Heating but no hot water

[ballinlea]

Hi
Recently my son moved into a rented bungalow which has a dual heating system, OFCH and a Grant back boiler. The heating control has two switches one for CH and one for HW. The CH works ok but does not give him hot water. When he sets the control for HW the oil burner comes on for about two minutes and then cuts out and will not come on again for quite a long time. The oil burner will not give him hot water. The only way he can get hot water is to put on a fire in the Grant back boiler or use the imersion heater.
The house was vacant over the winter and the water turned off. Someone has suggested that there might be a blockage in the pipework which would give him hot water. He has had a plumber out several times to try to sort out the problem but he sems unable to figure out what the problem is.
Has anyone got any thoughts as to what the problem might be?

Many Thanks

 

[kimbo]

You have me confused as to what you have got Is it a Grant oil fired boiler. Never heard of a Grant back boiler.

 

[ballinlea]

It is a Grant (solid fuel / open fire) back boiler. Maybe they are local to Northern Ireland. Not sure what make and model the oil boiler is.

 

[gasmarc]

simple fix ,call the landlord or agency he rented the property from and tell them you are not paying the rent ,Also it is a legal requirement to have a gas landlord safety cert,

 

[kimbo]

Without more information about system layout it is dificult to say without a guess. It may be that there is a valve controlling the hot water side and the boiler comes on and the valve hasnt opened and the boiler goes off on its own thermostat.Just a wild guess.

 

[ballinlea]

This is the plumber the landlord organised and there is no gas in the house only oil and solid fuel

 

[ballinlea]

Have looked for a motorised valve but cant find one anywhere in the house

 

[ballinlea]

It is a gravity fed system. Large tank in roof space copper tank in hot press.

 

[gasmarc]

well he should be qualified to work on oil and he should be able to sort the problem out if he is worth his salt

 

[kimbo]

If your son has just moved in and it is gravity hot water it will take a time to heat the cylinder someone may have turned a gate valve off. As I said it is pure guesswork but it sounds like there is no circulation and the boiler is short cycling.

 

[ballinlea]

I would have thought so but he has been out quite a few times so far. My son is waiting for a friend of a friend who is a heating engineer to come out. The plumber is due back in the morning

 

[ballinlea]

There are two gate valves in the hot press which you could turn both ways all day long. They are both on 1" copper pipe.

 

[kimbo]

Sounds like the spindles are probably broken off leaving the valve in the closed position,are these the pipes that go back to the boiler and feed the cylinder it sounds like it.

 

[gasmarc]

sounds like the guy does not know what he is doing ,why the repeat visits it aint rocket science

 

[ballinlea]

A heating engineer has been out and had a look at the system. He reckons that it is a pipe under the floor which has become blocked. He is coming back on Wednesday to sort it out. As far as I can gather he is going to drain the system and add something which will clear the pipe.

 

[Gray0689]

A heating engineer has been out and had a look at the system. He reckons that it is a pipe under the floor which has become blocked. He is coming back on Wednesday to sort it out. As far as I can gather he is going to drain the system and add something which will clear the pipe.

Itis possible for a blocked pipe but also could Bethesda gate valves or just simple airlock hope you get sorted
Wherein northern Ireland are you there is a few of us plumbers from there