Back bolier not heating the radiators

janmolby

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Apr 9, 2009
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I'm having a problem where the back boiler in an open fire isn't heating the radiators & I'm not sure if somethings wrong with it or I'm doing something wrong.

What I do is have the thermostat on the hot tank set to 65, put on the oil heating then light a fire with the damper pushed in. After the fire has been going for say 10 minutes I pull out the damper. Then when the back boiler starts to either hiss or rattle I switch off the oil heating, turn the thermostat down to between 30 & 40 then flick the switch which is suppose to start pumping the hot water around the radiators.

This used to work but as I haven't used it since about March I'm not sure if I'm doing something wrong or not.
 

andycap

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Dec 12, 2006
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I'm no plumber but have had problems in the past , if the pump is not used for a long time it can seize up due to scale and rusting . I have been told that it is a good idea to run the pump for a while in the summer months to avoid this . I t would be one of the first things i'd check.
Good luck
 

janmolby

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Thanks for the replies, the radiators are working fine with the oil heating so I can't see how it would be air. I have someone coming to the house tomorrow to have a look at it but was just hoping I might get it working without having to pay for it :)

It's a relatively new back boiler as the house is only 2 years old so it shouldn't be rust but I hope to know tomorrow evening
 

janmolby

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In case anyone is interested I got a lad out to fix the issue, all that was wrong is the motor had sort of timed out as it hadn't been used in months. He just undid a screw underneath the boiler & stuck in a screwdriver which reset the motor. He said it happens often if people don't leave the switch on the wall turned on, we were switching it off every night before going to bed.
 
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