turn on yet), and a immersion heater in the airing cupboard upstairs, which has a thermostat on it and timer controls for the hot water and central heating on the wall next to it.

Up until recently the immersion heater seemed to be doing it's thing (I think it acts as a hot water storage from the boiler downstairs although I'm not 100%) but now the tank is stone cold, even though 1 or 2 of the pipes connected to it feel pretty hot. All of this was serviced before we moved in.

I am an absolute rookie at this sort of thing, with no idea what to check, not helped by the fact that I don't know 100% what the layout actually is. Can anybody think of any easy to check points of the system.

Also it seems a bit coincidental that this has happened since we had our meter repairs carried out. Could it be possible that Anglian water has somehow done something to our supply? or is it just a wild coincidence.

Sorry for the lengthy post, thanks for reading.
 
The immersion heater is only really for backup water heating as it's a very expensive (comparitively) way of heating the water.

You'll find that the boiler heats both the water and the central heating.

The timer/programmer for the heating and water is the thing you want to get to grips with as that is what controls when the heating and/or water come on and for how long.

Google for the make/model which should be on it somewhere and see if you can find the instructions.

I would make sure the immersion heater is switched off as you can tun up a hefty bill if that's what you're using to heat the water!
 
If it's anything like setups i've lived with, the controls are next to the immersion because that's a convinient place to put them. I'd be suprised if the boiler didn't run your heating and HW, with the immersion for backup.

Have you checked that the pressure in your boiler is correct? If the maintenance got an airlock in the mains feed it could have bled through into the boiler and dropped your pressure.
 
WillyNelson said:
If it's anything like setups i've lived with, the controls are next to the immersion because that's a convinient place to put them. I'd be suprised if the boiler didn't run your heating and HW, with the immersion for backup.

Have you checked that the pressure in your boiler is correct? If the maintenance got an airlock in the mains feed it could have bled through into the boiler and dropped your pressure.
Click to expand...

I think you might be right with regards to the setup, I the boiler always used to come on (and still does) after using the shower/hot water, with the immersion as a backup. I think you might be onto something regarding an airlock, the pressure is reading 0 bar, is there a mode I might be able to put the boiler into to bleed out the airlock or do I need to bleed some pipes somewhere?
 
If there's a pressure gauge on the boiler then it should have a filling loop attached. It will have locked out due to the lack of pressure. Filling the system back up and resetting it should sort you out.
 
As caged said.

On mine there is a pipe that is supposed to be disconnected under normal use but the plumber left it connected, then all I do to re-pressurise the system is (with the pipe connected of course) open up 2 valves, wait until the pressure is at the reccomended level then close them again.
If there is no manual with your boiler google for it, normal pressure is around 1.2bar.
 
Thanks guys, I have been having a chat with some of the guys at work and all come to the same conclusion, I do have a copy of the manual at home so will have a good trawl through it when I get home.
 
Chances are you will have an external filling loop under your boiler, either directly connected to the boiler or situated close by on the pipe work. As you have the manual the procedure will be in there, simply open both valves on the filling loop and watch the pressure gauge on the boiler rise. 1-1.5bar or until the needle is in the middle of the gauge.

If you filling loop isn't there (they can be easily removed) check on top of the boiler, that's where I leave them.
 
DogsBody said:
As caged said.

On mine there is a pipe that is supposed to be disconnected under normal use but the plumber left it connected, then all I do to re-pressurise the system is (with the pipe connected of course) open up 2 valves, wait until the pressure is at the reccomended level then close them again.
If there is no manual with your boiler google for it, normal pressure is around 1.2bar.
Click to expand...

Don't leave it connected.

OP if you need to re-pressurise the boiler, be very careful not to over pressurise the boiler, go slowly. If you don't feel comfortable doing it, get a gas guy in and get them to check the system out, and show you how to top it up.
 
We have a modern condensing boiler in the kitchen downstairs (which I assume is for the central heating which we haven't had the need to turn on yet), and a immersion heater in the airing cupboard upstairs, which has a thermostat on it and timer controls for the hot water and central heating on the wall next to it..

Up until recently the immersion heater seemed to be doing it's thing (I think it acts as a hot water storage from the boiler downstairs although I'm not 100%) but now the tank is stone cold, even though 1 or 2 of the pipes connected to it feel pretty hot. All of this was serviced before we moved in.
Click to expand...

I never thought you could get a combi boiler linked in to hot water tank. However, the fact that there is a pressure guage would lead me to believe that it is a combi boiler. What i sthe model number of the boiler?

EDIT: Much to my embarrasment, after discussing with a colleague it seems houses now combine water tanks and combi boilers :/.
 
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The boiler in question is a Remeha Selecta, after having a look around a bit more it looks like we have a setup similar to this:



Only our immersion heater doesn't actually have a heating element it's just used to store hot water although (not sure if the thermostat on the side of it connect to the boiler downstairs or if it's just there as a leftover).
The diverting valve is also upstairs next to the tank.

The statement at the bottom of the page is rather meaningless to me as I'm not sure what a standard mains fill kit looks like.

Just took a quick pic (excuse the terrible camera phone) of the bottom connections on the boiler itself if anybody is able to easily identify the valves I need to use.

 
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The pipe that is painted yellow, turn it and you should hear the system fill/flowing water. Watch the pressure!

If not you need to open the iso on the end of that flexi pipe.
 
Pabl0 said:
The pipe that is painted yellow, turn it and you should hear the system fill/flowing water. Watch the pressure!

If not you need to open the iso on the end of that flexi pipe.
Click to expand...

Just to add to the above by iso he means the brass connector which has an arrow on. You will need a flat head screwdriver and to turn that screw on the bottom approx one quarter of a turn.
 
Thanks guys, no need for a screwdriver. Set the pressure to 1.2Bar.

I can't believe it was that simple I feel like such an amateur. Bit of a learning curve for me but it feels good sorting this sort of thing yourself and at least I've learned how the system works.

Also now my missus won't be nagging me anymore :)
 
I believe it's in case the valve breaks - it'll then overpressurise the boiler and cause the pressure release valve to start working which is always fun as it'll forever drip (sarcasm) :D

Probably a best practice thing.
 
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