Jump to content

My underfloor heating


lizzie

Recommended Posts

@PeterW I dont know who wired it I assume it was electrician who did everything else.  However there were issues with wiring he did for boiler which plumber identified and were rectified.  He had not wired in an over run and he had not done something with a 240thing which stopped the boiler running permanently.

 

I only know about those things as they came to light when we moved in.  The UFH was commissioned in December while the house was a still a building site so I have no idea who did what and how all I know is some trades told me it was very hot in the house and tilers were turning heating down as it was drying their adhesive.  Others were coming in and turning it back up apparently.....its all hearsay I have never been aware of heating working since we moved in end April........house was massively hot due to heatwave then.

 

Ive not touched the pumps again since yesterday, will rewatch the utube and see how to put them back to auto thank you.

 

@ProDave I can only assume it was working then I dont know.  Yesterday the heating worked when the valves were manual open the minute they were turned back to auto the heating reverted to not working.

 

I would be happy just to get someone new in to replace motorised valves (plumber?) if that would sort it.  If its wiring then new ones won’t fix it.  I guess I need to have someone (is that plumber or electrician) check it over to establish if it is faulty valves or wiring.

 

How likely is it that 2 motorised valves will have developed the same fault at the same time?

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

19 minutes ago, lizzie said:

How likely is it that 2 motorised valves will have developed the same fault at the same time?

 

Very unlikely !!

 

At worst the heads need replacing - thats a 2 minute job and does not need the valve bodies themselves removing.

 

Time for a new sparky by the sounds of it....

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ok guys I think I have a partial answer.  That switch that @PeterW and @ProDave commented on - the one the electrician told me was the immersion and to switch it off - if I flip that on the heating works with both manifolds getting warm pdq. @Nickfromwales spot on with wiring problem.

 

So that looks like heating sorted after a thorough work out!!  Now the question is where is the immersion heater switch, never ends does it!!

 

Thank you again for all the help.

Edited by lizzie
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, PeterW said:

Immersion - find the immersion(s) on the tank and follow the wires back to the wall or a switch !

Got some white cables coming out of a box on the back of the tank but they go up inside the wall and no real clue where they go.  If I ask electrician what hope of sensible answer after last one.......grrrrrr, might  have to get another one in just to check things over.

 

Does the attached look like an immersion control?  Its got a clock thats an hour out.  Ive never touched it and never been able to work out what it is.  Its got 2 cables going into it via some trunking.  The tank has 3 cables that come out and go into trunking in a different part of the room...the trunking has junctions so not sure what goes where inside. Guess I had better google the thing in the pic

8D876C81-D78E-4803-94E3-68B3A51A3A61.jpeg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 minutes ago, lizzie said:

Got some white cables coming out of a box on the back of the tank but they go up inside the wall and no real clue where they go.  If I ask electrician what hope of sensible answer after last one.......grrrrrr, might  have to get another one in just to check things over.

 

Does the attached look like an immersion control?  Its got a clock thats an hour out.  Ive never touched it and never been able to work out what it is.  Its got 2 cables going into it via some trunking.  The tank has 3 cables that come out and go into trunking in a different part of the room...the trunking has junctions so not sure what goes where inside. Guess I had better google the thing in the pic

8D876C81-D78E-4803-94E3-68B3A51A3A61.jpeg

 

That's the kiddie !!

 

 

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

God knows why the plumber told you the other switch was the immersion! I have a similar switch on my heating system and the heating doesn’t work if it’s switched off. 

 

On the up side your heating has been off all summer when you really didn’t want it on (albeit you thought it was your immersion) and you now know a lot more about your heating system. Suggest you get the label machine out while it’s still all fresh in your mind! 

 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On each manifold, under the pump there are two gauges. Under the left hand gauge, one of the manifolds has a white cap, on the other manifold the cap is missing. The caps shut a valve off. The caps should be removed at installation and replaced with a thermostat. Do you have any spare thermostats knocking about looking for a home

? Is the manifold with the cap  getting hot? If not, remove the cap (turn anticlockwise) and see if that manifold warms up.

Edited by Michael P
foggy head
Link to comment
Share on other sites

11 hours ago, Michael P said:

On each manifold, under the pump there are two gauges. Under the left hand gauge, one of the manifolds has a white cap, on the other manifold the cap is missing. The caps shut a valve off. The caps should be removed at installation and replaced with a thermostat. Do you have any spare thermostats knocking about looking for a home

? Is the manifold with the cap  getting hot? If not, remove the cap (turn anticlockwise) and see if that manifold warms up.

