• Re: Honeywell CH zone valve question

    From Davey@davey@example.invalid to uk.d-i-y on Sat Jan 3 10:19:42 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.d-i-y

    On Tue, 30 Dec 2025 23:45:20 +0000
    Roger Mills <mills37.fslife@gmail.com> wrote:

    On 30/12/2025 15:51, Davey wrote:
    Snipped for brevity.



    The isolatiion valve is separate from the pump and not part of
    it. The pump ends with a flange with a male thread on the
    outside, like this.
    https://www.screwfix.com/p/grundfos-light-commercial-central-heating-pump/1902p


    Yep.

    The isolation valve has a captive ring-nut which screws onto the
    pump's flange.
    https://www.screwfix.com/p/flomasta-gate-pump-valve-22mm-x/81629.

    Yep, that matches what I saw.

    To separate the two you need to find a way of preventing the pump
    body from rotating[1] and then use a hammer-assisted spanner on
    the ring-nut.

    Easy to say...

    Provided that (a) the isolation valves work and (b) that you can
    separate them from the pump by the method described above, you
    can change the pump without draining down.

    If we could separate them...

    [1] Such as by using a strap-wrench of the type used for removing
    car oil filters.

    That is what we have not been able to do. The threads will not
    separate. But thanks for confirming the arrangement of the valve
    and flange, it is exactly what we have.

    OK, even if you can't separate the pump from the valves, you may
    still be able to change the pump without draining down.

    You'll need to turn off both valves on all radiators to stop them
    emptying and, assuming it's an open vented system, you'll need to
    bung up the outlet from the fill & expansion tank and bung up the
    open end of the inverted J shaped exansion pipe. You can then break
    the system in *one* place with very little loss of water.

    You need to go armed with the new pump and two new isolation
    valves. Turn off both existing and both new valves. You can then
    undo the compression nut on one of the old valves and, assuming
    there's enough movement in the pipes, separate it from the pipe
    and immediately fit one of the new valves in its place - using the
    original olive and compression nut. Then do the same with the
    other one, and remove the pump complete with its two valves.
    Immediately fit the other new valve.

    You'll then have two isolation valves at the right spacing to slide
    the new pump - along with two rubber washers - into position and do
    up the ring-nuts.

    Then, turn the radiators on again, unbung the bunged up bits, turn
    on the isolation valves - and the job's a good'un!

    Don't suppose you have any photos of the existing pump installation
    which you could post somewhere with a link here? That you give us a
    better idea as to how much of the above is feasilble.

    If the system is *really* old, you may have imperial sized pipes
    rather than metric - which could present some additional
    challenges!

    Reply No 1, No 2 to follow later.

    The last item has been worrying me. The system was built in 1976,
    when the house was converted to flats, and that had me thinking
    about the piping used. Does 22mm copper pipe correspond to a 1976
    Imperial pipe size? I have been looking at various charts, and have
    only got very confused.

    I have an old photo, and I have asked for a newer one to be made
    available, but that has not happened yet.

    I had a Dropbox account, but it has lapsed.
    What is a good alternative place to put photos for general viewing?

    If the pipe is imperial it will be 3/4" nominal - which is actally
    larger than 3/4" in reality, and *slightly* smaller than 22mm. If
    connecting one to the other with soldered joints you need special
    fittings with 3/4" one end and 22mm the other end. With compression
    joints there's a bit more leeway. A 22mm fitting is ok on a 3/4" pipe
    (but not the other way round) but you need special olives with a
    slightly smaller ID. You'd probably get away with replacing an
    imperial pump valve with a metric one because the 3/4" olive already
    on the pipe should be ok, and the compression nut threads will almost certainly be the same.

    [Mr Google thinks that the imperial/metric change was made in 1972 -
    so your system is pretty certainly metric.]

    For posting photos I always use Box - which is similar to Dropbox -
    but there are other free options. Hopefully someone who knows more
    about it than I do will come along . . .


    Update.
    The resident in the flat managed to get a plumber yesterday, and he
    succeeded in changing out the pump. The reason that we could not was
    because the nuts that hold the pump and the isolating valves had been
    cemented or glued in place, and so the valves had to be replaced at the
    same time. Now the pump runs, but the storage tank does not get hot. The resident is not electrically-trained in any way at all, so has no way
    of checking what is or is not happening. He suspects the tank 'stat
    wiring. I hope to find out tomorrow.
    He will try today to engage an electrician for next week, I plan on
    going there tomorrow if no electrician is forthcoming.
    But there is progress!
    Now I have a spare set of valves, and a very wide mouth adjustable
    spanner purchased to better attack the pump securing nuts. But you can
    never have too many tools.

    I had wondered if there might be an airlock, but the fill and
    expansion tank is directly above the cupboard that contains the boiler,
    pump and the storage tank etc, so I don't see how there could be an
    airlock that does not instantly bleed out.
    --
    Davey.

    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Indy Jess John@bathwatchdog@OMITTHISgooglemail.com to uk.d-i-y on Sat Jan 3 15:08:33 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.d-i-y

    On 03/01/2026 10:19, Davey wrote:
    <snip>

    I had wondered if there might be an airlock, but the fill and
    expansion tank is directly above the cupboard that contains the boiler,
    pump and the storage tank etc, so I don't see how there could be an
    airlock that does not instantly bleed out.

    The fill and expansion tank is for the water supply for the boiler and radiators. There should be another source of water for the tank
    contents that goes to the hot water taps. Have you checked that the
    second source is sufficiently full? If it isn't the hot taps should
    stop running, so that is probably the easiest to check.

    Perhaps the zone valve isn't opening to heat the water? Try opening it manually and leave it hooked open and see if there is hot water after
    running the boiler a bit? Also, check the programmer settings. On my
    system the Hot Water ON/OFF circuit controls the zone valve on the hot
    water circuit and the Heating one controls the circulating pump for
    heated water to the radiators, so that I can have one or other or both
    in operation. I have never tried the hot radiators and no hot water
    option, but that is the scenario controlled by the frost thermostat to
    stop the system freezing if I am away for any length of time in the
    winter. Either controller being on will allow the gas through to heat
    the boiler.

    As an aside, I did use the microswitch circuit in the zone valve, it
    lights a neon when the hot water control is ON and the tank thermostat interrupts the zone valve circuit when there is sufficient hot water in
    the tank. In a nutshell, if the neon is off then either the hot water
    ON/OFF is off or there is insufficient hot water which causes the
    thermostat fitted half way up the tank to demand heat. The default of
    the neon being on is to show that there is over half a tankful of hot
    water available and it will reheat if I use enough hot water to have
    more than the bottom half of the tank refilled with cold. It gives me an at-a-glance reassurance that the hot taps will deliver hot water.

    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Davey@davey@example.invalid to uk.d-i-y on Sat Jan 3 15:37:13 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.d-i-y

    On Sat, 3 Jan 2026 15:08:33 +0000
    Indy Jess John <bathwatchdog@OMITTHISgooglemail.com> wrote:

    On 03/01/2026 10:19, Davey wrote:
    <snip>

    I had wondered if there might be an airlock, but the fill and
    expansion tank is directly above the cupboard that contains the
    boiler, pump and the storage tank etc, so I don't see how there
    could be an airlock that does not instantly bleed out.

    The fill and expansion tank is for the water supply for the boiler
    and radiators. There should be another source of water for the tank contents that goes to the hot water taps. Have you checked that the
    second source is sufficiently full? If it isn't the hot taps should
    stop running, so that is probably the easiest to check.

    Perhaps the zone valve isn't opening to heat the water? Try opening
    it manually and leave it hooked open and see if there is hot water
    after running the boiler a bit? Also, check the programmer settings.
    On my system the Hot Water ON/OFF circuit controls the zone valve on
    the hot water circuit and the Heating one controls the circulating
    pump for heated water to the radiators, so that I can have one or
    other or both in operation. I have never tried the hot radiators and
    no hot water option, but that is the scenario controlled by the frost thermostat to stop the system freezing if I am away for any length of
    time in the winter. Either controller being on will allow the gas
    through to heat the boiler.

    As an aside, I did use the microswitch circuit in the zone valve, it
    lights a neon when the hot water control is ON and the tank
    thermostat interrupts the zone valve circuit when there is sufficient
    hot water in the tank. In a nutshell, if the neon is off then either
    the hot water ON/OFF is off or there is insufficient hot water which
    causes the thermostat fitted half way up the tank to demand heat.
    The default of the neon being on is to show that there is over half a
    tankful of hot water available and it will reheat if I use enough hot
    water to have more than the bottom half of the tank refilled with
    cold. It gives me an at-a-glance reassurance that the hot taps will
    deliver hot water.


    Thanks for thoughts. I am going down there tomorrow for sure. I had
    already made a list of things to check, such as: Valves open, including
    header tanks' supply, pump pointing in the right direction, is the
    pump really powered, water available at taps, etc etc. I realised that
    the boiler and pump would not run unless the tank 'stat was asking them
    to. The zone valve only controls the radiator branch, determined by the
    room 'stat, the boiler and pump both run according to the tank 'stat.
    If the tank 'stat wants heat, and the timer is 'On', then the pump and
    boiler should run until the tank is hot enough.
    The radiator loop comes afterwards.....and heat lost there will drop
    the tank temperature, and so on.
    The whole thing that started this was the burning out of the old
    timer. It had a very good set of wire terminals, so the lack of a
    Honeywell J-Box was no problem. The replacement has a much smaller
    terminal strip, so I have bought a Honeywell J-Box for future
    installation. But at the moment, the timer is hanging from the shelve
    above by a wire, and although I believe the wiring is correct, tomorrow
    will be the first time I can check it out empirically.
    Wish me luck!
    --
    Davey.

    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Roger Mills@mills37.fslife@gmail.com to uk.d-i-y on Sat Jan 3 18:53:48 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.d-i-y

    On 03/01/2026 10:19, Davey wrote:
    On Tue, 30 Dec 2025 23:45:20 +0000
    Roger Mills <mills37.fslife@gmail.com> wrote:

    On 30/12/2025 15:51, Davey wrote:
    Snipped for brevity.



    The isolatiion valve is separate from the pump and not part of
    it. The pump ends with a flange with a male thread on the
    outside, like this.
    https://www.screwfix.com/p/grundfos-light-commercial-central-heating-pump/1902p


    Yep.

    The isolation valve has a captive ring-nut which screws onto the
    pump's flange.
    https://www.screwfix.com/p/flomasta-gate-pump-valve-22mm-x/81629.

    Yep, that matches what I saw.

    To separate the two you need to find a way of preventing the pump
    body from rotating[1] and then use a hammer-assisted spanner on
    the ring-nut.

    Easy to say...

    Provided that (a) the isolation valves work and (b) that you can
    separate them from the pump by the method described above, you
    can change the pump without draining down.

    If we could separate them...

    [1] Such as by using a strap-wrench of the type used for removing
    car oil filters.

    That is what we have not been able to do. The threads will not
    separate. But thanks for confirming the arrangement of the valve
    and flange, it is exactly what we have.

    OK, even if you can't separate the pump from the valves, you may
    still be able to change the pump without draining down.

    You'll need to turn off both valves on all radiators to stop them
    emptying and, assuming it's an open vented system, you'll need to
    bung up the outlet from the fill & expansion tank and bung up the
    open end of the inverted J shaped exansion pipe. You can then break
    the system in *one* place with very little loss of water.

    You need to go armed with the new pump and two new isolation
    valves. Turn off both existing and both new valves. You can then
    undo the compression nut on one of the old valves and, assuming
    there's enough movement in the pipes, separate it from the pipe
    and immediately fit one of the new valves in its place - using the
    original olive and compression nut. Then do the same with the
    other one, and remove the pump complete with its two valves.
    Immediately fit the other new valve.

    You'll then have two isolation valves at the right spacing to slide
    the new pump - along with two rubber washers - into position and do
    up the ring-nuts.

    Then, turn the radiators on again, unbung the bunged up bits, turn
    on the isolation valves - and the job's a good'un!

    Don't suppose you have any photos of the existing pump installation
    which you could post somewhere with a link here? That you give us a
    better idea as to how much of the above is feasilble.

    If the system is *really* old, you may have imperial sized pipes
    rather than metric - which could present some additional
    challenges!

    Reply No 1, No 2 to follow later.

    The last item has been worrying me. The system was built in 1976,
    when the house was converted to flats, and that had me thinking
    about the piping used. Does 22mm copper pipe correspond to a 1976
    Imperial pipe size? I have been looking at various charts, and have
    only got very confused.

    I have an old photo, and I have asked for a newer one to be made
    available, but that has not happened yet.

    I had a Dropbox account, but it has lapsed.
    What is a good alternative place to put photos for general viewing?

    If the pipe is imperial it will be 3/4" nominal - which is actally
    larger than 3/4" in reality, and *slightly* smaller than 22mm. If
    connecting one to the other with soldered joints you need special
    fittings with 3/4" one end and 22mm the other end. With compression
    joints there's a bit more leeway. A 22mm fitting is ok on a 3/4" pipe
    (but not the other way round) but you need special olives with a
    slightly smaller ID. You'd probably get away with replacing an
    imperial pump valve with a metric one because the 3/4" olive already
    on the pipe should be ok, and the compression nut threads will almost
    certainly be the same.

    [Mr Google thinks that the imperial/metric change was made in 1972 -
    so your system is pretty certainly metric.]

    For posting photos I always use Box - which is similar to Dropbox -
    but there are other free options. Hopefully someone who knows more
    about it than I do will come along . . .


