Nickfromwales

Ok, good stuff. If you feel confident the boiler will only run when you turn the cock-clock back on then go for it in the order you feel best familiar with to achieve the 'test-fire'. 5 mins should suffice, just to be sure nothing else calls for heat and the system is definitely in standby. Then we go forward into the unknown.......

@JSHarris. Can you advise on any possible risks with bringing that 'softener' on line after so long please?

Everything off to start so we can find out if the cylinder stats ( 1,2 & 3 ) are doing what they're supposed to do. If the UFH will cool it down faster then knock the big boiler switch off and run the UFH until the TS gets to around 20oC. Then start the tests. ?

The green thing is the solar thermal circulator ( aka pump ) which pulls the hot water down from the panels and sends the cool water back up.

Are those two vertical lever taps ( left and right ) in line with the pipe now eh ? They're off in that pic. The bottom one ( centre ) should be still off as per that pic.

Black thing is a pump. Is there a serial / part number on the other bit you can read and post.

If there's a bug bear about getting them back, and they're diary is filling up, then book yourself in with them. The issue will be that your possibly not confident enough to adhere to the date yourself so then the buck is passed. You can't have your cake and eat it, and a lot of trades, espaecially my painter, need around 8-10 weeks notice or he just honestly and decently says "no, I can't do it sorry" which whilst being frustrating, is the right reply. Inadvertently cornering someone and making them feel obligated to tend to your needs is the worst thing I ever encounter, and I just say no now. Better to just do that than say you'll be there and not turn up, because then, if I do that, I'm the one getting the flack for it. Its quite erosive to have someone chase you when it suits them tbh, and I get it ALL the time. My favourites are the customers who ask for loads of extras to be done, and then complain that I havent stuck to my original completion date !?! ( or original price either !!!!!! ). Even after telling them up front that it'll cost £X more and add a few days / week to the original job they soon forget and it's back to he said she said. Winds me right up. I imagine it's as easy being a tradesmen as it is being a customer. Two sides to that coin for sure.

The shower fixing kit is to 3/4" BSP anyway, so no good for a basin unless you bush them down to 1/2" Just use some of these 10mm x 1/2" adaptors and screw the flexes straight on.

Ok, sounds too small at 250l to me. What is the size of the house and number of occupants / bathrooms etc ? If your having an LPG boiler id make it a combi. If your not using space heating or the woodburner for a good 5 / 6 months of the year then why heat a big TS just to get some DHW? Horribly inefficient and quite crude imo. Use it for DHW preheat to the combi instead, if you haven't got 3 or more bathrooms. If your having solar PV then not so bad as it'll have some of the losses offset and provide a lot of the DHW too. Go sealed and pressurised, and lag all the pipework to death. Make sure all the heating circuits have 2-port motorised zone valves on them to stop convection heat flow when the heating isn't being used.

I have the Makita 18v and its on its 3rd gearbox / head, but all changed FOC under Makitas no-quibble 3 year warranty. Id buy the Fein in a heartbeat, but its a bloody expensive machine if your not using it to make a living. Id say any of the Makita / Bosch / Dewalt 230volt corded offerings will serve you well. If I had to choose id probably go Dewalt or Bosch as my mates ones seem to have outlived my Makita.

For the testing, please make sure the boiler is on constant, not timed or set to the 3 x 2hour bursts etc so it can have a chance to work properly. The TS needs to be able to call on the boiler for heat and the boiler needs to be on and functioning to provide it on demand. Even a perfect working system won't perform adequately if its starved of heat ( which I think your system possibly has been with the 3 x 2 hr bursts etc ).

Its fine on frost setting as room stats like that dont typically switch on / off, just up or down. Read through and if your stuck on a particular point just post here and someone will guide you through if I dont see it for any reason. Ask plenty of questions and we can crack it sooner It doesn't matter if your repeating yourself, just ask until your confident enough to push on. Your get out of jail card is simply setting everything back to how you have it now. Take some photos on your phone for reference.

I think the HM system would have done it TBH, but hypothetical unless actually being able to make it work and show you. Just sounds like a) knowing it's connected right and b) being able to show you how to use it would be the way forward. So simple

First thing in the morning shut everything down so when you get home its cold. Then follow the start up process so we can see whats doing what. Note where / how everything is current set so you can go back to muddling through at the very least.

Yup More worrying its not giving any earth protection to whatever it services.

I'd seriously look at how many devastating floods I've had, and base my actions on that. +1 on the waterless trap, but only if its accessible so if it fails you can change it. Beware ninja slugs who can hold their breath underwater. ( I used to live in a basement bedsit, and there was a sump / drain in the kitchen which was like the M25 for slugs ). Tidy.

Yup. Who's been fiddling with that ?

I think this statement nails it. I doubt he, or perhaps you, knew that the system ( what you already had fitted ) just needed to be configured properly, and had the means there to do what you wanted by programming. The touchscreen heat miser system clearly is plenty comprehensive enough to do the job, just its the dangerous grey area where plumbing and complex wiring reside........and very few plumbers have the slightest clue about multi-discipline wiring and controls. I make a good few quid off my Gas registered plumbing mates who cant do any complex wiring, particularly old to new conversions. Can you recall which controls were in place before 'his' arrival ?

I fully appreciate that and im not having a dig, just my way of conveying myself sometimes isn't the best It just winds me up when what you had could have been made to work, just it seems this chap, even with the very best of intentions, could have done better. In his defence, when faced with what we see, any mere mortal would have burst into tears. Not in his defence was charging you to interfere with something above his pay grade. If he wanted to experiment he should have done the work for free. Good news is that were getting somewhere. Glass half full and all that

Yup, the second bill confirms he should have got back in his van and left the better man. Nearly £700 for him to chop some unnecessary equipment in and make it worse imho. He may have looked like a knight in shining armour at the time but 'cock' still seems fit from where im sitting.

ok some clarity for my melted head. Did local guy come out AFTER the system was fully installed, or is he the original installer.

Did he fit the Drayton time clock and why? I think the EHC one is part of the original setup and the two zones / channels on that may be the summer / winter controls I spoke of in 'war and peace'. The other theory is the Drayton does DHW.

Hmmm. The shot of the first CU shows a stray MCB ( trip switch ) thats not on the legend. The whole house is all RCBO, which is the best you can get with no exception, so a bit odd to see one thats been added thats just a regular trip.

Crikey. Is it a nursing home or a small school ? The wiring is as over-engineered as the plumbing.....I think I feel a theme here. At least the wiring needs no work doing from a glance, as its about as good and diverse as a system could get. A microwave oven with its own circuit! and then the cooker hood has its own circuit too. God bless your late husband, he was an engineer through and through. A man after many of our hearts. I'll leave pro Dave comment on the electrics as my brains still in rehab learning about your plumbing but I don't envy his task either!

Yup. It really only needs a bit of pruning and a full rewire so an installer is able to demonstrate it working, properly, and leave it automated. It's just been made overly complicated and it's getting a bit under-used, so economics may well have to stay out of it. Running it should just be selecting between off ( holiday ), on summer or on winter ( hot water or heating and hot water ) . Thermal stores need to be kept warm or hot though ( for any time you need hot water during the day ) so it's not a tame beast I'm afraid. A TS is really 'all or bugger all'.