timer, diverter valve or both?

[mr_sharlotte]

ill start by saying i'm not a plumber, so forgive me if i miss any details you might need.

Last weekend my central heating went kerput.
I had a drop in boiler pressure, so I increased it, tried to bleed radiators ect. Still no heating. (i think the pressure drop was caused by a leak from a joint going into my shower pump, which is sorted and the pressure has been fine since)

After a bit of trouble shooting, i've worked out that my heating will work if I manualy open the three way diverter valve by puling the lever across and locking it into the catch, and I manually turn the timer dial to the point where the heating would kick in (I still need to turn it like this even if the timer is switched onto 24 hours for it to work)
but no matter what i do with the dial, It doesn't work if my diverter valve isn't held open. Neither does holding open my diverter valve and sticking the timer onto 24 hours.

I've got no problem with my hot water, its running fine. Somebody suggested running a hot tap to see if the heating kicked in. (which it didn't.)

I've had a bit of trouble with my timer for a long time anyway. The dial was getting stuck at the on/off pins and not turning the system on/off, so ive just been turning it onto 24/7 whenever i need heating.


so first of all, ill probably need to change the timer regardless, as its been on the blink for a while. Is this something I'd be able to do myself or would you recommend a professional? Are timers all pretty much the same and wired like for like? I can change a light switch.

could this be causing the problem with the diverter? Or is it likley that that has gone also.

finally, if I do need to stick the heating on when it gets cold, is there actually any danger with me pinning the valve open?

much apreciated

 

[JCplumb]

Sounds like your timer is one of the old style honeywell(?) ones with the 2 red and 2 blue pegs. They're at full mains voltage and have more wires than a lightswitch so I'd recommend a heating engineer.
If you're having to manually latch your port valve and do some more jiggery pokery with your timer to get it to work then it really needs testing to see what is faulty and have it replaced.
Nobody on here can recommend you have a go yourself as if we do and you electrocute yourself we'll get the micky taken out of us for days on end

 

[mr_sharlotte]

Thats exactly the sort of timer it is, yeh!

Cheers!

 

[Welder]

Nobody on here can recommend you have a go yourself as if we do and you electrocute yourself we'll get the micky taken out of us for days on end

Plus:
- dead members are not very good for membership numbers
- they begin to smell a bit after a while