    Update.
    The resident in the flat managed to get a plumber yesterday, and he
    succeeded in changing out the pump. The reason that we could not was
    because the nuts that hold the pump and the isolating valves had been cemented or glued in place, and so the valves had to be replaced at the
    same time. Now the pump runs, but the storage tank does not get hot. The resident is not electrically-trained in any way at all, so has no way
    of checking what is or is not happening. He suspects the tank 'stat
    wiring. I hope to find out tomorrow.
    He will try today to engage an electrician for next week, I plan on
    going there tomorrow if no electrician is forthcoming.
    But there is progress!
    Now I have a spare set of valves, and a very wide mouth adjustable
    spanner purchased to better attack the pump securing nuts. But you can
    never have too many tools.

    I had wondered if there might be an airlock, but the fill and
    expansion tank is directly above the cupboard that contains the boiler,
    pump and the storage tank etc, so I don't see how there could be an
    airlock that does not instantly bleed out.


    Looking back at all the posts in this thread, I don't think that you've
    ever said what type of control system is in place - how many zones
    valves there are and whether it/they are the 2-port or 3-port type.

    Going by the age of the system and by your assertion that the valve
    doesn't use microswitches, my hunch is that you have a W-Plan system
    which has a single 3-port diverter valve. See https://wiki.diyfaq.org.uk/index.php?title=Central_Heating_Controls_and_Zoning#DHW_priority:_W-Plan

    This can heat either the hot water or the radiators but not both at the
    same time. The valve is controlled by the cylinder thermostat. If the
    stat is not satisfied, the valve is in the unenergised HW position so
    the cylinder gets heated. Once the stat is satisfied, it energises the
    valve which then moves to the CH position and heats the radiators.

    In the event of an air lock in the HW circuit which prevented the
    cylinder from getting hot (unlikely) the stat would never be satisfied,
    so the radiators wouldn't be heated either.

    Assuming my hunch about it being a W-Plan system is correct, if the
    radiators get hot but the cylinder doesn't, either the wet part of the
    valve is stuck in the CH position, or the cylinder stat is telling the
    valve that the HW is hot when it isn't. This could be a wiring problem -
    but unlikely if it worked in the past and the wiring has not been
    disturbed, or maybe the stat's contacts could have welded themselves
    closed so that it is always "satisfied" even when the water is cold.

    If you don't think it's a W-Plan system, please tell us what it actually is.
    --
    Cheers,
    Roger
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Davey@davey@example.invalid to uk.d-i-y on Sat Jan 3 21:22:34 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.d-i-y

    On Sat, 3 Jan 2026 18:53:48 +0000
    Roger Mills <mills37.fslife@gmail.com> wrote:

    On 03/01/2026 10:19, Davey wrote:
    On Tue, 30 Dec 2025 23:45:20 +0000
    Roger Mills <mills37.fslife@gmail.com> wrote:

    On 30/12/2025 15:51, Davey wrote:
    Snipped for brevity.



    The isolatiion valve is separate from the pump and not part of
    it. The pump ends with a flange with a male thread on the
    outside, like this.
    https://www.screwfix.com/p/grundfos-light-commercial-central-heating-pump/1902p


    Yep.

    The isolation valve has a captive ring-nut which screws onto
    the pump's flange.
    https://www.screwfix.com/p/flomasta-gate-pump-valve-22mm-x/81629. >>>>>>
    Yep, that matches what I saw.

    To separate the two you need to find a way of preventing the
    pump body from rotating[1] and then use a hammer-assisted
    spanner on the ring-nut.

    Easy to say...

    Provided that (a) the isolation valves work and (b) that you
    can separate them from the pump by the method described above,
    you can change the pump without draining down.

    If we could separate them...

    [1] Such as by using a strap-wrench of the type used for
    removing car oil filters.

    That is what we have not been able to do. The threads will not
    separate. But thanks for confirming the arrangement of the valve
    and flange, it is exactly what we have.

    OK, even if you can't separate the pump from the valves, you may
    still be able to change the pump without draining down.

    You'll need to turn off both valves on all radiators to stop them
    emptying and, assuming it's an open vented system, you'll need to
    bung up the outlet from the fill & expansion tank and bung up the
    open end of the inverted J shaped exansion pipe. You can then
    break the system in *one* place with very little loss of water.

    You need to go armed with the new pump and two new isolation
    valves. Turn off both existing and both new valves. You can then
    undo the compression nut on one of the old valves and, assuming
    there's enough movement in the pipes, separate it from the pipe
    and immediately fit one of the new valves in its place - using
    the original olive and compression nut. Then do the same with the
    other one, and remove the pump complete with its two valves.
    Immediately fit the other new valve.

    You'll then have two isolation valves at the right spacing to
    slide the new pump - along with two rubber washers - into
    position and do up the ring-nuts.

    Then, turn the radiators on again, unbung the bunged up bits,
    turn on the isolation valves - and the job's a good'un!

    Don't suppose you have any photos of the existing pump
    installation which you could post somewhere with a link here?
    That you give us a better idea as to how much of the above is
    feasilble.

    If the system is *really* old, you may have imperial sized pipes
    rather than metric - which could present some additional
    challenges!

    Reply No 1, No 2 to follow later.

    The last item has been worrying me. The system was built in 1976,
    when the house was converted to flats, and that had me thinking
    about the piping used. Does 22mm copper pipe correspond to a 1976
    Imperial pipe size? I have been looking at various charts, and
    have only got very confused.

    I have an old photo, and I have asked for a newer one to be made
    available, but that has not happened yet.

    I had a Dropbox account, but it has lapsed.
    What is a good alternative place to put photos for general
    viewing?
    If the pipe is imperial it will be 3/4" nominal - which is actally
    larger than 3/4" in reality, and *slightly* smaller than 22mm. If
    connecting one to the other with soldered joints you need special
    fittings with 3/4" one end and 22mm the other end. With compression
    joints there's a bit more leeway. A 22mm fitting is ok on a 3/4"
    pipe (but not the other way round) but you need special olives
    with a slightly smaller ID. You'd probably get away with replacing
    an imperial pump valve with a metric one because the 3/4" olive
    already on the pipe should be ok, and the compression nut threads
    will almost certainly be the same.

    [Mr Google thinks that the imperial/metric change was made in 1972
    - so your system is pretty certainly metric.]

    For posting photos I always use Box - which is similar to Dropbox -
    but there are other free options. Hopefully someone who knows more
    about it than I do will come along . . .


    Update.
    The resident in the flat managed to get a plumber yesterday, and he succeeded in changing out the pump. The reason that we could not was because the nuts that hold the pump and the isolating valves had
    been cemented or glued in place, and so the valves had to be
    replaced at the same time. Now the pump runs, but the storage tank
    does not get hot. The resident is not electrically-trained in any
    way at all, so has no way of checking what is or is not happening.
    He suspects the tank 'stat wiring. I hope to find out tomorrow.
    He will try today to engage an electrician for next week, I plan on
    going there tomorrow if no electrician is forthcoming.
    But there is progress!
    Now I have a spare set of valves, and a very wide mouth adjustable
    spanner purchased to better attack the pump securing nuts. But you
    can never have too many tools.

    I had wondered if there might be an airlock, but the fill and
    expansion tank is directly above the cupboard that contains the
    boiler, pump and the storage tank etc, so I don't see how there
    could be an airlock that does not instantly bleed out.


    Looking back at all the posts in this thread, I don't think that
    you've ever said what type of control system is in place - how many
    zones valves there are and whether it/they are the 2-port or 3-port
    type.

    Going by the age of the system and by your assertion that the valve
    doesn't use microswitches, my hunch is that you have a W-Plan system
    which has a single 3-port diverter valve. See https://wiki.diyfaq.org.uk/index.php?title=Central_Heating_Controls_and_Zoning#DHW_priority:_W-Plan

    This can heat either the hot water or the radiators but not both at
    the same time. The valve is controlled by the cylinder thermostat. If
    the stat is not satisfied, the valve is in the unenergised HW
    position so the cylinder gets heated. Once the stat is satisfied, it energises the valve which then moves to the CH position and heats the radiators.

    In the event of an air lock in the HW circuit which prevented the
    cylinder from getting hot (unlikely) the stat would never be
    satisfied, so the radiators wouldn't be heated either.

    Assuming my hunch about it being a W-Plan system is correct, if the radiators get hot but the cylinder doesn't, either the wet part of
    the valve is stuck in the CH position, or the cylinder stat is
    telling the valve that the HW is hot when it isn't. This could be a
    wiring problem - but unlikely if it worked in the past and the wiring
    has not been disturbed, or maybe the stat's contacts could have
    welded themselves closed so that it is always "satisfied" even when
    the water is cold.

    If you don't think it's a W-Plan system, please tell us what it
    actually is.

    I did not find an exact version of the system. It is like a 'C'Plan,
    without the microswitch being used. A 'W' Plan uses a diverter valve,
    here there is only one 2-port valve, which lets hot water from the
    boiler circuit out to the radiators. The Tank 'stat controls the pump
    and boiler, DHW has to be On for heat in the system, and the timer does
    that. If the timer also asks for CH, then the Room 'stat opens the
    one valve, which then lets hot water out to the radiator loop.
    I am first going to check the valves etc for simple mistakes, such
    as closed valves, then operate the system and see what does and does
    not happen, hoping to do a system debug.
    Note that I said that the timer had been replaced, the 'new' one
    having a much more crowded terminal strip, so all the wiring is
    untested.
    With luck, I will be able to get it working.
    --
    Davey.

    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Roger Mills@mills37.fslife@gmail.com to uk.d-i-y on Sat Jan 3 23:04:27 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.d-i-y

    On 03/01/2026 21:22, Davey wrote:
    On Sat, 3 Jan 2026 18:53:48 +0000
    Roger Mills <mills37.fslife@gmail.com> wrote:

    On 03/01/2026 10:19, Davey wrote:
    On Tue, 30 Dec 2025 23:45:20 +0000
    Roger Mills <mills37.fslife@gmail.com> wrote:

    On 30/12/2025 15:51, Davey wrote:
    Snipped for brevity.



    The isolatiion valve is separate from the pump and not part of >>>>>>>> it. The pump ends with a flange with a male thread on the
    outside, like this.
    https://www.screwfix.com/p/grundfos-light-commercial-central-heating-pump/1902p


    Yep.

    The isolation valve has a captive ring-nut which screws onto
    the pump's flange.
    https://www.screwfix.com/p/flomasta-gate-pump-valve-22mm-x/81629. >>>>>>>>
    Yep, that matches what I saw.

    To separate the two you need to find a way of preventing the
    pump body from rotating[1] and then use a hammer-assisted
    spanner on the ring-nut.

    Easy to say...

    Provided that (a) the isolation valves work and (b) that you
    can separate them from the pump by the method described above, >>>>>>>> you can change the pump without draining down.

    If we could separate them...

    [1] Such as by using a strap-wrench of the type used for
    removing car oil filters.

    That is what we have not been able to do. The threads will not
    separate. But thanks for confirming the arrangement of the valve >>>>>>> and flange, it is exactly what we have.

    OK, even if you can't separate the pump from the valves, you may
    still be able to change the pump without draining down.

    You'll need to turn off both valves on all radiators to stop them
    emptying and, assuming it's an open vented system, you'll need to
    bung up the outlet from the fill & expansion tank and bung up the
    open end of the inverted J shaped exansion pipe. You can then
    break the system in *one* place with very little loss of water.

    You need to go armed with the new pump and two new isolation
    valves. Turn off both existing and both new valves. You can then
    undo the compression nut on one of the old valves and, assuming
    there's enough movement in the pipes, separate it from the pipe
    and immediately fit one of the new valves in its place - using
    the original olive and compression nut. Then do the same with the
    other one, and remove the pump complete with its two valves.
    Immediately fit the other new valve.

    You'll then have two isolation valves at the right spacing to
    slide the new pump - along with two rubber washers - into
    position and do up the ring-nuts.

    Then, turn the radiators on again, unbung the bunged up bits,
    turn on the isolation valves - and the job's a good'un!

    Don't suppose you have any photos of the existing pump
    installation which you could post somewhere with a link here?
    That you give us a better idea as to how much of the above is
    feasilble.

    If the system is *really* old, you may have imperial sized pipes
    rather than metric - which could present some additional
    challenges!

    Reply No 1, No 2 to follow later.

    The last item has been worrying me. The system was built in 1976,
    when the house was converted to flats, and that had me thinking
    about the piping used. Does 22mm copper pipe correspond to a 1976
    Imperial pipe size? I have been looking at various charts, and
    have only got very confused.

    I have an old photo, and I have asked for a newer one to be made
    available, but that has not happened yet.

    I had a Dropbox account, but it has lapsed.
    What is a good alternative place to put photos for general
    viewing?
    If the pipe is imperial it will be 3/4" nominal - which is actally
    larger than 3/4" in reality, and *slightly* smaller than 22mm. If
    connecting one to the other with soldered joints you need special
    fittings with 3/4" one end and 22mm the other end. With compression
    joints there's a bit more leeway. A 22mm fitting is ok on a 3/4"
    pipe (but not the other way round) but you need special olives
    with a slightly smaller ID. You'd probably get away with replacing
    an imperial pump valve with a metric one because the 3/4" olive
    already on the pipe should be ok, and the compression nut threads
    will almost certainly be the same.

    [Mr Google thinks that the imperial/metric change was made in 1972
    - so your system is pretty certainly metric.]

    For posting photos I always use Box - which is similar to Dropbox -
    but there are other free options. Hopefully someone who knows more
    about it than I do will come along . . .


    Update.
    The resident in the flat managed to get a plumber yesterday, and he
    succeeded in changing out the pump. The reason that we could not was
    because the nuts that hold the pump and the isolating valves had
    been cemented or glued in place, and so the valves had to be
    replaced at the same time. Now the pump runs, but the storage tank
    does not get hot. The resident is not electrically-trained in any
    way at all, so has no way of checking what is or is not happening.
    He suspects the tank 'stat wiring. I hope to find out tomorrow.
    He will try today to engage an electrician for next week, I plan on
    going there tomorrow if no electrician is forthcoming.
    But there is progress!
    Now I have a spare set of valves, and a very wide mouth adjustable
    spanner purchased to better attack the pump securing nuts. But you
    can never have too many tools.

