Boiler Stove :: Issue with consistency

[Spudney]

Hi All

I have just got my boiler stove installed "Olymberyl Aidan" 21KW and I'm happy with the look and heat from the stove to the room but when heating water and the rads its very inconsistent.

I have the pipe stat set to 45 degrees, the pump comes on and off so often that i dont get consistently hot rads (the water temp must be dropping below 45 degrees), when it works, it works great but the amount of effort loading fuel every 20 or 30 minutes, monitoring the fire etc... (I bought a Stovax magnetic flue pipe thermometer from ebay which is very handy to know how hot the stove is and if your burning at the right temp)

Could I be doing something wrong? My stove has a thermostat (Dial 0-8) and a bottom air vent and a top air vent, does anybody know the optimum air settings when buring a mixture of coal and timber, my timber is seasoned 12 months min and the coal is good quality but Im just not getting the results i expected from the boiler stove.

Could I have air or something in the system and thats whats causing the wierd inconsistent issues?

My system is a dual system, oil kero boiler outside and boiler stove inside both on an open system, boiler stove is about 10m from cylinder

I have asked my plumber but he says it trial and error at the start but I really didnt think it would be this much hastle, I just want hot rads 🙂

Please help

 

[Gray0689]

Is it 4 pipe
where is the stat positioned

 

[ecowarm]

As above we need to know how the system is connected to the stove, how is it linked to the existing system?

Regarding operation, do you not have an instruction manual? Usually for a mixture of coal and wood you open control knob to 8 and bottom air (primary air) open full to get fire started, once a good fire is going close bottom air fully and 1/4 open top air (secondary air) turn down main control until you get the required heat to rads.
If burning wood only open secondary air fully.
The pipe stat may be positioned incorrectly, pics may help us!

 

[Spudney]

hi

there are 4 outlets from the boiler stove but only two are used low one on the left cold in then high right hot water

here is a pic of hot press



pipe stat is the orange unit

just to add, i moved up the pipe stat to 55 from 45 and now the water in my cylinder is hotter but the pump comes on and off every 5 mins or so but if i put pipe stat back to 45 is comes on but stays on and then its like the pump takes the hot water from the boiler stove too quickly and the stove cant keep pace so what happens is i get slightly warm water being pumped around the rads and cylinder, end result averagely hot water but barley hot rads, i only have 7 rads turned on and this stove is ment to do 12

i have a bucket of coal in the stove right now and temp is really hot but at 55 it keep coming on going off etc...

stove (excuse the mess, making good the walls etc...)



help someone please 🙂

 

[Gray0689]

The stat is better on return
Hard to see looking on phone
But I'm hoping I'm wrong are the pipes chased in the wall or are they going into floor
Compression fittings make it look like a DIY job

 

[Gray0689]

You should have 2 x 28mm pipes on a gravity circuit to cylinder
Then 2x 22mm pipes going in to heating circuit pumped with non return valve with stat on gravity return at cylinder
What you got sounds and looks very wrong

 

[ecowarm]

Oh dear! Needs a professional to have a look and sort it out IMO

 

[Spudney]

The stat is better on return
Hard to see looking on phone
But I'm hoping I'm wrong are the pipes chased in the wall or are they going into floor
Compression fittings make it look like a DIY job

the two 28mm pipes are chased into the wall

its was done by a professional plumber, not a DIY job

 

[Spudney]

You should have 2 x 28mm pipes on a gravity circuit to cylinder
Then 2x 22mm pipes going in to heating circuit pumped with non return valve with stat on gravity return at cylinder
What you got sounds and looks very wrong

the hot pipe is t junctioned in the ceiling off to heating circuit and then 28mm hot pipe continues to cylinder as far as i could see when he was doing the job, thats why he didnt use all four pipes, should all four pipes have been used, i got 5 five quotes for this job and all 5 said that you didnt need to use 4 outlets, now im worried i was sold a lemon 🙁 but why would all 5 so called pro plumbers not use the 4 pipes?

 

[Gray0689]

No you don't have to use the 4 pipes but it is better
What area are you in ?

 

[Gray0689]

It didnt sound correct in the slightest
The flow should not be teed off above stove

 

[Spudney]

im in Dublin, Ireland, use the UK forum to get a more objective view 🙂

 

[Spudney]

It didnt sound correct in the slightest
The flow should not be teed off above stove

why would all of the plumbers have mentioned to do it this way?

 

[Spudney]

It didnt sound correct in the slightest
The flow should not be teed off above stove

why should it not be teed off, so i can say it to my plumber?

 

[Gray0689]

Because it's an uncontrollable heat source it needs a gravity circuit
Direct to cylinder with expansion
Yours just don't sound right to me to be honest
I'm in the north bit far away

 

[Spudney]

Because it's an uncontrollable heat source it needs a gravity circuit
Direct to cylinder with expansion
Yours just don't sound right to me to be honest
I'm in the north bit far away

i think the T junction is for a safety outlet to rads as he did say to always have 3 rads min turned on downstairs by trv so that the hot water always had an outlet, i cant turn off heat to my downstairs zone as it is always on due to it being the safety outlet, im fine with this as i want the downstairs always hot

 

[Gray0689]

Downstairs on a gravity flow rubbish if pump fails your in trouble

 

[Spudney]

Downstairs on a gravity flow rubbish if pump fails your in trouble

what would u do if you were me, plumber is only gone a few days, what do i say to him when i call him back as we paid nearly 5k to get boiler stove in and its just not working out the way we thought

 

[Gray0689]

£5k to do what
I'm just saying it don't sound right to me
Look in the instructions from your stove and see if the correct layout has been done
But from what you have said I don't think so

 

[Spudney]

£5k to do what
I'm just saying it don't sound right to me
Look in the instructions from your stove and see if the correct layout has been done
But from what you have said I don't think so

5k euro for stove, flue, hearth, cylinder, pump, stat, pipes, fittings, plumber labour was 1200 ex vat for 3 and half days for 2 guys and included a plasterer to fix walls ceiling etc...