DrLazer Posted March 23, 2017 Share Posted March 23, 2017 I've just bought a new house, it's was a deceased estate, so no further information from the previous owner is possible. There was a sign on the door for me. "The water has been turned off outside, and the tanks have been drained" I located the outdoor water meter service point and opened up the tap to allow water to flow to the house. The taps in the kitchen / bathroom work now. Good start. In the bathroom, I could hear a tank filling in the loft. I turned on the boiler, and set the control unit to "on". The boiler fired up for about 3 seconds and shut itself down. I have no idea how the hot water / heating works in this house really, I'm trying to figure it out. My current 'idea' is that the boiler does not have any water being fed to it. Its shut off somehow. The toilet upstairs is also interesting. The pipe to the cistern goes up into the loft, after flushing it, it did not refill. Here are some pics I took. Any general info, ideas, much appreciated. https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-wAvgj0OADCU/WNOWS_3Q-BI/AAAAAAAACDM/Fb1ikI4glDAvhrgXkgMY9gxAacsrwBaJwCL0B/h2048/5668798039188331554%253Faccount_id%253D1 https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-dB1mCRS2Vbc/WNOWRscKvjI/AAAAAAAACDU/5MYtEuWbTV0E0Qzg5yMn9o4HPra8GvbpwCL0B/h2048/3632081673440298975%253Faccount_id%253D1 https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-9KcfuAh53EA/WNOWQYzhouI/AAAAAAAACDM/BKxe6fmN2eUniqHsfOZ03HRavZ9tiFuoACL0B/h2048/2266747564487894145%253Faccount_id%253D1 https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-DJRWB2ZzKIE/WNOWPOIbxaI/AAAAAAAACDU/FsC5oDfB-Dg3Tq9bvPwHqFow2K_H9FzQQCL0B/h2048/8380325815730950454%253Faccount_id%253D1 https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-I4M69BtSkzk/WNOWNfAWoFI/AAAAAAAACDM/YsCi5R53hkkaV_67tOLFpWPpqH6OqI_6wCL0B/h2048/6060447176960406280%253Faccount_id%253D1 https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-HoGHm75j2ks/WNOWLzuPhlI/AAAAAAAACDM/bNrUNT_VW0cIzxVU_XVSxytJfExg4oPogCL0B/h2048/6389194145769301042%253Faccount_id%253D1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leelister6 Posted March 23, 2017 Share Posted March 23, 2017 Hi. Give me a ring and I can arrange to pop round to investigate and try to get everything up and running. Thanks, Lee I've just bought a new house, it's was a deceased estate, so no further information from the previous owner is possible. There was a sign on the door for me. "The water has been turned off outside, and the tanks have been drained" I located the outdoor water meter service point and opened up the tap to allow water to flow to the house. The taps in the kitchen / bathroom work now. Good start. In the bathroom, I could hear a tank filling in the loft. I turned on the boiler, and set the control unit to "on". The boiler fired up for about 3 seconds and shut itself down. I have no idea how the hot water / heating works in this house really, I'm trying to figure it out. My current 'idea' is that the boiler does not have any water being fed to it. Its shut off somehow. The toilet upstairs is also interesting. The pipe to the cistern goes up into the loft, after flushing it, it did not refill. Here are some pics I took. Any general info, ideas, much appreciated. https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-wAvgj0OADCU/WNOWS_3Q-BI/AAAAAAAACDM/Fb1ikI4glDAvhrgXkgMY9gxAacsrwBaJwCL0B/h2048/5668798039188331554%253Faccount_id%253D1 https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-dB1mCRS2Vbc/WNOWRscKvjI/AAAAAAAACDU/5MYtEuWbTV0E0Qzg5yMn9o4HPra8GvbpwCL0B/h2048/3632081673440298975%253Faccount_id%253D1 https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-9KcfuAh53EA/WNOWQYzhouI/AAAAAAAACDM/BKxe6fmN2eUniqHsfOZ03HRavZ9tiFuoACL0B/h2048/2266747564487894145%253Faccount_id%253D1 https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-DJRWB2ZzKIE/WNOWPOIbxaI/AAAAAAAACDU/FsC5oDfB-Dg3Tq9bvPwHqFow2K_H9FzQQCL0B/h2048/8380325815730950454%253Faccount_id%253D1 https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-I4M69BtSkzk/WNOWNfAWoFI/AAAAAAAACDM/YsCi5R53hkkaV_67tOLFpWPpqH6OqI_6wCL0B/h2048/6060447176960406280%253Faccount_id%253D1 