    I had wondered if there might be an airlock, but the fill and
    expansion tank is directly above the cupboard that contains the
    boiler, pump and the storage tank etc, so I don't see how there
    could be an airlock that does not instantly bleed out.


    Looking back at all the posts in this thread, I don't think that
    you've ever said what type of control system is in place - how many
    zones valves there are and whether it/they are the 2-port or 3-port
    type.

    Going by the age of the system and by your assertion that the valve
    doesn't use microswitches, my hunch is that you have a W-Plan system
    which has a single 3-port diverter valve. See
    https://wiki.diyfaq.org.uk/index.php?title=Central_Heating_Controls_and_Zoning#DHW_priority:_W-Plan

    This can heat either the hot water or the radiators but not both at
    the same time. The valve is controlled by the cylinder thermostat. If
    the stat is not satisfied, the valve is in the unenergised HW
    position so the cylinder gets heated. Once the stat is satisfied, it
    energises the valve which then moves to the CH position and heats the
    radiators.

    In the event of an air lock in the HW circuit which prevented the
    cylinder from getting hot (unlikely) the stat would never be
    satisfied, so the radiators wouldn't be heated either.

    Assuming my hunch about it being a W-Plan system is correct, if the
    radiators get hot but the cylinder doesn't, either the wet part of
    the valve is stuck in the CH position, or the cylinder stat is
    telling the valve that the HW is hot when it isn't. This could be a
    wiring problem - but unlikely if it worked in the past and the wiring
    has not been disturbed, or maybe the stat's contacts could have
    welded themselves closed so that it is always "satisfied" even when
    the water is cold.

    If you don't think it's a W-Plan system, please tell us what it
    actually is.

    I did not find an exact version of the system. It is like a 'C'Plan,
    without the microswitch being used. A 'W' Plan uses a diverter valve,
    here there is only one 2-port valve, which lets hot water from the
    boiler circuit out to the radiators. The Tank 'stat controls the pump
    and boiler, DHW has to be On for heat in the system, and the timer does
    that. If the timer also asks for CH, then the Room 'stat opens the
    one valve, which then lets hot water out to the radiator loop.
    I am first going to check the valves etc for simple mistakes, such
    as closed valves, then operate the system and see what does and does
    not happen, hoping to do a system debug.
    Note that I said that the timer had been replaced, the 'new' one
    having a much more crowded terminal strip, so all the wiring is
    untested.
    With luck, I will be able to get it working.

    Mm - I'm totally mystified as to what you *have* got.

    Are you sure that your description is correct? Seems to me that, if the
    tank stat controls the boiler and pump, once that is satisfied the
    boiler and pump will stop so the radiators won't get hot even if the
    room stat has opened the zone valve. That surely can't be right?

    A C-Plan system would have gravity HW and pumped CH and, if there were a
    zone valve, this would be in the HW circuit and would have
    microswitches. [See C-Plan in the link from my previous post] So it
    ain't that.

    How many wires are connected to the cylinder stat? Is it just an on/off
    switch or a changeover. If the latter, where does the wire go which
    becomes live when the stat is satisfied? If boiler water continues to
    flow through the cylinder's internal coil after the stat is satisfied,
    what stops the hot water from getting too hot (assuming that the boiler
    flow temperature to the rads is higher than the desired HW temperature)?

    Sorry for all the questions, but I'm trying to understand how it is
    supposed to work so that I can help with troubleshooting.
    --
    Cheers,
    Roger
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Davey@davey@example.invalid to uk.d-i-y on Sun Jan 4 16:28:48 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.d-i-y

    On Sat, 3 Jan 2026 23:04:27 +0000
    Roger Mills <mills37.fslife@gmail.com> wrote:

    On 03/01/2026 21:22, Davey wrote:
    On Sat, 3 Jan 2026 18:53:48 +0000
    Roger Mills <mills37.fslife@gmail.com> wrote:

    On 03/01/2026 10:19, Davey wrote:
    On Tue, 30 Dec 2025 23:45:20 +0000
    Roger Mills <mills37.fslife@gmail.com> wrote:

    On 30/12/2025 15:51, Davey wrote:
    Snipped for brevity.



    The isolatiion valve is separate from the pump and not part
    of it. The pump ends with a flange with a male thread on the >>>>>>>> outside, like this.
    https://www.screwfix.com/p/grundfos-light-commercial-central-heating-pump/1902p


    Yep.

    The isolation valve has a captive ring-nut which screws onto >>>>>>>> the pump's flange.
    https://www.screwfix.com/p/flomasta-gate-pump-valve-22mm-x/81629. >>>>>>>>
    Yep, that matches what I saw.

    To separate the two you need to find a way of preventing the >>>>>>>> pump body from rotating[1] and then use a hammer-assisted
    spanner on the ring-nut.

    Easy to say...

    Provided that (a) the isolation valves work and (b) that you >>>>>>>> can separate them from the pump by the method described
    above, you can change the pump without draining down.

    If we could separate them...

    [1] Such as by using a strap-wrench of the type used for
    removing car oil filters.

    That is what we have not been able to do. The threads will not >>>>>>> separate. But thanks for confirming the arrangement of the
    valve and flange, it is exactly what we have.

    OK, even if you can't separate the pump from the valves, you
    may still be able to change the pump without draining down.

    You'll need to turn off both valves on all radiators to stop
    them emptying and, assuming it's an open vented system, you'll
    need to bung up the outlet from the fill & expansion tank and
    bung up the open end of the inverted J shaped exansion pipe.
    You can then break the system in *one* place with very little
    loss of water.

    You need to go armed with the new pump and two new isolation
    valves. Turn off both existing and both new valves. You can
    then undo the compression nut on one of the old valves and,
    assuming there's enough movement in the pipes, separate it
    from the pipe and immediately fit one of the new valves in its
    place - using the original olive and compression nut. Then do
    the same with the other one, and remove the pump complete with
    its two valves. Immediately fit the other new valve.

    You'll then have two isolation valves at the right spacing to
    slide the new pump - along with two rubber washers - into
    position and do up the ring-nuts.

    Then, turn the radiators on again, unbung the bunged up bits,
    turn on the isolation valves - and the job's a good'un!

    Don't suppose you have any photos of the existing pump
    installation which you could post somewhere with a link here?
    That you give us a better idea as to how much of the above is
    feasilble.

    If the system is *really* old, you may have imperial sized
    pipes rather than metric - which could present some additional
    challenges!

    Reply No 1, No 2 to follow later.

    The last item has been worrying me. The system was built in
    1976, when the house was converted to flats, and that had me
    thinking about the piping used. Does 22mm copper pipe
    correspond to a 1976 Imperial pipe size? I have been looking at
    various charts, and have only got very confused.

    I have an old photo, and I have asked for a newer one to be made
    available, but that has not happened yet.

    I had a Dropbox account, but it has lapsed.
    What is a good alternative place to put photos for general
    viewing?
    If the pipe is imperial it will be 3/4" nominal - which is
    actally larger than 3/4" in reality, and *slightly* smaller than
    22mm. If connecting one to the other with soldered joints you
    need special fittings with 3/4" one end and 22mm the other end.
    With compression joints there's a bit more leeway. A 22mm
    fitting is ok on a 3/4" pipe (but not the other way round) but
    you need special olives with a slightly smaller ID. You'd
    probably get away with replacing an imperial pump valve with a
    metric one because the 3/4" olive already on the pipe should be
    ok, and the compression nut threads will almost certainly be the
    same.

    [Mr Google thinks that the imperial/metric change was made in
    1972
    - so your system is pretty certainly metric.]

    For posting photos I always use Box - which is similar to
    Dropbox - but there are other free options. Hopefully someone
    who knows more about it than I do will come along . . .


    Update.
    The resident in the flat managed to get a plumber yesterday, and
    he succeeded in changing out the pump. The reason that we could
    not was because the nuts that hold the pump and the isolating
    valves had been cemented or glued in place, and so the valves had
    to be replaced at the same time. Now the pump runs, but the
    storage tank does not get hot. The resident is not
    electrically-trained in any way at all, so has no way of checking
    what is or is not happening. He suspects the tank 'stat wiring. I
    hope to find out tomorrow. He will try today to engage an
    electrician for next week, I plan on going there tomorrow if no
    electrician is forthcoming. But there is progress!
    Now I have a spare set of valves, and a very wide mouth adjustable
    spanner purchased to better attack the pump securing nuts. But you
    can never have too many tools.

    I had wondered if there might be an airlock, but the fill and
    expansion tank is directly above the cupboard that contains the
    boiler, pump and the storage tank etc, so I don't see how there
    could be an airlock that does not instantly bleed out.


    Looking back at all the posts in this thread, I don't think that
    you've ever said what type of control system is in place - how many
    zones valves there are and whether it/they are the 2-port or 3-port
    type.

    Going by the age of the system and by your assertion that the valve
    doesn't use microswitches, my hunch is that you have a W-Plan
    system which has a single 3-port diverter valve. See
    https://wiki.diyfaq.org.uk/index.php?title=Central_Heating_Controls_and_Zoning#DHW_priority:_W-Plan

    This can heat either the hot water or the radiators but not both at
    the same time. The valve is controlled by the cylinder thermostat.
    If the stat is not satisfied, the valve is in the unenergised HW
    position so the cylinder gets heated. Once the stat is satisfied,
    it energises the valve which then moves to the CH position and
    heats the radiators.

    In the event of an air lock in the HW circuit which prevented the
    cylinder from getting hot (unlikely) the stat would never be
    satisfied, so the radiators wouldn't be heated either.

    Assuming my hunch about it being a W-Plan system is correct, if the
    radiators get hot but the cylinder doesn't, either the wet part of
    the valve is stuck in the CH position, or the cylinder stat is
    telling the valve that the HW is hot when it isn't. This could be a
    wiring problem - but unlikely if it worked in the past and the
    wiring has not been disturbed, or maybe the stat's contacts could
    have welded themselves closed so that it is always "satisfied"
    even when the water is cold.

    If you don't think it's a W-Plan system, please tell us what it
    actually is.

    I did not find an exact version of the system. It is like a 'C'Plan, without the microswitch being used. A 'W' Plan uses a diverter
    valve, here there is only one 2-port valve, which lets hot water
    from the boiler circuit out to the radiators. The Tank 'stat
    controls the pump and boiler, DHW has to be On for heat in the
    system, and the timer does that. If the timer also asks for CH,
    then the Room 'stat opens the one valve, which then lets hot water
    out to the radiator loop. I am first going to check the valves etc
    for simple mistakes, such as closed valves, then operate the system
    and see what does and does not happen, hoping to do a system debug.
    Note that I said that the timer had been replaced, the 'new' one
    having a much more crowded terminal strip, so all the wiring is
    untested.
    With luck, I will be able to get it working.

    Mm - I'm totally mystified as to what you *have* got.

    Are you sure that your description is correct? Seems to me that, if
    the tank stat controls the boiler and pump, once that is satisfied
    the boiler and pump will stop so the radiators won't get hot even if
    the room stat has opened the zone valve. That surely can't be right?

    A C-Plan system would have gravity HW and pumped CH and, if there
    were a zone valve, this would be in the HW circuit and would have microswitches. [See C-Plan in the link from my previous post] So it
    ain't that.

    How many wires are connected to the cylinder stat? Is it just an
    on/off switch or a changeover. If the latter, where does the wire go
    which becomes live when the stat is satisfied? If boiler water
    continues to flow through the cylinder's internal coil after the stat
    is satisfied, what stops the hot water from getting too hot (assuming
    that the boiler flow temperature to the rads is higher than the
    desired HW temperature)?

    Sorry for all the questions, but I'm trying to understand how it is
    supposed to work so that I can help with troubleshooting.

    Just got back from the flat.
    There is heat!! The resident, Simon, is over the moon.
    Details later.
    --
    Davey.

    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Davey@davey@example.invalid to uk.d-i-y on Sun Jan 4 17:43:14 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.d-i-y

    On Sat, 3 Jan 2026 23:04:27 +0000
    Roger Mills <mills37.fslife@gmail.com> wrote:

    On 03/01/2026 21:22, Davey wrote:
    On Sat, 3 Jan 2026 18:53:48 +0000
    Roger Mills <mills37.fslife@gmail.com> wrote:

    On 03/01/2026 10:19, Davey wrote:
    On Tue, 30 Dec 2025 23:45:20 +0000
    Roger Mills <mills37.fslife@gmail.com> wrote:

    On 30/12/2025 15:51, Davey wrote:
    Snipped for brevity.
    ed as to what you *have* got.

    Are you sure that your description is correct? Seems to me that, if
    the tank stat controls the boiler and pump, once that is satisfied
    the boiler and pump will stop so the radiators won't get hot even if
    the room stat has opened the zone valve. That surely can't be right?

    A C-Plan system would have gravity HW and pumped CH and, if there
    were a zone valve, this would be in the HW circuit and would have microswitches. [See C-Plan in the link from my previous post] So it
    ain't that.

    How many wires are connected to the cylinder stat? Is it just an
    on/off switch or a changeover. If the latter, where does the wire go
    which becomes live when the stat is satisfied? If boiler water
    continues to flow through the cylinder's internal coil after the stat
    is satisfied, what stops the hot water from getting too hot (assuming
    that the boiler flow temperature to the rads is higher than the
    desired HW temperature)?

    Sorry for all the questions, but I'm trying to understand how it is
    supposed to work so that I can help with troubleshooting.

