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pits
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PostPosted: 18:27 - 05 Dec 2012    Post subject: Any plumbers here? Reply with quote

Trying to figure something out with my heating in the house.

Got an oil fired boiler out the back, fairly new one which runs the heating and hot water in the house.

On the water system I have master/main pump which appears to move the water from boiler/around the system.

Then I have two other pumps/valves which depending on whether I turn the heating on or the water on with the timer box, opens the valves depending on what I want.

Now that box where I can set the time for it to come on once, twice, constant turns the main water pump on and off, so if I have no heating or water on, the boiler isn't firing so the pump doesn't kick in and pump water around.

When I want heating or water, I flick either or both on, this starts up the pump and boiler and water circulates... I trust you are with me so far.


So now Ihave a warm house and water, I turn them timer off, which turns the boiler and pump off......but here is the problem, the master pump no longer turns off, it just sits there churning away, and the only way to turn it off now is at the plug, but the other problem is, in a month-2 month period I have used like 500 litres of oil.

This is the pump in question
https://www.oilybits.com/grundfos-ups-15-50-selectric-central-heating-circulator-pump/prod_646.html


Any idea as to why it isn't turning off when it should? And why I am using so much god damn oil, no idea what the boiler is, but it is a grade A efficiency boiler, next door haven't used half of what I have used, in a bigger house with a bigger family.


Would speak to landlord but the term chocolate teapot springs to mind
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stinkwheel
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PostPosted: 18:49 - 05 Dec 2012    Post subject: Reply with quote

Sure someone isn't stealing your oil?

Heating oil theft is rife and it can be as low-tech as someone sneaking into your back garden armed with a hosepipe and a couple of jerry cans every night for a week.

Even if I left my heating on 24/7 (which I don't), I wouldn't use 500l in a month. In fact, I'd query if that was even possible.

So theft or a leak are my two starters for 10.

Could the pump be remaining on because the frost 'stat is kicking in? My outdoor boiler fires itself up and starts circulating through the heat store if the temperature inside the boiler drops below 5 degrees.

Otherwise, get a wiring diagram and chase it through. There will be a very limited number of things that will trip the relay that turns that pump on.
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pits
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PostPosted: 19:20 - 05 Dec 2012    Post subject: Reply with quote

Possible, but it seems to be intermittent, doesn't have to be cold outside for it to do it.

Tank is locked away in barn and no way to get to it without key or making a lot of noise, and there was a new tank, new line and new boiler run....got oil on 1st October, now all gone.
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Stalk
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PostPosted: 21:30 - 05 Dec 2012    Post subject: Reply with quote

It may be that the pump continues to run for a while to prevent hot spots in the boiler. It's called pump overrun I think. Is just the pump running or is the burner firing as well?
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Kradmelder
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PostPosted: 21:46 - 05 Dec 2012    Post subject: Re: Any plumbers here? Reply with quote

pits wrote:
Trying to figure something out with my heating in the house.

Got an oil fired boiler out the back, fairly new one which runs the heating and hot water in the house.

On the water system I have master/main pump which appears to move the water from boiler/around the system.

Then I have two other pumps/valves which depending on whether I turn the heating on or the water on with the timer box, opens the valves depending on what I want.

Now that box where I can set the time for it to come on once, twice, constant turns the main water pump on and off, so if I have no heating or water on, the boiler isn't firing so the pump doesn't kick in and pump water around.

When I want heating or water, I flick either or both on, this starts up the pump and boiler and water circulates... I trust you are with me so far.


So now Ihave a warm house and water, I turn them timer off, which turns the boiler and pump off......but here is the problem, the master pump no longer turns off, it just sits there churning away, and the only way to turn it off now is at the plug, but the other problem is, in a month-2 month period I have used like 500 litres of oil.

This is the pump in question
https://www.oilybits.com/grundfos-ups-15-50-selectric-central-heating-circulator-pump/prod_646.html


Any idea as to why it isn't turning off when it should? And why I am using so much god damn oil, no idea what the boiler is, but it is a grade A efficiency boiler, next door haven't used half of what I have used, in a bigger house with a bigger family.


Would speak to landlord but the term chocolate teapot springs to mind


It seems like an archaic way to heat water and a home in the sense that oil is so expensive.

A bolier requires constant circulation because of the pressures. To avoid a burst pipe water must circulate, make steam, cool down, and lose energy.

If you turn the burner off, the water must circulate for a bot. Just like a fan in a cage or bike runs when shutting off the engine. To heat the water up again requires a lot of energy. if your system is as efficient as you claim, then you save nothing as the energy to keep it simmering is the same as having to heat it all up again, since energy loss is minimal.

Wouldnt gas be cheaper in the UK? heating is instaneous and no bolier required. Hot water here is electric geyser or gas. Far cheaper. Water has a high latent heat and is very energy intensive to heat up. Hence it takes little heat to keep something simmering, but much energy to bring it to a boil. Now what is the capacity of you bolier? all that water to keep heating up.

