Boiler hot water issue & water pressure issue upstairs. please help!

[Riddy95]

Hi everyone,

New here & my first post!

I have a Worcester greenstar 24i, it is a conventional boiler, it has a water tank upstairs.

For the past year the hot water when turned on was intermittent. I repressurised the expansion vessel to 1 bar and the hot water switch when turned on worked as it should, however the pressure upstairs was lower than usual, and not hot upstairs, rather it was warm (downstairs pressure and heat fine).

Upstairs, the showers also are not heating correctly and always cuts off. Unable to have baths as water is only luke warm.

Now the hot water switch is playing up again. The hot water only turns on when I wiggle this switch located near the water tank (see attached).

To summarise, 2 problems:

1: reduced pressure and hot water upstairs, showers not working as they should

2: hot water only turns on when I wiggle this switch (attached)

Please help, can't afford to repair or replace, but at least if I know the problem can try myself.

Many thanks

 

[Deleted member 120897]

It might be the motor inside that valve actuator or the microswitch. As for reduced pressure upstairs, has this always been an issue or a more recent thing? Check the cold water storage cistern is filling back up.

 

[Riddy95]

Hi many thanks for your response.

Are they easy to repair the valve or microswitch? How do I know which one it is?

As for the pressure and hot water, it seems to have started at the same time the switched started playing up!

 

[Deleted member 120897]

The cover would need to be removed warning - doing so exposes live conductors, proceed with caution.

Then check if the motor or switch, plenty of YouTube videos for a better understanding. The motor needs to motor all the way across to make the microswitch. As a newbie, you goth be best replacing the head without draining down if possible

 

[Riddy95]

Sorry what do you mean by draining down? Also any idea what water pressure issue could be?

 

[Deleted member 120897]

I’ve already said what water pressure issue could be, doubt it’s related to failure of the valve. A drain down means draining the water from the system.

 

[Riddy95]

Thanks will let you know how I get on

 

[Riddy95]

Hi so quick update. There's no way to check the cistern on our water tank as it is sealed. I did purge the tank by emptying it completely, this has improved pressure slightly but not fixed the hot water issues upstairs. As for the valve, it looks like it needs replacing. Any other suggestions please on hot water upstairs?

 

[Deleted member 120897]

I don’t know why your cistern is sealed, it needs to be accessible for instances such as this. Could be limescale in hot water cylinder.

 

[Riddy95]

Update, replaced the motor of the valve think it was called a synchronous, that's fixed the hot water not turning on, thanks for that! I haven't been able to fix the poor pressure, both my showers are cold unless I turn to max heat, bath is never warm enough. Attached is a photo of my cistern. Thanks

 

[ShaunCorbs]

Unvented cylinder tank stat should read 65c

 

[Riddy95]

Where to read this stat please?

 

[Riddy95]

My thermostat is set to that, but still same issue, my radiators only have a dial, and hot water is done via dial on boiler. My showers don't work either. Thanks

 

[ShaunCorbs]

There’s a square box 1/3 up from the floor

 

[Riddy95]

Thanks will have a look and get back to you soon.

 

[Riddy95]

I have looked for a square box stat but there isn't any around the cylinder tank.

 

[ShaunCorbs]

I have looked for a square box stat but there isn't any around the cylinder tank.

Any chance of a picture?

 

[Riddy95]

I don't think mine has a stat please let me know what you think.

 

[ShaunCorbs]

In the unvented hot water panel you see the stickers on it so doubt it’s been knocked so that’s no the issue

But you have a tmv3 on your hot water out for some reason eg follow the top pipe out of the cylinder you will see 2 other pipes link to that with a chrome valve

Do you know why that’s on it ?

 

[Deleted member 120897]

Update, replaced the motor of the valve think it was called a synchronous, that's fixed the hot water not turning on, thanks for that! I haven't been able to fix the poor pressure, both my showers are cold unless I turn to max heat, bath is never warm enough. Attached is a photo of my cistern. Thanks

That’s a photo of the cylinder, not the cistern

 

[Riddy95]

In the unvented hot water panel you see the stickers on it so doubt it’s been knocked so that’s no the issue

But you have a tmv3 on your hot water out for some reason eg follow the top pipe out of the cylinder you will see 2 other pipes link to that with a chrome valve

Do you know why that’s on it ?

I have absolutely no idea, it's been like that since I moved in 2009.

 

[Riddy95]

That’s a photo of the cylinder, not the cistern

In that case I don't have a cistern as this is the only item related to my boiler (aside from the boiler itself)

 

[Deleted member 120897]

In that case I don't have a cistern as this is the only item related to my boiler (aside from the boiler itself)

Yes, apologies, I should have said, you won’t have a cistern with an unvented cylinder.

 

[Riddy95]

No problem at all! Is there a valve that could be stuck or anything in particular I should check for the lack of pressure?

 

[Deleted member 120897]

No problem at all! Is there a valve that could be stuck or anything in particular I should check for the lack of pressure?

I don’t hold my G3 quali’s, but assuming the cold main is still ok, maybe the pressure reducing valve, or blending valve - but these would need a G3 registered engineer.