    Ok. This is in several parts.
    1. The plumber knew about the stuck pump nuts. He broke them somehow (I
    wasn't there) and then removed the resin'ed remains from the valves,
    along with the dead pump. Then he took the two new valves, and knew how
    to separate the nuts from the valves. Neat trick. These then went on the
    old valves, the new pump was installed as normal.
    2. When the pump was connected, and the timer set to All on, the pump
    ran, and unlike the old one, has a display, showing what appears to be
    a discharge pressure. This was varying from 5 to 13 or so. I had
    checked the isolation valves, and the tank feed valve, and they were
    all open. The boiler would light, and then go out.
    3. To cut a long story short, the whole system was one big airlock.
    Bleeding air from the three radiators in rotation resulted in the boiler finally staying on, and then with the zone valve opened by the room
    'stat, heat began to be felt in the radiators. The pump was
    displaying a steady reading of 6.0 somethings. Being happy that the
    system was at least operating, I left for home. Soon after I arrived
    here, 90 minutes later, Simon called saying he now had hot water. He was ecstatic.
    4. I had already had doubts about the operation of the Room 'stat
    before you mentioned it, but I checked my notes and that is exactly how
    the system was, and is again, wired. It worked for Simon all through
    last winter, and he had no reason to query it. In a perfect world, a
    better way would be found, but "if it ain't broke, don't fix it".
    5. I don't see your problem with the current Tank 'stat/pump/boiler arrangement. If the tank gets to setpoint, it will shut the pump and
    boiler down, so I don't see runaway happening. It has never knowingly
    happened.
    6. I had hoped to be able to use the new Honeywell 'Wiring Centre', aka
    J-Box, to improve and neaten the wiring to the replacement timer, as its
    very small terminals do not enable good tidy connections directly to it, whereas the old one had large terminals. But the new J-box has
    equally small terminals, offering little if any improvement. Back to
    the drawing board. I need to source a J-Box with larger internal
    connectors.
    7. The Boiler/pump/valve radiator layout is as I have described it*. It
    does not conform to any of the published layouts. It is closest to a
    'C'-Plan, but with a different valve arrangement. That is why I cannot
    name the Plan.
    * The pump takes hot water from the boiler and sends it through the
    tank heater coil, and back to the boiler. Just before the entry to
    the boiler, there is a 'T' and the zone valve takes off from that
    point to go to the radiators. That's it. I didn't design it.

    I need a drink.
    --
    Davey.

    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Roger Mills@mills37.fslife@gmail.com to uk.d-i-y on Sun Jan 4 20:26:53 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.d-i-y

    On 04/01/2026 17:43, Davey wrote:
    On Sat, 3 Jan 2026 23:04:27 +0000
    Roger Mills <mills37.fslife@gmail.com> wrote:

    On 03/01/2026 21:22, Davey wrote:
    On Sat, 3 Jan 2026 18:53:48 +0000
    Roger Mills <mills37.fslife@gmail.com> wrote:

    On 03/01/2026 10:19, Davey wrote:
    On Tue, 30 Dec 2025 23:45:20 +0000
    Roger Mills <mills37.fslife@gmail.com> wrote:

    On 30/12/2025 15:51, Davey wrote:
    Snipped for brevity.
    ed as to what you *have* got.

    Are you sure that your description is correct? Seems to me that, if
    the tank stat controls the boiler and pump, once that is satisfied
    the boiler and pump will stop so the radiators won't get hot even if
    the room stat has opened the zone valve. That surely can't be right?

    A C-Plan system would have gravity HW and pumped CH and, if there
    were a zone valve, this would be in the HW circuit and would have
    microswitches. [See C-Plan in the link from my previous post] So it
    ain't that.

    How many wires are connected to the cylinder stat? Is it just an
    on/off switch or a changeover. If the latter, where does the wire go
    which becomes live when the stat is satisfied? If boiler water
    continues to flow through the cylinder's internal coil after the stat
    is satisfied, what stops the hot water from getting too hot (assuming
    that the boiler flow temperature to the rads is higher than the
    desired HW temperature)?

    Sorry for all the questions, but I'm trying to understand how it is
    supposed to work so that I can help with troubleshooting.

    Ok. This is in several parts.
    1. The plumber knew about the stuck pump nuts. He broke them somehow (I wasn't there) and then removed the resin'ed remains from the valves,
    along with the dead pump. Then he took the two new valves, and knew how
    to separate the nuts from the valves. Neat trick. These then went on the
    old valves, the new pump was installed as normal.
    2. When the pump was connected, and the timer set to All on, the pump
    ran, and unlike the old one, has a display, showing what appears to be
    a discharge pressure. This was varying from 5 to 13 or so. I had
    checked the isolation valves, and the tank feed valve, and they were
    all open. The boiler would light, and then go out.
    3. To cut a long story short, the whole system was one big airlock.
    Bleeding air from the three radiators in rotation resulted in the boiler finally staying on, and then with the zone valve opened by the room
    'stat, heat began to be felt in the radiators. The pump was
    displaying a steady reading of 6.0 somethings. Being happy that the
    system was at least operating, I left for home. Soon after I arrived
    here, 90 minutes later, Simon called saying he now had hot water. He was ecstatic.
    4. I had already had doubts about the operation of the Room 'stat
    before you mentioned it, but I checked my notes and that is exactly how
    the system was, and is again, wired. It worked for Simon all through
    last winter, and he had no reason to query it. In a perfect world, a
    better way would be found, but "if it ain't broke, don't fix it".
    5. I don't see your problem with the current Tank 'stat/pump/boiler arrangement. If the tank gets to setpoint, it will shut the pump and
    boiler down, so I don't see runaway happening. It has never knowingly happened.
    6. I had hoped to be able to use the new Honeywell 'Wiring Centre', aka J-Box, to improve and neaten the wiring to the replacement timer, as its
    very small terminals do not enable good tidy connections directly to it, whereas the old one had large terminals. But the new J-box has
    equally small terminals, offering little if any improvement. Back to
    the drawing board. I need to source a J-Box with larger internal
    connectors.
    7. The Boiler/pump/valve radiator layout is as I have described it*. It
    does not conform to any of the published layouts. It is closest to a 'C'-Plan, but with a different valve arrangement. That is why I cannot
    name the Plan.
    * The pump takes hot water from the boiler and sends it through the
    tank heater coil, and back to the boiler. Just before the entry to
    the boiler, there is a 'T' and the zone valve takes off from that
    point to go to the radiators. That's it. I didn't design it.

    I need a drink.

    Excellent news! So glad you got it working.

    My problem with the control system is this: In order for the HW to get
    hot, the boiler and pump must be running. In order to have hot
    radiators, the boiler and pump must be running *and* the zone valve must
    be open. If the tank stat controls *only* the boiler and pump, and the
    room stat controls *only* the zone valve, what tells the boiler and pump
    to run for the CH once the tank stat has turned them off? Also, since
    the boiler and pump need to be on to get CH (but we don't know how!) in
    the absense of a zone valve in the HW circuit, the boiler flow will
    continue to flow through the tank coil even though the tank stat is
    satisfied. So what then stops the HW from getting up to boiler flow temperature rather than just to the lower temperature set by the tank
    stat? My guess is that there's something a bit cleverer going on than
    what you have described. Maybe it doesn't matter now that it is working
    again - but it would be nice to understand it completely for future
    reference.
    --
    Cheers,
    Roger
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Davey@davey@example.invalid to uk.d-i-y on Sun Jan 4 20:50:02 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.d-i-y

    On Sun, 4 Jan 2026 20:26:53 +0000
    Roger Mills <mills37.fslife@gmail.com> wrote:
    On 04/01/2026 17:43, Davey wrote:
    On Sat, 3 Jan 2026 23:04:27 +0000
    Roger Mills <mills37.fslife@gmail.com> wrote:

    On 03/01/2026 21:22, Davey wrote:
    On Sat, 3 Jan 2026 18:53:48 +0000
    Roger Mills <mills37.fslife@gmail.com> wrote:

    On 03/01/2026 10:19, Davey wrote:
    On Tue, 30 Dec 2025 23:45:20 +0000
    Roger Mills <mills37.fslife@gmail.com> wrote:

    On 30/12/2025 15:51, Davey wrote:
    Snipped for brevity.
    ed as to what you *have* got.

    Are you sure that your description is correct? Seems to me that, if
    the tank stat controls the boiler and pump, once that is satisfied
    the boiler and pump will stop so the radiators won't get hot even
    if the room stat has opened the zone valve. That surely can't be
    right?

    A C-Plan system would have gravity HW and pumped CH and, if there
    were a zone valve, this would be in the HW circuit and would have
    microswitches. [See C-Plan in the link from my previous post] So it
    ain't that.

    How many wires are connected to the cylinder stat? Is it just an
    on/off switch or a changeover. If the latter, where does the wire
    go which becomes live when the stat is satisfied? If boiler water
    continues to flow through the cylinder's internal coil after the
    stat is satisfied, what stops the hot water from getting too hot
    (assuming that the boiler flow temperature to the rads is higher
    than the desired HW temperature)?

    Sorry for all the questions, but I'm trying to understand how it is
    supposed to work so that I can help with troubleshooting.

    Ok. This is in several parts.
    1. The plumber knew about the stuck pump nuts. He broke them
    somehow (I wasn't there) and then removed the resin'ed remains from
    the valves, along with the dead pump. Then he took the two new
    valves, and knew how to separate the nuts from the valves. Neat
    trick. These then went on the old valves, the new pump was
    installed as normal. 2. When the pump was connected, and the timer
    set to All on, the pump ran, and unlike the old one, has a display,
    showing what appears to be a discharge pressure. This was varying
    from 5 to 13 or so. I had checked the isolation valves, and the
    tank feed valve, and they were all open. The boiler would light,
    and then go out. 3. To cut a long story short, the whole system was
    one big airlock. Bleeding air from the three radiators in rotation
    resulted in the boiler finally staying on, and then with the zone
    valve opened by the room 'stat, heat began to be felt in the
    radiators. The pump was displaying a steady reading of 6.0
    somethings. Being happy that the system was at least operating, I
    left for home. Soon after I arrived here, 90 minutes later, Simon
    called saying he now had hot water. He was ecstatic.
    4. I had already had doubts about the operation of the Room 'stat
    before you mentioned it, but I checked my notes and that is exactly
    how the system was, and is again, wired. It worked for Simon all
    through last winter, and he had no reason to query it. In a perfect
    world, a better way would be found, but "if it ain't broke, don't
    fix it". 5. I don't see your problem with the current Tank 'stat/pump/boiler arrangement. If the tank gets to setpoint, it
    will shut the pump and boiler down, so I don't see runaway
    happening. It has never knowingly happened.
    6. I had hoped to be able to use the new Honeywell 'Wiring Centre',
    aka J-Box, to improve and neaten the wiring to the replacement
    timer, as its very small terminals do not enable good tidy
    connections directly to it, whereas the old one had large
    terminals. But the new J-box has equally small terminals, offering
    little if any improvement. Back to the drawing board. I need to
    source a J-Box with larger internal connectors.
    7. The Boiler/pump/valve radiator layout is as I have described
    it*. It does not conform to any of the published layouts. It is
    closest to a 'C'-Plan, but with a different valve arrangement. That
    is why I cannot name the Plan.
    * The pump takes hot water from the boiler and sends it through the
    tank heater coil, and back to the boiler. Just before the entry
    to the boiler, there is a 'T' and the zone valve takes off from that
    point to go to the radiators. That's it. I didn't design it.

    I need a drink.

    Excellent news! So glad you got it working.

    My problem with the control system is this: In order for the HW to
    get hot, the boiler and pump must be running. In order to have hot radiators, the boiler and pump must be running *and* the zone valve
    must be open. If the tank stat controls *only* the boiler and pump,
    and the room stat controls *only* the zone valve, what tells the
    boiler and pump to run for the CH once the tank stat has turned them
    off? Also, since the boiler and pump need to be on to get CH (but we
    don't know how!) in the absense of a zone valve in the HW circuit,
    the boiler flow will continue to flow through the tank coil even
    though the tank stat is satisfied. So what then stops the HW from
    getting up to boiler flow temperature rather than just to the lower temperature set by the tank stat? My guess is that there's something
    a bit cleverer going on than what you have described. Maybe it
    doesn't matter now that it is working again - but it would be nice to understand it completely for future reference.
    I agree that the room 'stat/valve/boiler control is not theoretically
    optimal, which is why I was thinking about it last night. But it works.
    As for the runaway possibility, if the room 'stat is asking for CH
    heat, then there is a load on the boiler, so it is unlikely that the
    tank will run away as long as the room 'stat is asking for heat. When
    the room 'stat is satisfied, the tank 'stat will have solo control of
    the pump and boiler, which it already does anyway. The room 'stat does
    not operate them. If the tank 'stat is satisfied, the pump and boiler
    are turned off.
    I am certain that the system is as I describe it, after all, I wired it
    up according to my notes of it as it used to be, and I have no physical
    reason to doubt them.
    From what I see, any idea of using the valve microswitch, however
    conceptually desirable, would only add complications and could lead to
    the runaway condition you envisage. It was not connected to anything originally.
    One thought. We don't know how long passes between the room 'stat
    asking for heat and the tank 'stat asking for heat. It may be that,
    once the valve is opened, it takes a while for the hot water to mingle
    with the cold water in the radiator loop, and then the tank 'stat
    operates. Maybe.
    --
    Davey.
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Roger Mills@mills37.fslife@gmail.com to uk.d-i-y on Sun Jan 4 22:31:23 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.d-i-y

    On 04/01/2026 20:50, Davey wrote:
    On Sun, 4 Jan 2026 20:26:53 +0000
    Roger Mills <mills37.fslife@gmail.com> wrote:

    On 04/01/2026 17:43, Davey wrote:
    On Sat, 3 Jan 2026 23:04:27 +0000
    Roger Mills <mills37.fslife@gmail.com> wrote:

    On 03/01/2026 21:22, Davey wrote:
    On Sat, 3 Jan 2026 18:53:48 +0000
    Roger Mills <mills37.fslife@gmail.com> wrote:

    On 03/01/2026 10:19, Davey wrote:
    On Tue, 30 Dec 2025 23:45:20 +0000
    Roger Mills <mills37.fslife@gmail.com> wrote:

    On 30/12/2025 15:51, Davey wrote:
    Snipped for brevity.
    ed as to what you *have* got.

