Ideal Combi hot water but noi heating

[fiddler3]

Hi all. Daughter's boiler again thanks for help last year.
New problem - hot water works fine, but when calls for heat boiler starts and runs for a few seconds then stops. No error messages.

My thought is that pump is inop, so boiler starts up but then switches off when the small amount of water in the heat exchanger reaches temperature but doesn't circulate.

Would be grateful for any other ideas before I plan who to get to fix it (expensive with D&G if it is just a new pump).

 

[Scott_D]

Are there zone valves? (New build)
Have you shut any thing off under the boiler

 

[fiddler3]

Are there zone valves? (New build)
Have you shut any thing off under the boiler

Thank you, no to both - old build and daughter doesn't fiddle with boiler and I cant investigate/ fiddle as am acting remote due to current situation and distancing.

 

[garygvl]

If you’ve got a combi and hot water is working fine but you have no heating it ain’t a pump problem

 

[moonlight]

Has it been serviced recently? I went to one the other day. Some had the the valves closed on the filter.

 

[Scott_D]

Can you get some pictures of the valves underneath and the controller/thermostat

 

[Stu-B]

Has she been topping up the pressure and turned off the wrong valve? Common issue on these as the levers are all next to each other and difficult to see if the boiler is low down.

 

[fiddler3]

Thanks to you all - unfortunately I can't get to look at the boiler or photograph (geriatric distancing) but my daughter is well versed in top up and valve manipulation (prior to heat exchanger replacement last year - thanks for advice on this forum) and hasn't had to top up since then so hasn't touched boiler since. Both CH and hot water were fine until sudden loss of CH a week ago.
Would be interested to hear tech basis for Garygvl saying that it can't be a pump problem.

 

[Gasmk1]

Thanks to you all - unfortunately I can't get to look at the boiler or photograph (geriatric distancing) but my daughter is well versed in top up and valve manipulation (prior to heat exchanger replacement last year - thanks for advice on this forum) and hasn't had to top up since then so hasn't touched boiler since. Both CH and hot water were fine until sudden loss of CH a week ago.
Would be interested to hear tech basis for Garygvl saying that it can't be a pump problem.

because if its a Combi the pump also works for hot water it pushes the water around the heat exchangers

 

[moonlight]

The other item that may be at fault is a component inside the boiler, it changes the boiler from hot water to heating and they do fail. You will need a gas safe engineer to fix this. Check your boiler is not under warranty before calling someone out.

 

[garygvl]

Thanks to you all - unfortunately I can't get to look at the boiler or photograph (geriatric distancing) but my daughter is well versed in top up and valve manipulation (prior to heat exchanger replacement last year - thanks for advice on this forum) and hasn't had to top up since then so hasn't touched boiler since. Both CH and hot water were fine until sudden loss of CH a week ago.
Would be interested to hear tech basis for Garygvl saying that it can't be a pump problem.

look just pay a gsr person to sort it out or go thru an insurance company or ring ideal for a fixed price repair. as gasmk1 says combi boiler no pump no hot water or central heating. other things to check which you wont get an answer to on an open forum

 

[fiddler3]

look just pay a 'Registered Professional Gas Engineer' person to sort it out or go thru an insurance company or ring ideal for a fixed price repair. as gasmk1 says combi boiler no pump no hot water or central heating. other things to check which you wont get an answer to on an open forum

Thank you for helpful advice - I sense the irritation from garygvl - I am not looking to act as a diy gas engineer just trying to determine the most economical route for repair. Apart from the present lockdown problem getting a registered engineer fix is not easy (Gloucestershire) as those I trust have in the past been too busy to help and finding someone through yellow pages is a bit of a lottery as I have experience of doubtful work in the past.
The advice I got last time was very helpful in confirming my suspicion of a leaking HE for which repair through D&G was the best option. However their charging regime of a fixed price for repair is uneconomic if the problem is minor.

 

[oz-plumber]

When heating is call for, does the boiler ignite for any period of time?

What sort of thermostat does she have - battery powered. If so change the batteries - could be signal not getting back to boiler for heating

 

[fiddler3]

When heating is call for, does the boiler ignite for any period of time?

What sort of thermostat does she have - battery powered. If so change the batteries - could be signal not getting back to boiler for heating

I believe the boiler does fire up for a short while but I will get her to check and replace batteries ( although istr we did that a few months back. Fortunate really that its HW no CH rather than the reverse as less pressure for a fix at present.

 

[Mrb]

Is winter mode is switched on?

 

[Scott_D]

How much is the fixed price repair from D&G

 

[fiddler3]

Is winter mode is switched on?

As far as I'm aware nothing was touched between working and not working but as soon as lockdown is eased I'll go and double check the suggestions made here.

How much is the fixed price repair from D&G

I'm finding it difficult to remember exactly. There were 2 options, I think a one off payment for about 450 quid or an initial payment plus insurance for at least 6 months at 50 a month, which came to about the same. The service itself was very efficient and if the engineer worked as an independent I would not hesitate to call him again.
As it turned out we took the second option but didn't go beyond the 6 months as 600 per annum seemed a bit rich.
The catch was that the fixed price covered the repair no matter how big or small: a good deal for complete H/E exchanger replacement but not great if it turned out to be a leaky valve or defunct microswitch