I dont heat my house at all. On the Highveld people do. Electric heaters are damn expensive. then there are oil radiators which are electric, fire places, anthracite stoves, and gas heaters. Oil? Just makes arabs rich.
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Last edited by Kradmelder on 21:49 - 05 Dec 2012; edited 1 time in total
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janner_10
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PostPosted: 21:48 - 05 Dec 2012    Post subject: Reply with quote

A lot of boilers have the pump overrunning when the water is above say 60 for instance. Usually controlled by a pump overrun stat, which may or may not be be faulty with any other component.

What is the make and model of the boiler - should be easy to find a manual for it.

Much easier to fault find then.
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Kradmelder
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PostPosted: 21:52 - 05 Dec 2012    Post subject: Reply with quote

janner_10 wrote:
A lot of boilers have the pump overrunning when the water is above say 60 for instance. Usually controlled by a pump overrun stat, which may or may not be be faulty with any other component.

When is the make and model of the boiler - should be easy to find a manual for it.

Much easier to fault find then.


That is very wasteful. All that water heated, then dumped. The advantage of a geyser over a boiler is that you never boil the water. when the water reaches 60 C the power cuts off, hence no energy loss converting it to steam

I hope Im not confusing heat radiation with a typical boiler using steam to drive a turbine. Maybe you brits call a boiler something that just heats water (a geyser to me), and not a proper boiler
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janner_10
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PostPosted: 21:59 - 05 Dec 2012    Post subject: Reply with quote

Traditionally Oil fired boilers are pretty cheap to run, one of the cheapest forms. That said, you have to think about getting the oil and plan ahead a bit.
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pits
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PostPosted: 22:10 - 05 Dec 2012    Post subject: Reply with quote

Boiler is around the back of the house, will have to check it tomorrow (bit of a walk)

The thing is, there is no oil, so no heating, but the pump wont switch off so no hot spots.


Krad, live out on the country, it is a lot easier to get oil plumbed in and delivered as opposed to gas Thumbs Up

Might get a boiler man out to check it all out as shit, as it is just burning through oil at a vast rate of knots
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swampy
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PostPosted: 22:18 - 05 Dec 2012    Post subject: Reply with quote

Kradmelder wrote:
I hope Im not confusing heat radiation with a typical boiler using steam to drive a turbine. Maybe you brits call a boiler something that just heats water (a geyser to me), and not a proper boiler


That is exactly what you're doing chap. A boiler in this context is a device that burns fuel (usually gas, but occasionally oil in areas not tied into the mains gas network) to heat water to a set temp usually around 40ish degrees C.

No turbines in sight...
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Kradmelder
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PostPosted: 22:21 - 05 Dec 2012    Post subject: Reply with quote

pits wrote:
Boiler is around the back of the house, will have to check it tomorrow (bit of a walk)

The thing is, there is no oil, so no heating, but the pump wont switch off so no hot spots.


Krad, live out on the country, it is a lot easier to get oil plumbed in and delivered as opposed to gas Thumbs Up

Might get a boiler man out to check it all out as shit, as it is just burning through oil at a vast rate of knots


we dont have piped gas. all gas is cylinders.
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Kradmelder
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PostPosted: 22:24 - 05 Dec 2012    Post subject: Reply with quote

swampy wrote:
Kradmelder wrote:
I hope Im not confusing heat radiation with a typical boiler using steam to drive a turbine. Maybe you brits call a boiler something that just heats water (a geyser to me), and not a proper boiler


That is exactly what you're doing chap. A boiler in this context is a device that burns fuel (usually gas, but occasionally oil in areas not tied into the mains gas network) to heat water to a set temp usually around 40ish degrees C.

No turbines in sight...

aha. Then it is not a boiler. It is a geyser. semantics. For us a boiler is literally a boiler. It boils and generates steam. Ai I wish you brits would learn to speak english Mr. Green I shudder to think what the yanks would call a geyser....

If your 'boiler' works that way, there is no reason for a pump to run to circulate water after the heat turns off, until a maximum temperature is reached to prevent boling. Then there must be a thermostat. There is the place to look for a problem for excessive fuel consumption.

Only problems I ever had was a thermostat acting up, so the element kept heating the water, so the overflow valve diverted it to spill. So you waste loads of energy heating water that is lost to waste.

Your system must have an overflow as a safety in case of overheating. Check if it is overflowing at a time when your geyser and heater should be off. that means it is not shutting off. The the thermostat usually electrically shuts off the element in the geyser. or some similar mechanism in a oil burning system
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stinkwheel
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PostPosted: 01:31 - 06 Dec 2012    Post subject: Reply with quote

Wow Kradmelder. You really have no idea how totally and uneccessarily over-complex it has proven to be possible to make a simple device to heat water using an oil burner for the UK market.

I wouldn't have thought it was necessary to have even ONE microprocessor in such a device. It turns out that even my simple one has at least three, all of which are highly prone to failure.

If a central heating boiler (geyser/water ehating device) lasts five years without requiring a major repair, you're doing well. The water reservoir actually exploded on my dads oil fired one recently. Turns out it was made of cast iron.