    Are you sure that your description is correct? Seems to me that, if
    the tank stat controls the boiler and pump, once that is satisfied
    the boiler and pump will stop so the radiators won't get hot even
    if the room stat has opened the zone valve. That surely can't be
    right?

    A C-Plan system would have gravity HW and pumped CH and, if there
    were a zone valve, this would be in the HW circuit and would have
    microswitches. [See C-Plan in the link from my previous post] So it
    ain't that.

    How many wires are connected to the cylinder stat? Is it just an
    on/off switch or a changeover. If the latter, where does the wire
    go which becomes live when the stat is satisfied? If boiler water
    continues to flow through the cylinder's internal coil after the
    stat is satisfied, what stops the hot water from getting too hot
    (assuming that the boiler flow temperature to the rads is higher
    than the desired HW temperature)?

    Sorry for all the questions, but I'm trying to understand how it is
    supposed to work so that I can help with troubleshooting.

    Ok. This is in several parts.
    1. The plumber knew about the stuck pump nuts. He broke them
    somehow (I wasn't there) and then removed the resin'ed remains from
    the valves, along with the dead pump. Then he took the two new
    valves, and knew how to separate the nuts from the valves. Neat
    trick. These then went on the old valves, the new pump was
    installed as normal. 2. When the pump was connected, and the timer
    set to All on, the pump ran, and unlike the old one, has a display,
    showing what appears to be a discharge pressure. This was varying
    from 5 to 13 or so. I had checked the isolation valves, and the
    tank feed valve, and they were all open. The boiler would light,
    and then go out. 3. To cut a long story short, the whole system was
    one big airlock. Bleeding air from the three radiators in rotation
    resulted in the boiler finally staying on, and then with the zone
    valve opened by the room 'stat, heat began to be felt in the
    radiators. The pump was displaying a steady reading of 6.0
    somethings. Being happy that the system was at least operating, I
    left for home. Soon after I arrived here, 90 minutes later, Simon
    called saying he now had hot water. He was ecstatic.
    4. I had already had doubts about the operation of the Room 'stat
    before you mentioned it, but I checked my notes and that is exactly
    how the system was, and is again, wired. It worked for Simon all
    through last winter, and he had no reason to query it. In a perfect
    world, a better way would be found, but "if it ain't broke, don't
    fix it". 5. I don't see your problem with the current Tank
    'stat/pump/boiler arrangement. If the tank gets to setpoint, it
    will shut the pump and boiler down, so I don't see runaway
    happening. It has never knowingly happened.
    6. I had hoped to be able to use the new Honeywell 'Wiring Centre',
    aka J-Box, to improve and neaten the wiring to the replacement
    timer, as its very small terminals do not enable good tidy
    connections directly to it, whereas the old one had large
    terminals. But the new J-box has equally small terminals, offering
    little if any improvement. Back to the drawing board. I need to
    source a J-Box with larger internal connectors.
    7. The Boiler/pump/valve radiator layout is as I have described
    it*. It does not conform to any of the published layouts. It is
    closest to a 'C'-Plan, but with a different valve arrangement. That
    is why I cannot name the Plan.
    * The pump takes hot water from the boiler and sends it through the
    tank heater coil, and back to the boiler. Just before the entry
    to the boiler, there is a 'T' and the zone valve takes off from that
    point to go to the radiators. That's it. I didn't design it.

    I need a drink.

    Excellent news! So glad you got it working.

    My problem with the control system is this: In order for the HW to
    get hot, the boiler and pump must be running. In order to have hot
    radiators, the boiler and pump must be running *and* the zone valve
    must be open. If the tank stat controls *only* the boiler and pump,
    and the room stat controls *only* the zone valve, what tells the
    boiler and pump to run for the CH once the tank stat has turned them
    off? Also, since the boiler and pump need to be on to get CH (but we
    don't know how!) in the absense of a zone valve in the HW circuit,
    the boiler flow will continue to flow through the tank coil even
    though the tank stat is satisfied. So what then stops the HW from
    getting up to boiler flow temperature rather than just to the lower
    temperature set by the tank stat? My guess is that there's something
    a bit cleverer going on than what you have described. Maybe it
    doesn't matter now that it is working again - but it would be nice to
    understand it completely for future reference.

    I agree that the room 'stat/valve/boiler control is not theoretically optimal, which is why I was thinking about it last night. But it works.
    As for the runaway possibility, if the room 'stat is asking for CH
    heat, then there is a load on the boiler, so it is unlikely that the
    tank will run away as long as the room 'stat is asking for heat. When
    the room 'stat is satisfied, the tank 'stat will have solo control of
    the pump and boiler, which it already does anyway. The room 'stat does
    not operate them. If the tank 'stat is satisfied, the pump and boiler
    are turned off.
    I am certain that the system is as I describe it, after all, I wired it
    up according to my notes of it as it used to be, and I have no physical reason to doubt them.
    From what I see, any idea of using the valve microswitch, however conceptually desirable, would only add complications and could lead to
    the runaway condition you envisage. It was not connected to anything originally.
    One thought. We don't know how long passes between the room 'stat
    asking for heat and the tank 'stat asking for heat. It may be that,
    once the valve is opened, it takes a while for the hot water to mingle
    with the cold water in the radiator loop, and then the tank 'stat
    operates. Maybe.

    You say "If the tank 'stat is satisfied, the pump and boiler are turned
    off." So I'm struggling to understand how, when that happens, the
    radiators can possibly get hot without the boiler and pump running. Can
    you explain that?
    --
    Cheers,
    Roger
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Davey@davey@example.invalid to uk.d-i-y on Sun Jan 4 23:57:01 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.d-i-y

    On Sun, 4 Jan 2026 22:31:23 +0000
    Roger Mills <mills37.fslife@gmail.com> wrote:
    It may be that,
    once the valve is opened, it takes a while for the hot water to
    mingle with the cold water in the radiator loop, and then the tank
    'stat operates. Maybe.
    I can only offer:
    "It may be that,
    once the valve is opened, it takes a while for the hot water to mingle
    with the cold water in the radiator loop, and then the tank 'stat
    operates. Maybe."
    But it works. That is all I can say on the matter. How long it takes to
    happen, we don't know. And I'm not going to spend -u30 on petrol going
    there again if I don't need to just to find out. If I go again for some
    other reason, I might find time to experiment. If you want to fund my
    -u30, I would consider going down again to investigate this.
    --
    Davey.
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Davey@davey@example.invalid to uk.d-i-y on Mon Jan 5 10:11:21 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.d-i-y

    On Sun, 4 Jan 2026 23:57:01 +0000
    Davey <davey@example.invalid> wrote:
    On Sun, 4 Jan 2026 22:31:23 +0000
    Roger Mills <mills37.fslife@gmail.com> wrote:

    It may be that,
    once the valve is opened, it takes a while for the hot water to
    mingle with the cold water in the radiator loop, and then the tank
    'stat operates. Maybe.

    I can only offer:
    "It may be that,
    once the valve is opened, it takes a while for the hot water to
    mingle with the cold water in the radiator loop, and then the tank
    'stat operates. Maybe."

    But it works. That is all I can say on the matter. How long it takes
    to happen, we don't know. And I'm not going to spend -u30 on petrol
    going there again if I don't need to just to find out. If I go again
    for some other reason, I might find time to experiment. If you want
    to fund my -u30, I would consider going down again to investigate this.

    I searched this morning for a suitable 'Wiring Centre', and I found
    this: https://cpc.farnell.com/wago/mbox-l32-wiring-centre/junction-box-wiring-center-221/dp/CN22658
    which looks as though it might do the job.
    I would of course wire it for my non-standard system, but it appears to
    provide the necessary number of connectors. But I will work through it
    check.
    --
    Davey.
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Roger Mills@mills37.fslife@gmail.com to uk.d-i-y on Mon Jan 5 13:39:30 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.d-i-y

    On 04/01/2026 23:57, Davey wrote:
    On Sun, 4 Jan 2026 22:31:23 +0000
    Roger Mills <mills37.fslife@gmail.com> wrote:

    It may be that,
    once the valve is opened, it takes a while for the hot water to
    mingle with the cold water in the radiator loop, and then the tank
    'stat operates. Maybe.

    I can only offer:
    "It may be that,
    once the valve is opened, it takes a while for the hot water to mingle
    with the cold water in the radiator loop, and then the tank 'stat
    operates. Maybe."

    But it works. That is all I can say on the matter. How long it takes to happen, we don't know. And I'm not going to spend -u30 on petrol going
    there again if I don't need to just to find out. If I go again for some
    other reason, I might find time to experiment. If you want to fund my
    -u30, I would consider going down again to investigate this.


    I fear that I may have annoyed you with my line of
    questioning/commenting. If so, it was entirely unintentional and I
    apologise sincerely. Put it down to my nerd-like desire to get to the
    bottom of things.

    As it's now working, there's no point in making another special trip,
    but it would be worth having a really good look at it next time you go -specially if you are installing a new wiring centre.

    My guess is that it's designed to provide HW priority - similar to a
    W-Plan system - and that the radiators don't get hot until the tank stat
    is satisfied. If that is the case, the tank stat is probably a
    changeover switch with 3 connections rather than just on/off, and one of
    the connections probably goes to the zone valve - either directly or via
    the wiring centre. Hopefully you'll be able to figure it out when you're there.
    --
    Cheers,
    Roger
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Roger Mills@mills37.fslife@gmail.com to uk.d-i-y on Mon Jan 5 13:53:33 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.d-i-y

    On 05/01/2026 10:11, Davey wrote:
    On Sun, 4 Jan 2026 23:57:01 +0000
    Davey <davey@example.invalid> wrote:

    On Sun, 4 Jan 2026 22:31:23 +0000
    Roger Mills <mills37.fslife@gmail.com> wrote:

    It may be that,
    once the valve is opened, it takes a while for the hot water to
    mingle with the cold water in the radiator loop, and then the tank
    'stat operates. Maybe.

    I can only offer:
    "It may be that,
    once the valve is opened, it takes a while for the hot water to
    mingle with the cold water in the radiator loop, and then the tank
    'stat operates. Maybe."

    But it works. That is all I can say on the matter. How long it takes
    to happen, we don't know. And I'm not going to spend -u30 on petrol
    going there again if I don't need to just to find out. If I go again
    for some other reason, I might find time to experiment. If you want
    to fund my -u30, I would consider going down again to investigate this.


    I searched this morning for a suitable 'Wiring Centre', and I found
    this: https://cpc.farnell.com/wago/mbox-l32-wiring-centre/junction-box-wiring-center-221/dp/CN22658
    which looks as though it might do the job.
    I would of course wire it for my non-standard system, but it appears to provide the necessary number of connectors. But I will work through it
    check.

    It claims to be ok for S-Plan and Y-Plan systems, so it should be ok.

    However, it doesn't seem to say exactly how many connectors there are.
    From memory, a conventional wiring centre with choc-block type
    connectors has 10 of them, each allowing 2 or more wires to be joined together. That's not always enough, depending on the complexity of the
    system. For example, mine couldn't cope with 3 heating zones and I had
    to install a second box.

    To work out how many connectors you need, and how many wires each one
    has to accommodate, you really need an accurate wiring diagram and I'm
    not sure that you have one.
    --
    Cheers,
    Roger
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Davey@davey@example.invalid to uk.d-i-y on Mon Jan 5 14:12:55 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.d-i-y

    On Mon, 5 Jan 2026 13:39:30 +0000
    Roger Mills <mills37.fslife@gmail.com> wrote:
    On 04/01/2026 23:57, Davey wrote:
    On Sun, 4 Jan 2026 22:31:23 +0000
    Roger Mills <mills37.fslife@gmail.com> wrote:

    It may be that,
    once the valve is opened, it takes a while for the hot water to
    mingle with the cold water in the radiator loop, and then the tank
    'stat operates. Maybe.

    I can only offer:
    "It may be that,
    once the valve is opened, it takes a while for the hot water to
    mingle with the cold water in the radiator loop, and then the tank
    'stat operates. Maybe."

    But it works. That is all I can say on the matter. How long it
    takes to happen, we don't know. And I'm not going to spend -u30 on
    petrol going there again if I don't need to just to find out. If I
    go again for some other reason, I might find time to experiment. If
    you want to fund my -u30, I would consider going down again to
    investigate this.

    I fear that I may have annoyed you with my line of
    questioning/commenting. If so, it was entirely unintentional and I
    apologise sincerely. Put it down to my nerd-like desire to get to the
    bottom of things.

    Apology accepted. I understand not understanding something technical.
    As it's now working, there's no point in making another special trip,
    but it would be worth having a really good look at it next time you
    go -specially if you are installing a new wiring centre.

