Plumber for single pipe system - London, E1W

Sarlington · Jan 15, 2013

Hi All

We are looking for a plumber to help us with some work on a single pipe heating system, which is fed from a communal boiler.

The system has been working fine and we had been planning on moving the hot water cylinder to another location in our flat, however, as of last week the radiators are no longer getting hot (all of them are colder), with the final radiator on the rung being stone cold.

It is not possible to change to a two pipe system, given the construction of the flat and communal system.

Is anyone able to assist?

Thanks!
Simon

michael c · Jan 15, 2013

if this has happened all of a sudden it is most likely a fault with the boiler, so that will need to be looked at 1st.
you should be able to get a good engineer on here. good luck

chris watkins · Jan 15, 2013

In answer to your question, a site visit would be required to confirm but it is highly unlikely that you will be able to convert the system to a two pipe (if you are sure it is a one pipe) Its sudden failure could be down to the pump.
Is your cylinder an indirect one i.e. fed from the heating system ?

Sarlington · Jan 16, 2013

Thanks.

The first thing I checked were the boilers - which are all working fine and no neighbours are having any problems. The feed is direct from the boiler. Pretty sure it is a problem in my flat with the mechanical valve we installed which is connected to our thermostat. This has not been working, so we left it open and have been using the mechanical tap to turn the flow of heating on/off.

The system is definitely one pipe and the cylinder (in my flat) is fed from a separate hot water pipe, which comes from the boilers and then feeds the taps and showers.

Thanks
Simon

chris watkins · Jan 16, 2013

Hi Simon
Do you think is the zone valve, thermostat or the gate valve that has failed in this case ?

Sarlington · Jan 16, 2013

I think it is the zone valve. The motor failed a while back and it closed with no electricity connected to it, but we manually opened it with the lever attached. I think it has now clogged up/closed most of the way and I can no longer force it open manually, despite there being a lever on it.