In the UK a "geyser" is a very specific and now totally obsolete type of cylinder-shaped gas fired water heater. As history would dictate, almost totally indestructable although there were a few deaths due to carbon monoxide poisoning. My last house had a geyser and it never missed a beat (or went out) in 12 years. My current house has a 4 year old oil combi boiler and it's failed hard three times, each instance requiring a three figure sum or upwards of six hours of my time (which is worth a hell of a lot more) to fix it.
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pits
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PostPosted: 02:14 - 06 Dec 2012    Post subject: Reply with quote

thought geysers fired 15 feet of shit in the air Thinking
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Flip
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PostPosted: 03:22 - 06 Dec 2012    Post subject: Reply with quote

pits wrote:
thought geysers fired 15 feet of shit in the air Thinking


I thought that was tub girl. Thinking
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Kradmelder
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PostPosted: 08:47 - 06 Dec 2012    Post subject: Reply with quote

stinkwheel wrote:
Wow Kradmelder. You really have no idea how totally and uneccessarily over-complex it has proven to be possible to make a simple device to heat water using an oil burner for the UK market.

I wouldn't have thought it was necessary to have even ONE microprocessor in such a device. It turns out that even my simple one has at least three, all of which are highly prone to failure.

If a central heating boiler (geyser/water ehating device) lasts five years without requiring a major repair, you're doing well. The water reservoir actually exploded on my dads oil fired one recently. Turns out it was made of cast iron.

In the UK a "geyser" is a very specific and now totally obsolete type of cylinder-shaped gas fired water heater. As history would dictate, almost totally indestructable although there were a few deaths due to carbon monoxide poisoning. My last house had a geyser and it never missed a beat (or went out) in 12 years. My current house has a 4 year old oil combi boiler and it's failed hard three times, each instance requiring a three figure sum or upwards of six hours of my time (which is worth a hell of a lot more) to fix it.


why is it so complex? We just use a geyser either mounted in the roof or externally on the wall . It is heated by an electric element, and more and more with with solar cells to reduce energy consumption. the element kicks in when the solar cells They last many many years and the only problems they ever get is the thermostat and once a stuck overflow valve at the inlet when the municipality used an AA contractor to change my water meter and sand got in the pipes as he didnt seal of the pipe properly.
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stinkwheel
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PostPosted: 09:28 - 06 Dec 2012    Post subject: Reply with quote

Kradmelder wrote:

why is it so complex? We just use a geyser either mounted in the roof or externally on the wall . It is heated by an electric element, and more and more with with solar cells to reduce energy consumption. the element kicks in when the solar cells They last many many years and the only problems they ever get is the thermostat and once a stuck overflow valve at the inlet when the municipality used an AA contractor to change my water meter and sand got in the pipes as he didnt seal of the pipe properly.


I think perhaps yours is only supplying domestic hot water and not heating the house too?

Using an electric element to heat the water in your central heating would be mind-buggeringly expensive in the UK. We generally use mains gas where available and oil or tanked in gas where it isn't. You can have electric heating too but usually in the form of a storage heater in each room.

I suspect the complexity of combi boilers is a plot to keep plumbers and the boiler manufacturers in a job.

Back on topic, What I did with mine was to scan in the wiring diagram then go over the relevant wires to my problem in colour. Then got busy with the circuit tester. I see electrical faults as a blockage in the flow of the electricity so if you follow it from the source round each point, when you get to the point where there is none and there should be, the problem is between there and the last point you checked.

My problem last time turned out to be a badly fitted flow switch. The boiler engineer had been at it three times and never found it.

Remember it's 240V!
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“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.
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Walloper
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PostPosted: 10:46 - 06 Dec 2012    Post subject: Reply with quote

pits wrote:
Boiler is around the back of the house, will have to check it tomorrow (bit of a walk)

The thing is, there is no oil, so no heating, but the pump wont switch off so no hot spots.


Krad, live out on the country, it is a lot easier to get oil plumbed in and delivered as opposed to gas Thumbs Up

Might get a boiler man out to check it all out as shit, as it is just burning through oil at a vast rate of knots


If no oil and no heating required and pump is still running it could be an anti-frost protection or a stuck pump switch.

Get the boiler info off the plate and Google for the OEM. There will be a manual on-line with some basic troubleshooting info. Or you can phone around some heating people for some help. Some won't help as they want to charge you but most I have talked to will give some decent useful advice. They are not all cnuts.
If it's your landlords equipment be careful tamperfering with it on your own as they may charge you for any damage/say YOU introduced a problem by doing shit etc.

Does your lease not include boiler maintenance???

And Kramelder.... I spent enough time in RSA to realise that South Africans are tight fisted shiverers when it comes to heating the home/factory. Laughing
If it wasn't for the braai and Windhoek I would have died of hypothermia every weekend. Wasted

Gas is not 'that' much cheaper than oil, coal, wood here.
The calorific values are much of a muchness on the scale of heating the average home. The way to save money is to insulate not use cheaper fuels.
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