    My guess is that it's designed to provide HW priority - similar to a
    W-Plan system - and that the radiators don't get hot until the tank
    stat is satisfied. If that is the case, the tank stat is probably a changeover switch with 3 connections rather than just on/off, and one
    of the connections probably goes to the zone valve - either directly
    or via the wiring centre. Hopefully you'll be able to figure it out
    when you're there.
    I can assure you that the tank 'stat has only 2 wires, Live and Load.
    The Room 'stat has 3.
    At the moment there is no wiring centre, but hopefully there will be in
    the future. I will engage a professional electrician to install it, if
    I can find one. At the moment, the plan would be to exactly replicate
    the current unsightly and crammed-in wiring, but with the Wiring Centre included, making the whole thing sensible and easy to work on.
    Everything appears to work, except why does the Room 'stat not need to
    run the pump and boiler? I have proposed a theory. The next time I am
    there, that is what I will investigate, time permitting.
    Reverting to the original problem, the burnout of the timer, I am
    thinking that it might have occurred when the pump failed. It might
    have caused a sudden jump in current passing through the circuit as the
    pump stalled, or failed to start. Just conjecture. When I went there
    the first time, and discovered that the pump was dead, although it had
    power, the end of the shaft, visible under a removable cover on those
    old pumps, was not moving. Still, it had been running since 1976, so I
    think it did its job. The Danfoss pumps seem to deserve the term 'bullet-proof'.
    --
    Davey.
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Andy Burns@usenet@andyburns.uk to uk.d-i-y on Mon Jan 5 15:12:52 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.d-i-y

    Roger Mills wrote:

    On 05/01/2026 10:11, Davey wrote:

    I searched this morning for a suitable 'Wiring Centre', and I found
    this:
    https://cpc.farnell.com/wago/mbox-l32-wiring-centre/junction-box-
    wiring-center-221/dp/CN22658
    which looks as though it might do the job.
    I would of course wire it for my non-standard system, but it appears to
    provide the necessary number of connectors. But I will work through it
    check.

    It claims to be ok for S-Plan and Y-Plan systems, so it should be ok.

    However, it doesn't seem to say exactly how many connectors there are.
    From memory, a conventional wiring centre with choc-block type
    connectors has 10 of them, each allowing 2 or more wires to be joined together. That's not always enough, depending on the complexity of the system. For example, mine couldn't cope with 3 heating zones and I had
    to install a second box.

    To work out how many connectors you need, and how many wires each one
    has to accommodate, you really need an accurate wiring diagram and I'm
    not sure that you have one.

    In the farnell "documents" section they show how you'd use the wagos in
    a "Y" configuration, but it doesn't show an "S" version ...

    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Davey@davey@example.invalid to uk.d-i-y on Mon Jan 5 15:38:59 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.d-i-y

    On Mon, 5 Jan 2026 15:12:52 +0000
    Andy Burns <usenet@andyburns.uk> wrote:

    Roger Mills wrote:

    On 05/01/2026 10:11, Davey wrote:

    I searched this morning for a suitable 'Wiring Centre', and I found
    this:
    https://cpc.farnell.com/wago/mbox-l32-wiring-centre/junction-box-
    wiring-center-221/dp/CN22658
    which looks as though it might do the job.
    I would of course wire it for my non-standard system, but it
    appears to provide the necessary number of connectors. But I will
    work through it check.

    It claims to be ok for S-Plan and Y-Plan systems, so it should be
    ok.

    However, it doesn't seem to say exactly how many connectors there
    are. From memory, a conventional wiring centre with choc-block type connectors has 10 of them, each allowing 2 or more wires to be
    joined together. That's not always enough, depending on the
    complexity of the system. For example, mine couldn't cope with 3
    heating zones and I had to install a second box.

    To work out how many connectors you need, and how many wires each
    one has to accommodate, you really need an accurate wiring diagram
    and I'm not sure that you have one.

    In the farnell "documents" section they show how you'd use the wagos
    in a "Y" configuration, but it doesn't show an "S" version ...


    I have downloaded the 'Y' diagram, and have already marked up some of
    the changes needed. These include changing Terminal 8 to a 2nd Earth
    block, as the Room 'stat has one as well, and so does the timer, and
    terminal 8 is not needed for the non-existent 2nd wire from the Tank
    'stat. Some wire colours are different, too.
    There is no hurry.
    --
    Davey.

    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Indy Jess John@bathwatchdog@OMITTHISgooglemail.com to uk.d-i-y on Tue Jan 6 12:44:34 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.d-i-y

    On 04/01/2026 17:43, Davey wrote:
    On Sat, 3 Jan 2026 23:04:27 +0000
    Roger Mills <mills37.fslife@gmail.com> wrote:

    On 03/01/2026 21:22, Davey wrote:
    On Sat, 3 Jan 2026 18:53:48 +0000
    Roger Mills <mills37.fslife@gmail.com> wrote:

    On 03/01/2026 10:19, Davey wrote:
    On Tue, 30 Dec 2025 23:45:20 +0000
    Roger Mills <mills37.fslife@gmail.com> wrote:

    On 30/12/2025 15:51, Davey wrote:
    Snipped for brevity.
    ed as to what you *have* got.

    Are you sure that your description is correct? Seems to me that, if
    the tank stat controls the boiler and pump, once that is satisfied
    the boiler and pump will stop so the radiators won't get hot even if
    the room stat has opened the zone valve. That surely can't be right?

    A C-Plan system would have gravity HW and pumped CH and, if there
    were a zone valve, this would be in the HW circuit and would have
    microswitches. [See C-Plan in the link from my previous post] So it
    ain't that.

    How many wires are connected to the cylinder stat? Is it just an
    on/off switch or a changeover. If the latter, where does the wire go
    which becomes live when the stat is satisfied? If boiler water
    continues to flow through the cylinder's internal coil after the stat
    is satisfied, what stops the hot water from getting too hot (assuming
    that the boiler flow temperature to the rads is higher than the
    desired HW temperature)?

    Sorry for all the questions, but I'm trying to understand how it is
    supposed to work so that I can help with troubleshooting.

    Ok. This is in several parts.
    1. The plumber knew about the stuck pump nuts. He broke them somehow (I wasn't there) and then removed the resin'ed remains from the valves,
    along with the dead pump. Then he took the two new valves, and knew how
    to separate the nuts from the valves. Neat trick. These then went on the
    old valves, the new pump was installed as normal.
    2. When the pump was connected, and the timer set to All on, the pump
    ran, and unlike the old one, has a display, showing what appears to be
    a discharge pressure. This was varying from 5 to 13 or so. I had
    checked the isolation valves, and the tank feed valve, and they were
    all open. The boiler would light, and then go out.
    3. To cut a long story short, the whole system was one big airlock.
    Bleeding air from the three radiators in rotation resulted in the boiler finally staying on, and then with the zone valve opened by the room
    'stat, heat began to be felt in the radiators. The pump was
    displaying a steady reading of 6.0 somethings. Being happy that the
    system was at least operating, I left for home. Soon after I arrived
    here, 90 minutes later, Simon called saying he now had hot water. He was ecstatic.
    4. I had already had doubts about the operation of the Room 'stat
    before you mentioned it, but I checked my notes and that is exactly how
    the system was, and is again, wired. It worked for Simon all through
    last winter, and he had no reason to query it. In a perfect world, a
    better way would be found, but "if it ain't broke, don't fix it".
    5. I don't see your problem with the current Tank 'stat/pump/boiler arrangement. If the tank gets to setpoint, it will shut the pump and
    boiler down, so I don't see runaway happening. It has never knowingly happened.
    6. I had hoped to be able to use the new Honeywell 'Wiring Centre', aka J-Box, to improve and neaten the wiring to the replacement timer, as its
    very small terminals do not enable good tidy connections directly to it, whereas the old one had large terminals. But the new J-box has
    equally small terminals, offering little if any improvement. Back to
    the drawing board. I need to source a J-Box with larger internal
    connectors.
    7. The Boiler/pump/valve radiator layout is as I have described it*. It
    does not conform to any of the published layouts. It is closest to a 'C'-Plan, but with a different valve arrangement. That is why I cannot
    name the Plan.
    * The pump takes hot water from the boiler and sends it through the
    tank heater coil, and back to the boiler. Just before the entry to
    the boiler, there is a 'T' and the zone valve takes off from that
    point to go to the radiators. That's it. I didn't design it.

    I need a drink.

    With the zone valve where you said it was, I am wondering whether the
    water flow through the pump is in the direction you assume it is. If
    you imagine the flow through the pump is in the opposite direction you
    have (as near as dammit) a C-plan system.

    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Roger Mills@mills37.fslife@gmail.com to uk.d-i-y on Tue Jan 6 13:36:35 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.d-i-y

    On 06/01/2026 12:44, Indy Jess John wrote:
    On 04/01/2026 17:43, Davey wrote:
    On Sat, 3 Jan 2026 23:04:27 +0000
    Roger Mills <mills37.fslife@gmail.com> wrote:

    On 03/01/2026 21:22, Davey wrote:
    On Sat, 3 Jan 2026 18:53:48 +0000
    Roger Mills <mills37.fslife@gmail.com> wrote:
    On 03/01/2026 10:19, Davey wrote:
    On Tue, 30 Dec 2025 23:45:20 +0000
    Roger Mills <mills37.fslife@gmail.com> wrote:
    On 30/12/2025 15:51, Davey wrote:
    Snipped for brevity.
    -a-a-a ed as to what you *have* got.

    Are you sure that your description is correct? Seems to me that, if
    the tank stat controls the boiler and pump, once that is satisfied
    the boiler and pump will stop so the radiators won't get hot even if
    the room stat has opened the zone valve. That surely can't be right?

    A C-Plan system would have gravity HW and pumped CH and, if there
    were a zone valve, this would be in the HW circuit and would have
    microswitches. [See C-Plan in the link from my previous post] So it
    ain't that.

    How many wires are connected to the cylinder stat? Is it just an
    on/off switch or a changeover. If the latter, where does the wire go
    which becomes live when the stat is satisfied? If boiler water
    continues to flow through the cylinder's internal coil after the stat
    is satisfied, what stops the hot water from getting too hot (assuming
    that the boiler flow temperature to the rads is higher than the
    desired HW temperature)?

    Sorry for all the questions, but I'm trying to understand how it is
    supposed to work so that I can help with troubleshooting.

    Ok. This is in several parts.
    1. The plumber knew about the stuck pump nuts. He broke them somehow (I
    wasn't there) and then removed the resin'ed remains from the valves,
    along with the dead pump. Then he took the two new valves, and knew how
    to separate the nuts from the valves. Neat trick. These then went on the
    old valves, the new pump was installed as normal.
    2. When the pump was connected, and the timer set to All on, the pump
    ran, and unlike the old one, has a display, showing what appears to be
    a discharge pressure. This was varying from 5 to 13 or so. I had
    checked the isolation valves, and the tank feed valve, and they were
    all open. The boiler would light, and then go out.
    3. To cut a long story short, the whole system was one big airlock.
    Bleeding air from the three radiators in rotation resulted in the boiler
    finally staying on, and then with the zone valve opened by the room
    'stat, heat began to be felt in the radiators. The pump was
    displaying a steady reading of 6.0 somethings. Being happy that the
    system was at least operating, I left for home. Soon after I arrived
    here, 90 minutes later, Simon called saying he now had hot water. He was
    ecstatic.
    4. I had already had doubts about the operation of the Room 'stat
    before you mentioned it, but I checked my notes and that is exactly how
    the system was, and is again, wired. It worked for Simon all through
    last winter, and he had no reason to query it. In a perfect world, a
    better way would be found, but "if it ain't broke, don't fix it".
    5. I don't see your problem with the current Tank 'stat/pump/boiler
    arrangement. If the tank gets to setpoint, it will shut the pump and
    boiler down, so I don't see runaway happening. It has never knowingly
    happened.
    6. I had hoped to be able to use the new Honeywell 'Wiring Centre', aka
    J-Box, to improve and neaten the wiring to the replacement timer, as its
    very small terminals do not enable good tidy connections directly to it,
    whereas the old one had large terminals. But the new J-box has
    equally small terminals, offering little if any improvement. Back to
    the drawing board. I need to source a J-Box with larger internal
    connectors.
    7. The Boiler/pump/valve radiator layout is as I have described it*. It
    does not conform to any of the published layouts. It is closest to a
    'C'-Plan, but with a different valve arrangement. That is why I cannot
    name the Plan.
    * The pump takes hot water from the boiler and sends it through the
    -a-a tank heater coil, and back to the boiler. Just before the entry to
    -a-a the boiler, there is a 'T' and the zone valve takes off from that
    -a-a point to go to the radiators. That's it. I didn't design it.

    I need a drink.

    With the zone valve where you said it was, I am wondering whether the
    water flow through the pump is in the direction you assume it is.-a If
    you imagine the flow through the pump is in the opposite direction you
    have (as near as dammit) a C-plan system.


    I wondered about that but dismissed it because Davey's system appears to
    be fully pumped - whereas C-Plan has gravity DHW - and C-Plan has the
    zone valve in the HW - not CH - circuit *and* uses the valve's microswitch.
    --
    Cheers,
    Roger
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Davey@davey@example.invalid to uk.d-i-y on Tue Jan 6 14:03:58 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.d-i-y

    Snipped.
    With the zone valve where you said it was, I am wondering whether
    the water flow through the pump is in the direction you assume it
    is.-a If you imagine the flow through the pump is in the opposite
    direction you have (as near as dammit) a C-plan system.


    I wondered about that but dismissed it because Davey's system appears
    to be fully pumped - whereas C-Plan has gravity DHW - and C-Plan has
    the zone valve in the HW - not CH - circuit *and* uses the valve's microswitch.
    I am certain that the flow is as I described. I had to re-orientate the
    pump body before installing it, as it is horizontal flow instead of the
    default vertical flow, and it was checked by the plumber when he
    managed to sort out the valve securing nuts and install the pump. The
    flow arrow can be seen now it is in place, it definitely matches the
    original pump, and the pump body clearly defines its operational
    direction.
    As far as I can see, the system is working, Simon is warm, and the only
    thing left to do is to fix the wiring with a 'Wiring Centre', probably
    the Wago one I found, it fits the bill. The only mystery is how the pump
    and boiler are energised when the Room 'stat calls for heat, and I will
    check that when I am next there. Whenever that is.
    --
    Davey.
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Davey@davey@example.invalid to uk.d-i-y on Wed Jan 7 16:41:09 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.d-i-y

    On Tue, 6 Jan 2026 13:36:35 +0000
    Roger Mills <mills37.fslife@gmail.com> wrote:
    On 06/01/2026 12:44, Indy Jess John wrote:
    On 04/01/2026 17:43, Davey wrote:
    On Sat, 3 Jan 2026 23:04:27 +0000
    Roger Mills <mills37.fslife@gmail.com> wrote:

    On 03/01/2026 21:22, Davey wrote:
    On Sat, 3 Jan 2026 18:53:48 +0000
    Roger Mills <mills37.fslife@gmail.com> wrote:
    On 03/01/2026 10:19, Davey wrote:
    On Tue, 30 Dec 2025 23:45:20 +0000
    Roger Mills <mills37.fslife@gmail.com> wrote:
    On 30/12/2025 15:51, Davey wrote:
    Snipped for brevity.
    -a-a-a ed as to what you *have* got.

