Absolutely wonderful (formerly absolutely useless) housing association

Page may contain affiliate links. Please see terms for details.

swee'pea99

Legendary Member
I can't quite see it from your picture, but I reckon your first port of call ought to be the system pressure gauge. I have a Worcestor Bosch - similar vintage to yours - and on mine, it looks like this:

1613263509035.png


If yours is basically the same, there'll be two pointers - a red one and a black one. The red one shows you where your water pressure needs to be, the black one shows where it actually is. If that black needle is way below the red one, you need to let more water into the system. Somewhere close to your boiler you'll find the water pipes connected to it. Mine look like this:

1613263758377.png


Find that tap - yours will be similar - and turn it anti-clockwise, while you watch the dial. The black needle should start moving up. When it's level with the red one, or just a tad below, turn the tap off. (Do this carefully...the pressure can change quickly.) Then use the reset button, as per irw's diagram above, and if you're lucky, you might be in business.

None of which changes the fact that the housing association should not be leaving people calling an emergency number for an hour.
 

ColinJ

Puzzle game procrastinator!
@Accy cyclist have you tried filling the loop to see if the pressure comes up?
Depends on the boiler - once mine loses pressure in the central heating loop it won't heat the hot water either, it just trips out until you top up the loop.
My boiler completely conked out when the pressure was lost. I repressurised it twice and it lasted 4-5 weeks both times. This 3rd time I am on 7+ weeks and it is holding up.

I don't leave the loop in place after repressurising because I read somewhere that you are not supposed to in case contaminated water leaks back into the domestic supply.

Thanks! I do have a fan heater for such emergencies. My small living room is now 68 Fahrenheit and i have a thick wool overcoat on,so i'll survive.👍
That's warmer than I have it here with the CH on!
 
OP
OP
Accy cyclist

Accy cyclist

Legendary Member
That's warmer than I have it here with the CH on!
How come? Is yours a big house? I had electric central heating in my first post married life flat, neatly 4 years ago. I was there from April till July,so not winter months,but the walls were about 14ft high,so the little heat those radiators gave out went up in the air.
 

HMS_Dave

Grand Old Lady
When my boiler last conked out 2 years or so ago i quoted the law about not having to go more than 24,or was it 48 hours? without heating etc. They got all stroppy,saying it wasn't an emergency,so i'd have to wait.
Well, i suppose having a frozen corpse as one of their tenant's isn't up in their priorities. But then the media would love it... 🤪
 

HMS_Dave

Grand Old Lady
It's so tempting,but i'll wait to hear their response and of course how long it takes them to respond.
https://housingdisrepairhelpline.co...emG3-aaxfQLqmaoRkgfX418yuqeHyLuRoCPyYQAvD_BwE
I was with a housing association for 18 years. I occasionally gave them a list of repairs and exercised my "rights" listed in my contract repeatedly. I can't say they were too enthusiastic to come out when my old gas back boiler stopped working on a Friday night but i made sure it was less hassle to tend to my request than to simply tell me that me freezing to death was more preferable than paying a call out charge of £50 to one of their engineers... They're just playing hardball with you...
 
OP
OP
Accy cyclist

Accy cyclist

Legendary Member
I can't quite see it from your picture, but I reckon your first port of call ought to be the system pressure gauge. I have a Worcestor Bosch - similar vintage to yours - and on mine, it looks like this:

View attachment 573852

If yours is basically the same, there'll be two pointers - a red one and a black one. The red one shows you where your water pressure needs to be, the black one shows where it actually is. If that black needle is way below the red one, you need to let more water into the system. Somewhere close to your boiler you'll find the water pipes connected to it. Mine look like this:

View attachment 573853

Find that tap - yours will be similar - and turn it anti-clockwise, while you watch the dial. The black needle should start moving up. When it's level with the red one, or just a tad below, turn the tap off. (Do this carefully...the pressure can change quickly.) Then use the reset button, as per irw's diagram above, and if you're lucky, you might be in business.

None of which changes the fact that the housing association should not be leaving people calling an emergency number for an hour.
Ok,thanks for that,it gives me hope! I'm not going to try it now,but tomorrow,as in later today i'll attempt it.👍
 

lazybloke

Considering a new username
Location
Leafy Surrey
The boiler is over 30 years old,according to the last workman who serviced it nearly a year ago. I took the front off to see if there was a pilot light thingy that'd gone out,but i couldn't see anything. I'm thinking there are live wires in there as the thing has 'isolate power before removing the cover' on it.
Not sure boilers have had pilot lights for at least 20 years. Too wasteful.


I've got a very similar Worcester CDI boiler, and would say almost definitely just to top up the water (to about 1.5 bar), then switch off/on again.
Very much a DIY task as long as you can find and operate the filling loop.

It's a bit strange, however, for the pressure to suddenly drop to zero.; it could indicate a plumber is worth a call. So before doing anything else I'd have a quick look around inside for leaks - eg wet carpet or sudden excessive condensation on cold surfaces. If no sign, then check whether water escaped outside through a small pipe below the flue. This would indicate a pressure release from the boiler, perhaps from an overheat.
 

ColinJ

Puzzle game procrastinator!
How come? Is yours a big house? I had electric central heating in my first post married life flat, neatly 4 years ago. I was there from April till July,so not winter months,but the walls were about 14ft high,so the little heat those radiators gave out went up in the air.
Because I don't like it too warm and can't afford it anyway! (My fuel bills are about £1,000/year and I don't want to spend more than that.)

It isn't a huge house but it is end terrace so I have an extra wall to let heat out through. The big attic bedroom does have insulation in the ceiling but it feels like it could do with another layer. If I owned the property I would suspend a second ceiling below the current one with extra insulation in between - there is plenty of headroom for that. I've also got an unheated cellar directly under this floor so that doesn't help...

I would like a really well-insulated house that didn't really need much heating but I don't suppose that I will ever be able to afford one.

Anyway - good luck getting your heating sorted out. I hate fan heaters - every one I have ever owned has made far too much noise.
 

Pale Rider

Legendary Member
I don't leave the loop in place after repressurising because I read somewhere that you are not supposed to in case contaminated water leaks back into the domestic supply.

I think another reason for leaving the loop disconnected is to avoid any chance of leaving the inlet tap on.

Worth having a go at re-pressurising it, I've done that in my similar Worcester boiler in the caravan a couple of times.

It should come up to pressure swiftly if it's going to.

Don't try for very long because if there's a leak all you will be doing is pumping water through the hole.
 
Top Bottom