You dont put a thermostatic head on those ;) If you did, and the plant room got hot, the TRV head would expand and close the feed to the entire pump / manifold set.

They are for shutting the UFH on/off and have an actuator on IF required. In this instance they just need to be hand tight. Good point though as @lizzie can check that the one thats fitted is loose and not part tight eg part chocking the flow. Its the one under the Thermo head ( with the coiled pig-tail wire ), one cap is on and one is missing. The one thats on needs to be finger tight so turn anticlockwise until it spins freely and then just one turn back clockwise. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks @Michael P and @Nickfromwales it reminded me we had missing bits.  There was a little plastic bag tied to each manifold with bits to be fitted on site (manifolds come ready assembled). Sometime between heating being put on and installer coming back to finish everything the little plastic bags of bits dissappeared....best guess is labourer binned them.  Installer was going to ask supplier for repacements but I guess forgot, I have emailed supplier today to ask and hopefully when installer comes back to sort the MVHR he can fit them.

 

After all the testing etc of ufh I feel I have some understanding of the system now....only basic but hugely better than before.

 

I am waiting for the electrician to come, he is adamant that the switch he told me is immersion is the immersion I am just as adamant that if I swith it off the UFH stops working, it clearly powers the motorised valves.  He also told me that timer that @PeterW identified for me as immersion timer is a timer for a pump for hot water to the taps and is nothing to do with him plumber should have set it up!  I have told him manufacturers website clearly identifies it as immersion timer....beggars belief really why would anyone have a timed pump on their taps, do you only want taps to work between certain hours!    In desperation I went to the fuse board flipped the trip for the immersion so it is off (for the first time since installation I now beleive) and then put the switch he reckons was immersion on and off.  If it was immersion it would have made no difference as off at board but as we have worked out it runs the motorised valves and sure enough the heating goes off when that switch is off.  Have told him all this in an email and asked him to come and identify his switches (nothing is marked) and locate the immersion switch correctly.  No response as yet.

 

I feel so grateful to all you lovely people on here for all the help so freely given, without this I would still be going round in circles with misinformation and condescension from the installers ...I can almost hear the ‘stupid woman ignore her’  comments from here.  I am armed with the the right info now so they better look out and get it sorted.

 

 

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

10 minutes ago, lizzie said:

I feel so grateful to all you lovely people on here for all the help so freely given, without this I would still be going round in circles with misinformation and condescension from the installers ...I can almost hear the ‘stupid woman ignore her’  comments from here.  I am armed with the the right info now so they better look out and get it sorted.

 

Knowledge is power!

 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

17 minutes ago, lizzie said:

After all the testing etc of ufh I feel I have some understanding of the system now....only basic but hugely better than before.

 

Same here! Like you only a basic understanding but at least I understand enough to know how to operate it and what most of the parts are. I was completely clueless before. Mind you it appears that most of the plumbers I had here were clueless too ?

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, lizzie said:

beggars belief really why would anyone have a timed pump on their taps, do you only want taps to work between certain hours!

Could, conceivably,  be a circulation pump so hot water is available at taps quickly. Taps would still supply hot water when it's off, you'd just have to run off more cold water before it arrived.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

41 minutes ago, PeterW said:

@Ed Davies is correct - could be a circulation pump but asks the question where is the immersion controller !!

 

Dymo machine at the ready by the sounds of it ..!!

 

If @lizzie switches the ‘immersion controller’ on and then switches the immersion off at the CU if it goes off doesn’t that confirm that it’s for the immersion? 

 

Lizzie, do you have a quote detailing what the system was supposed to provide? 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

38 minutes ago, newhome said:

If @lizzie switches the ‘immersion controller’ on and then switches the immersion off at the CU if it goes off doesn’t that confirm that it’s for the immersion? 

Yes, that points very strongly to it being for the immersion. Watching the electricity meter should give a hint, too, as the 3 kW or so draw of the immersion should be noticeable on the LED or LCD display thingy which flashes every 1/100th of kWh or so.

 

I was just saying why a timed pump for the tap wasn't quite a loony as @lizzie seemed to think.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...