    Are you sure that your description is correct? Seems to me that,
    if the tank stat controls the boiler and pump, once that is
    satisfied the boiler and pump will stop so the radiators won't
    get hot even if the room stat has opened the zone valve. That
    surely can't be right?

    A C-Plan system would have gravity HW and pumped CH and, if there
    were a zone valve, this would be in the HW circuit and would have
    microswitches. [See C-Plan in the link from my previous post] So
    it ain't that.

    How many wires are connected to the cylinder stat? Is it just an
    on/off switch or a changeover. If the latter, where does the wire
    go which becomes live when the stat is satisfied? If boiler water
    continues to flow through the cylinder's internal coil after the
    stat is satisfied, what stops the hot water from getting too hot
    (assuming that the boiler flow temperature to the rads is higher
    than the desired HW temperature)?

    Sorry for all the questions, but I'm trying to understand how it
    is supposed to work so that I can help with troubleshooting.

    Ok. This is in several parts.
    1. The plumber knew about the stuck pump nuts. He broke them
    somehow (I wasn't there) and then removed the resin'ed remains
    from the valves, along with the dead pump. Then he took the two
    new valves, and knew how to separate the nuts from the valves.
    Neat trick. These then went on the old valves, the new pump was
    installed as normal. 2. When the pump was connected, and the timer
    set to All on, the pump ran, and unlike the old one, has a
    display, showing what appears to be a discharge pressure. This was
    varying from 5 to 13 or so. I had checked the isolation valves,
    and the tank feed valve, and they were all open. The boiler would
    light, and then go out. 3. To cut a long story short, the whole
    system was one big airlock. Bleeding air from the three radiators
    in rotation resulted in the boiler finally staying on, and then
    with the zone valve opened by the room 'stat, heat began to be
    felt in the radiators. The pump was displaying a steady reading of
    6.0 somethings. Being happy that the system was at least
    operating, I left for home. Soon after I arrived here, 90 minutes
    later, Simon called saying he now had hot water. He was ecstatic.
    4. I had already had doubts about the operation of the Room 'stat
    before you mentioned it, but I checked my notes and that is
    exactly how the system was, and is again, wired. It worked for
    Simon all through last winter, and he had no reason to query it.
    In a perfect world, a better way would be found, but "if it ain't
    broke, don't fix it". 5. I don't see your problem with the current
    Tank 'stat/pump/boiler arrangement. If the tank gets to setpoint,
    it will shut the pump and boiler down, so I don't see runaway
    happening. It has never knowingly happened.
    6. I had hoped to be able to use the new Honeywell 'Wiring
    Centre', aka J-Box, to improve and neaten the wiring to the
    replacement timer, as its very small terminals do not enable good
    tidy connections directly to it, whereas the old one had large
    terminals. But the new J-box has equally small terminals, offering
    little if any improvement. Back to the drawing board. I need to
    source a J-Box with larger internal connectors.
    7. The Boiler/pump/valve radiator layout is as I have described
    it*. It does not conform to any of the published layouts. It is
    closest to a 'C'-Plan, but with a different valve arrangement.
    That is why I cannot name the Plan.
    * The pump takes hot water from the boiler and sends it through the
    -a-a tank heater coil, and back to the boiler. Just before the entry
    to the boiler, there is a 'T' and the zone valve takes off from
    that point to go to the radiators. That's it. I didn't design it.

    I need a drink.

    With the zone valve where you said it was, I am wondering whether
    the water flow through the pump is in the direction you assume it
    is.-a If you imagine the flow through the pump is in the opposite
    direction you have (as near as dammit) a C-plan system.


    I wondered about that but dismissed it because Davey's system appears
    to be fully pumped - whereas C-Plan has gravity DHW - and C-Plan has
    the zone valve in the HW - not CH - circuit *and* uses the valve's microswitch.
    I think I have solved the mystery. The timer does not offer
    DHW-off/CH-on Operation. So if the room 'stat is enabled, the hot water
    is already running. Simple!
    Since I am thinking about replacing the ancient Randall with a modern
    digital timer, I need to make sure that it has the same arrangement
    internally. Another day.
    --
    Davey.
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Davey@davey@example.invalid to uk.d-i-y on Sat Jan 10 09:42:36 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.d-i-y

    Big snip for brevity.
    With the zone valve where you said it was, I am wondering whether
    the water flow through the pump is in the direction you assume it
    is.-a If you imagine the flow through the pump is in the opposite direction you have (as near as dammit) a C-plan system.


    I wondered about that but dismissed it because Davey's system
    appears to be fully pumped - whereas C-Plan has gravity DHW - and
    C-Plan has the zone valve in the HW - not CH - circuit *and* uses
    the valve's microswitch.


    I think I have solved the mystery. The timer does not offer
    DHW-off/CH-on Operation. So if the room 'stat is enabled, the hot
    water is already running. Simple!
    Since I am thinking about replacing the ancient Randall with a modern
    digital timer, I need to make sure that it has the same arrangement internally. Another day.

    I followed the trail online which leads to the recommended replacement
    for the existing analogue timer. Looking at the Danfoss information
    online, it provides tons of information about how versatile the
    programming is, but nothing to indicate if the same setup regarding the
    DHW power is available. I e-mailed them, and ..........nothing
    yet.
    So I have a question for the electronics folks here. I have modified the
    wiring diagram to use a digital timer that separately powers the pump
    and boiler when the valve microswitch is activated by the Room 'stat. My question is: Is there likely to be any harm done to the electronics in
    the digital timer by feeding power from the microswitch to the terminal
    which is the DHW control in the timer, ie backfeeding it from a
    different location? It is still the same power, but feeding the load
    side of the DHW terminal. I am concerned in case the electronic
    component that usually makes the connection might not like power being
    applied to its load terminal but not its internal supply terminal. Maybe
    it is not even a consideration, but maybe it is.
    i will also ask Danfoss, once I have established communication with
    them, but if anyone has any input, it would be most welcome.
    --
    Davey.
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Roger Mills@mills37.fslife@gmail.com to uk.d-i-y on Sat Jan 10 19:55:53 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.d-i-y

    On 10/01/2026 09:42, Davey wrote:
    Big snip for brevity.

    With the zone valve where you said it was, I am wondering whether
    the water flow through the pump is in the direction you assume it
    is.-a If you imagine the flow through the pump is in the opposite
    direction you have (as near as dammit) a C-plan system.


    I wondered about that but dismissed it because Davey's system
    appears to be fully pumped - whereas C-Plan has gravity DHW - and
    C-Plan has the zone valve in the HW - not CH - circuit *and* uses
    the valve's microswitch.


    I think I have solved the mystery. The timer does not offer
    DHW-off/CH-on Operation. So if the room 'stat is enabled, the hot
    water is already running. Simple!

    Except that you said that the tank stat turns off the boiler and pump
    once it is satisfied. If that is true, the zone valve can open as much
    as it likes but the radiators won't get hot if the boiler and pump have
    been turned off.

    But assuming that they *do* get hot by some mechanisn as yet
    unexplained, there is nothing to stop the DHW from overheating when the
    CH is on because water will still circulate round the HW circuit
    regardless of the tank stat.

    Since I am thinking about replacing the ancient Randall with a modern
    digital timer, I need to make sure that it has the same arrangement
    internally. Another day.


    I followed the trail online which leads to the recommended replacement
    for the existing analogue timer. Looking at the Danfoss information
    online, it provides tons of information about how versatile the
    programming is, but nothing to indicate if the same setup regarding the
    DHW power is available. I e-mailed them, and ..........nothing
    yet.

    In days of yore, when systems were common which had gravity HW and
    pumped CH, programmers had an optional link which forced the boiler on
    when there was a CH demand - but they probably don't do that now because
    there must be very few gravity HW systems left.

    So I have a question for the electronics folks here. I have modified the wiring diagram to use a digital timer that separately powers the pump
    and boiler when the valve microswitch is activated by the Room 'stat. My question is: Is there likely to be any harm done to the electronics in
    the digital timer by feeding power from the microswitch to the terminal
    which is the DHW control in the timer, ie backfeeding it from a
    different location? It is still the same power, but feeding the load
    side of the DHW terminal. I am concerned in case the electronic
    component that usually makes the connection might not like power being applied to its load terminal but not its internal supply terminal. Maybe
    it is not even a consideration, but maybe it is.
    i will also ask Danfoss, once I have established communication with
    them, but if anyone has any input, it would be most welcome.

    I don't see a problem with that. I have a similar situation - with an
    outside light which is controlled by a PIR. I have also wired a by-pass
    switch which sends power direct to the light so that I can keep it on.
    The PIR doesn't seem to object to that. [As far as I am aware, the PIR switches the mains directly rather than by means of a relay].
    --
    Cheers,
    Roger
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Davey@davey@example.invalid to uk.d-i-y on Sat Jan 10 21:26:04 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.d-i-y

    On Sat, 10 Jan 2026 19:55:53 +0000
    Roger Mills <mills37.fslife@gmail.com> wrote:
    On 10/01/2026 09:42, Davey wrote:
    Big snip for brevity.

    With the zone valve where you said it was, I am wondering whether
    the water flow through the pump is in the direction you assume it
    is.-a If you imagine the flow through the pump is in the opposite
    direction you have (as near as dammit) a C-plan system.


    I wondered about that but dismissed it because Davey's system
    appears to be fully pumped - whereas C-Plan has gravity DHW - and
    C-Plan has the zone valve in the HW - not CH - circuit *and* uses
    the valve's microswitch.


    I think I have solved the mystery. The timer does not offer
    DHW-off/CH-on Operation. So if the room 'stat is enabled, the hot
    water is already running. Simple!

    Except that you said that the tank stat turns off the boiler and pump
    once it is satisfied. If that is true, the zone valve can open as
    much as it likes but the radiators won't get hot if the boiler and
    pump have been turned off.

    Hmmm. What I am thinking of is energising the pump and boiler after
    the tank 'stat. Yes, the boiler 'stat would be the final control, but
    the correct setting for that could be easily determined. This would
    only be happening while there is heat demand from the room 'stat, so
    by definition there is a heat load on the system.
    But assuming that they *do* get hot by some mechanisn as yet
    unexplained, there is nothing to stop the DHW from overheating when
    the CH is on because water will still circulate round the HW circuit regardless of the tank stat.

    The mechanism is that the timer always energises the pump and boiler if
    it is energising the CH, there is no timer setting that calls for CH
    without DHW.
    Maybe the pump needs to be operated but not the boiler. But the
    boiler temp. does not need to be very high, this is a first floor flat,
    so has flats above and below.
    Since I am thinking about replacing the ancient Randall with a
    modern digital timer, I need to make sure that it has the same
    arrangement internally. Another day.


    I followed the trail online which leads to the recommended
    replacement for the existing analogue timer. Looking at the Danfoss information online, it provides tons of information about how
    versatile the programming is, but nothing to indicate if the same
    setup regarding the DHW power is available. I e-mailed them, and ..........nothing yet.

    In days of yore, when systems were common which had gravity HW and
    pumped CH, programmers had an optional link which forced the boiler
    on when there was a CH demand - but they probably don't do that now
    because there must be very few gravity HW systems left.

    So I have a question for the electronics folks here. I have
    modified the wiring diagram to use a digital timer that separately
    powers the pump and boiler when the valve microswitch is activated
    by the Room 'stat. My question is: Is there likely to be any harm
    done to the electronics in the digital timer by feeding power from
    the microswitch to the terminal which is the DHW control in the
    timer, ie backfeeding it from a different location? It is still the
    same power, but feeding the load side of the DHW terminal. I am
    concerned in case the electronic component that usually makes the connection might not like power being applied to its load terminal
    but not its internal supply terminal. Maybe it is not even a
    consideration, but maybe it is. i will also ask Danfoss, once I
    have established communication with them, but if anyone has any
    input, it would be most welcome.
    I don't see a problem with that. I have a similar situation - with an outside light which is controlled by a PIR. I have also wired a
    by-pass switch which sends power direct to the light so that I can
    keep it on. The PIR doesn't seem to object to that. [As far as I am
    aware, the PIR switches the mains directly rather than by means of a
    relay].
    That is encouraging. What I really need is a modern timer that has the
    same operating characteristics as the Randall 3060. If only Danfoss
    would get back to me.
    --
    Davey.
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Davey@davey@example.invalid to uk.d-i-y on Sun Jan 11 09:38:48 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.d-i-y

    On Sat, 10 Jan 2026 19:55:53 +0000
    Roger Mills <mills37.fslife@gmail.com> wrote:

    I think I have solved the mystery. The timer does not offer
    DHW-off/CH-on Operation. So if the room 'stat is enabled, the hot
    water is already running. Simple!

    Except that you said that the tank stat turns off the boiler and pump
    once it is satisfied. If that is true, the zone valve can open as
    much as it likes but the radiators won't get hot if the boiler and
    pump have been turned off.

    But assuming that they *do* get hot by some mechanisn as yet
    unexplained, there is nothing to stop the DHW from overheating when
    the CH is on because water will still circulate round the HW circuit regardless of the tank stat.