https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-HoGHm75j2ks/WNOWLzuPhlI/AAAAAAAACDM/bNrUNT_VW0cIzxVU_XVSxytJfExg4oPogCL0B/h2048/6389194145769301042%253Faccount_id%253D1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mouserat Posted March 23, 2017 Share Posted March 23, 2017 (edited) Personally, if I moved into a house with a gas boiler which I had absolutely no history for - I'd want a gas-safe registered engineer to come around and look at it before I even switched it back on. Aside from the risk of explosion, there's the risk that it's leaking carbon monoxide. I know very little about plumbing - but it looks to me like you've got a hot water tank with an immersion heater - I'd make sure that was switched off too unless you want very expensive hot water. I assume that somewhere in the loft / attic there's a cold water header tank that feeds the heating system and the toilet cistern - there's probably a stopcock on that that stopping the water. Edited March 23, 2017 by Mouserat Typo I -> I'd Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corgigasman Posted March 23, 2017 Share Posted March 23, 2017 I've just bought a new house, it's was a deceased estate, so no further information from the previous owner is possible. There was a sign on the door for me. "The water has been turned off outside, and the tanks have been drained" I located the outdoor water meter service point and opened up the tap to allow water to flow to the house. The taps in the kitchen / bathroom work now. Good start. In the bathroom, I could hear a tank filling in the loft. I turned on the boiler, and set the control unit to "on". The boiler fired up for about 3 seconds and shut itself down. I have no idea how the hot water / heating works in this house really, I'm trying to figure it out. My current 'idea' is that the boiler does not have any water being fed to it. Its shut off somehow. The toilet upstairs is also interesting. The pipe to the cistern goes up into the loft, after flushing it, it did not refill. Here are some pics I took. Any general info, ideas, much appreciated. https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-wAvgj0OADCU/WNOWS_3Q-BI/AAAAAAAACDM/Fb1ikI4glDAvhrgXkgMY9gxAacsrwBaJwCL0B/h2048/5668798039188331554%253Faccount_id%253D1 https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-dB1mCRS2Vbc/WNOWRscKvjI/AAAAAAAACDU/5MYtEuWbTV0E0Qzg5yMn9o4HPra8GvbpwCL0B/h2048/3632081673440298975%253Faccount_id%253D1 https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-9KcfuAh53EA/WNOWQYzhouI/AAAAAAAACDM/BKxe6fmN2eUniqHsfOZ03HRavZ9tiFuoACL0B/h2048/2266747564487894145%253Faccount_id%253D1 https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-DJRWB2ZzKIE/WNOWPOIbxaI/AAAAAAAACDU/FsC5oDfB-Dg3Tq9bvPwHqFow2K_H9FzQQCL0B/h2048/8380325815730950454%253Faccount_id%253D1 https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-I4M69BtSkzk/WNOWNfAWoFI/AAAAAAAACDM/YsCi5R53hkkaV_67tOLFpWPpqH6OqI_6wCL0B/h2048/6060447176960406280%253Faccount_id%253D1 https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-HoGHm75j2ks/WNOWLzuPhlI/AAAAAAAACDM/bNrUNT_VW0cIzxVU_XVSxytJfExg4oPogCL0B/h2048/6389194145769301042%253Faccount_id%253D1 It will be air-locked, you need to open both valves in airing cupboard when filling up, in severe cases you may need to temporarily force mains pressure into system to blast out any slugs of air. You have a bullet proof boiler (fans sometimes go) and a new pump. Flush some cleanser round, drain and refill with inhibitor, fit a magnetic filter ideally and you should have years of low maintenance heating, cheers, Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrLazer Posted March 23, 2017 Share Posted March 23, 2017 It will be air-locked, you need to open both valves in airing cupboard when filling up, in severe cases you may need to temporarily force mains pressure into system to blast out any slugs of air. You have a bullet proof boiler (fans sometimes go) and a new pump. Flush some cleanser round, drain and refill with inhibitor, fit a magnetic filter ideally and you should have years of low maintenance heating, cheers, Steve Ha! You make that sound simple. "You need to open both valves in the airing cupboard" Are those the white box thingies in the picture, or are you talking about ones on the actual pipes with a wheel. As far as I can tell both of the wheel ones are open (screwed fully to the left). You are right about the fan. The few seconds it did fire up, it has a noisy fan. I certainly will get someone to come and service the system properly and to talk about options too .. once I get the thing working. It's hard at the moment as we can see our own breath. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corgigasman Posted March 23, 2017 Share Posted March 23, 2017 Ha! You make that sound simple. "You need to open both valves in the airing cupboard" Are those the white box thingies in the picture, or are you talking about ones on the actual pipes with a wheel. As far as I can tell both of the wheel ones are open (screwed fully to the left). You are right about the fan. The few seconds it did fire up, it has a noisy fan. I certainly will get someone to come and service the system properly and to talk about options too .. once I get the thing working. It's hard at the moment as we can see our own breath. Yes, the valves are the 'white box things'. They have a lever on the side, with the power OFF you can slide these levers and feel the resistance of the spring pulling them back, some hook around a notch to keep them open, others need you to press them in to keep locked open. Once both valves are fixed open then you can bleed all the radiators and fill the system. If the fan is noisy then it may need replacing as it may not be pulling enough to keep the fan proving switch (APS) open Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrLazer Posted March 23, 2017 Share Posted March 23, 2017 Yep I'll get the fan replaced, is that something you could do for me? I'll PM you my details. Right so just to be clear. I need to figure out how to open both valves and keep them open. Then .... do I turn the power back on and go around bleeding the rads, or is there another step in "filling the system"? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corgigasman Posted March 23, 2017 Share Posted March 23, 2017 Yep I'll get the fan replaced, is that something you could do for me? I'll PM you my details. Right so just to be clear. I need to figure out how to open both valves and keep them open. Then .... do I turn the power back on and go around bleeding the rads, or is there another step in "filling the system"? Once the valves are open bleed the radiators whilst power is OFF. when everything is full, unclip the valves, they will naturally spring back to closed position, then turn power on, turn room-stat up and select 'heating on' on the timer, boiler should then fire up if gas is on Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrLazer Posted March 23, 2017 Share Posted March 23, 2017 Once the valves are open bleed the radiators whilst power is OFF. when everything is full, unclip the valves, they will naturally spring back to closed position, then turn power on, turn room-stat up and select 'heating on' on the timer, boiler should then fire up if gas is on Thanks so much for your help. Plenty to tinker with later. One last Q. When you say power off. Do you mean just the boiler is switched off? or ... boiler and pump are switched off? or ... power to entire house is off? Hoping its not the later, it'll be dark and creepy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corgigasman Posted March 23, 2017 Share Posted March 23, 2017 Thanks so much for your help. Plenty to tinker with later. One last Q. When you say power off. Do you mean just the boiler is switched off? or ... boiler and pump are switched off? or ... power to entire house is off? Hoping its not the later, it'll be dark and creepy. The fused spur to the right hand side of the timer in your second picture should isolate the power to the heating system/boiler Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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