    The mechanism must be that: The tank 'stat brings the tank to
    temperature, and shuts off the pump and boiler. Later, the Room 'stat
    closes, and opens the valve. We don't know how long it takes, but the
    next time the tank 'stat closes, firing the boiler and pump, there
    is then circulation through the heating circuit. This continues until
    the room 'stat is satisfied, and the system reverts to tank 'stat
    control. We also don't know the hysteresis of the Room 'stat, it might
    be quite small. I'll see if I can find anything on it.
    The next time I am there, I will try to do some experiments. There is
    no external indication of the state of the Room 'stat, so there is
    nothing to bring a delay to anybody's attention, as long as the
    temperature in the flat remains ok. It is certainly better than no heat
    at all.
    --
    Davey.

    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From The Natural Philosopher@tnp@invalid.invalid to uk.d-i-y on Sun Jan 11 10:36:51 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.d-i-y

    On 11/01/2026 09:38, Davey wrote:
    The mechanism must be that: The tank 'stat brings the tank to
    temperature, and shuts off the pump and boiler. Later, the Room 'stat
    closes, and opens the valve. We don't know how long it takes, but the
    next time the tank 'stat closes, firing the boiler and pump, there
    is then circulation through the heating circuit.

    You should have two motorized valves, one for the tank, one for the CH, *either* of which will energise pump and boiler as their switch outputs
    should be wired in parallel.
    --
    "Corbyn talks about equality, justice, opportunity, health care, peace, community, compassion, investment, security, housing...."
    "What kind of person is not interested in those things?"

    "Jeremy Corbyn?"


    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Roger Mills@mills37.fslife@gmail.com to uk.d-i-y on Sun Jan 11 11:43:13 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.d-i-y

    On 11/01/2026 09:38, Davey wrote:
    On Sat, 10 Jan 2026 19:55:53 +0000
    Roger Mills <mills37.fslife@gmail.com> wrote:

    I think I have solved the mystery. The timer does not offer
    DHW-off/CH-on Operation. So if the room 'stat is enabled, the hot
    water is already running. Simple!

    Except that you said that the tank stat turns off the boiler and pump
    once it is satisfied. If that is true, the zone valve can open as
    much as it likes but the radiators won't get hot if the boiler and
    pump have been turned off.

    But assuming that they *do* get hot by some mechanisn as yet
    unexplained, there is nothing to stop the DHW from overheating when
    the CH is on because water will still circulate round the HW circuit
    regardless of the tank stat.

    The mechanism must be that: The tank 'stat brings the tank to
    temperature, and shuts off the pump and boiler. Later, the Room 'stat
    closes, and opens the valve. We don't know how long it takes, but the
    next time the tank 'stat closes, firing the boiler and pump, there
    is then circulation through the heating circuit. This continues until
    the room 'stat is satisfied, and the system reverts to tank 'stat
    control. We also don't know the hysteresis of the Room 'stat, it might
    be quite small. I'll see if I can find anything on it.
    The next time I am there, I will try to do some experiments. There is
    no external indication of the state of the Room 'stat, so there is
    nothing to bring a delay to anybody's attention, as long as the
    temperature in the flat remains ok. It is certainly better than no heat
    at all.

    Sorry, but that ain't going to work! You *can't* rely on a demand for
    DHW to make the CH work - you could wait all day if you've got a well insulated tank of hot water and don't draw much off.

    I've knocked up a schematic of how you would need to wire your existing hardware to make it work (almost) correctly. See https://app.box.com/s/qq1u8olzksjl2mvibdiubj359i66u13r


    My scheme uses the microswitch on the zone valve and turns on the boiler
    and pump whenever either or both DHW and CH are demanding heat.

    That still suffers from the problem that unless you run the boiler flow temperature artificially low, the HW tank will continue to get hotter
    than the tank stat set point whenever the CH is running.

    As TNP has said, the proper way to do it would be to get an additional
    zone valve and insert it into the HW circuit. That should be fairly
    trivial to do - and you would then, with the correct wiring, have a
    fully fledged S-Plan system which would overcome the problems which I highlighted above, and would enable your flat occupant to live happily
    and cosily ever after!
    --
    Cheers,
    Roger
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Davey@davey@example.invalid to uk.d-i-y on Sun Jan 11 12:16:16 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.d-i-y

    On Sun, 11 Jan 2026 11:43:13 +0000
    Roger Mills <mills37.fslife@gmail.com> wrote:

    On 11/01/2026 09:38, Davey wrote:
    On Sat, 10 Jan 2026 19:55:53 +0000
    Roger Mills <mills37.fslife@gmail.com> wrote:

    I think I have solved the mystery. The timer does not offer
    DHW-off/CH-on Operation. So if the room 'stat is enabled, the hot
    water is already running. Simple!

    Except that you said that the tank stat turns off the boiler and
    pump once it is satisfied. If that is true, the zone valve can
    open as much as it likes but the radiators won't get hot if the
    boiler and pump have been turned off.

    But assuming that they *do* get hot by some mechanisn as yet
    unexplained, there is nothing to stop the DHW from overheating when
    the CH is on because water will still circulate round the HW
    circuit regardless of the tank stat.

    The mechanism must be that: The tank 'stat brings the tank to
    temperature, and shuts off the pump and boiler. Later, the Room
    'stat closes, and opens the valve. We don't know how long it takes,
    but the next time the tank 'stat closes, firing the boiler and
    pump, there is then circulation through the heating circuit. This
    continues until the room 'stat is satisfied, and the system reverts
    to tank 'stat control. We also don't know the hysteresis of the
    Room 'stat, it might be quite small. I'll see if I can find
    anything on it. The next time I am there, I will try to do some experiments. There is no external indication of the state of the
    Room 'stat, so there is nothing to bring a delay to anybody's
    attention, as long as the temperature in the flat remains ok. It is certainly better than no heat at all.

    Sorry, but that ain't going to work! You *can't* rely on a demand for
    DHW to make the CH work - you could wait all day if you've got a well insulated tank of hot water and don't draw much off.

    I've knocked up a schematic of how you would need to wire your
    existing hardware to make it work (almost) correctly. See https://app.box.com/s/qq1u8olzksjl2mvibdiubj359i66u13r


    My scheme uses the microswitch on the zone valve and turns on the
    boiler and pump whenever either or both DHW and CH are demanding heat.

    That still suffers from the problem that unless you run the boiler
    flow temperature artificially low, the HW tank will continue to get
    hotter than the tank stat set point whenever the CH is running.

    As TNP has said, the proper way to do it would be to get an
    additional zone valve and insert it into the HW circuit. That should
    be fairly trivial to do - and you would then, with the correct
    wiring, have a fully fledged S-Plan system which would overcome the
    problems which I highlighted above, and would enable your flat
    occupant to live happily and cosily ever after!

    I'll look at that schematic after lunch.

    But consider this: There has never been a problem with the tank getting
    too hot, and the system works fine.
    --
    Davey.

    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Davey@davey@example.invalid to uk.d-i-y on Sun Jan 11 12:22:14 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.d-i-y

    On Sun, 11 Jan 2026 10:36:51 +0000
    The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> wrote:

    On 11/01/2026 09:38, Davey wrote:
    The mechanism must be that: The tank 'stat brings the tank to
    temperature, and shuts off the pump and boiler. Later, the Room
    'stat closes, and opens the valve. We don't know how long it takes,
    but the next time the tank 'stat closes, firing the boiler and
    pump, there is then circulation through the heating circuit.

    You should have two motorized valves, one for the tank, one for the
    CH, *either* of which will energise pump and boiler as their switch
    outputs should be wired in parallel.


    But there is only one, and the system appears to work. "If it ain't
    broke, don't fix it" is a very useful maxim.
    Trying to understand it, yes, but trying to find a solution for a
    problem that has never existed is a waste of time, energy, and money.
    Taking your last point, my suggestion of using the microswitch to
    operate the pump and boiler in parallel with the rank 'stat sounds
    to have the same effect as what you propose.
    I have found the model number of the room 'stat, I will see what I can determine about its characteristics.
    --
    Davey.

    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From The Natural Philosopher@tnp@invalid.invalid to uk.d-i-y on Sun Jan 11 12:24:31 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.d-i-y

    On 11/01/2026 12:16, Davey wrote:
    On Sun, 11 Jan 2026 11:43:13 +0000
    Roger Mills <mills37.fslife@gmail.com> wrote:

    As TNP has said, the proper way to do it would be to get an
    additional zone valve and insert it into the HW circuit. That should
    be fairly trivial to do - and you would then, with the correct
    wiring, have a fully fledged S-Plan system which would overcome the
    problems which I highlighted above, and would enable your flat
    occupant to live happily and cosily ever after!

    I'll look at that schematic after lunch.

    But consider this: There has never been a problem with the tank getting
    too hot, and the system works fine.


    Since the whole thing is controlled by the tank stat, there wouldn't be
    would there?
    The problem will be a steaming hot water tank and therefore no central
    heating at all....
    --
    Civilization exists by geological consent, subject to change without notice.
    rCo Will Durant

    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From The Natural Philosopher@tnp@invalid.invalid to uk.d-i-y on Sun Jan 11 12:29:01 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.d-i-y

    On 11/01/2026 12:22, Davey wrote:
    On Sun, 11 Jan 2026 10:36:51 +0000
    The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> wrote:

    On 11/01/2026 09:38, Davey wrote:
    The mechanism must be that: The tank 'stat brings the tank to
    temperature, and shuts off the pump and boiler. Later, the Room
    'stat closes, and opens the valve. We don't know how long it takes,
    but the next time the tank 'stat closes, firing the boiler and
    pump, there is then circulation through the heating circuit.

    You should have two motorized valves, one for the tank, one for the
    CH, *either* of which will energise pump and boiler as their switch
    outputs should be wired in parallel.


    But there is only one, and the system appears to work. "If it ain't
    broke, don't fix it" is a very useful maxim.
    Trying to understand it, yes, but trying to find a solution for a
    problem that has never existed is a waste of time, energy, and money.
    Taking your last point, my suggestion of using the microswitch to
    operate the pump and boiler in parallel with the rank 'stat sounds
    to have the same effect as what you propose.
    I have found the model number of the room 'stat, I will see what I can determine about its characteristics.

    The problem then becomes shutting down hot water supply or at least
    limiting the boiler heat output to - say - 60-#C to avoid overheating the
    hot water cylinder.

    The point to having two MVs is to allow *independent* operation of CH
    and DHW.

    You cannot do it with just one. Unless its a three port device.
    --
    For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and
    wrong.

    H.L.Mencken

    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Davey@davey@example.invalid to uk.d-i-y on Sun Jan 11 12:37:00 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.d-i-y

    On Sun, 11 Jan 2026 12:24:31 +0000
    The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> wrote:

    On 11/01/2026 12:16, Davey wrote:
    On Sun, 11 Jan 2026 11:43:13 +0000
    Roger Mills <mills37.fslife@gmail.com> wrote:

    As TNP has said, the proper way to do it would be to get an
    additional zone valve and insert it into the HW circuit. That
    should be fairly trivial to do - and you would then, with the
    correct wiring, have a fully fledged S-Plan system which would
    overcome the problems which I highlighted above, and would enable
    your flat occupant to live happily and cosily ever after!

    I'll look at that schematic after lunch.

    But consider this: There has never been a problem with the tank
    getting too hot, and the system works fine.


    Since the whole thing is controlled by the tank stat, there wouldn't
    be would there?
    The problem will be a steaming hot water tank and therefore no
    central heating at all....




    ..... which has never since being put together in 1976 been known to
    happen.

    I can find no information on the deadband for the Satchwell TLC2356
    thermostat. Plenty of links to its wiring diagram, but no real data.
    Following links to Data Sheet all lead to the same wiring diagram.

    Time for lunch and Snooker on TV.
    --
    Davey.

    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Davey@davey@example.invalid to uk.d-i-y on Sun Jan 11 12:39:23 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.d-i-y

    On Sun, 11 Jan 2026 12:29:01 +0000
    The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> wrote:
    On 11/01/2026 12:22, Davey wrote:
    On Sun, 11 Jan 2026 10:36:51 +0000
    The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> wrote:

    On 11/01/2026 09:38, Davey wrote:
    The mechanism must be that: The tank 'stat brings the tank to
    temperature, and shuts off the pump and boiler. Later, the Room
    'stat closes, and opens the valve. We don't know how long it
    takes, but the next time the tank 'stat closes, firing the boiler
    and pump, there is then circulation through the heating circuit.

    You should have two motorized valves, one for the tank, one for the
    CH, *either* of which will energise pump and boiler as their switch
    outputs should be wired in parallel.


    But there is only one, and the system appears to work. "If it ain't
    broke, don't fix it" is a very useful maxim.
    Trying to understand it, yes, but trying to find a solution for a
    problem that has never existed is a waste of time, energy, and
    money. Taking your last point, my suggestion of using the
    microswitch to operate the pump and boiler in parallel with the
    rank 'stat sounds to have the same effect as what you propose.
    I have found the model number of the room 'stat, I will see what I
    can determine about its characteristics.

    The problem then becomes shutting down hot water supply or at least
    limiting the boiler heat output to - say - 60-#C to avoid overheating
    the hot water cylinder.

    The point to having two MVs is to allow *independent* operation of CH
    and DHW.

    You cannot do it with just one. Unless its a three port device.



    But as I say, this has never been a problem. And the timer does not
    enable independent operation of CH and DHW anyway, if the CH is on, so
    is the DHW.
    --
    Davey.
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From The Natural Philosopher@tnp@invalid.invalid to uk.d-i-y on Sun Jan 11 12:45:57 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.d-i-y

    On 11/01/2026 12:39, Davey wrote:
    On Sun, 11 Jan 2026 12:29:01 +0000
    The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> wrote:

    On 11/01/2026 12:22, Davey wrote:
    On Sun, 11 Jan 2026 10:36:51 +0000
    The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> wrote:

    On 11/01/2026 09:38, Davey wrote:
    The mechanism must be that: The tank 'stat brings the tank to
    temperature, and shuts off the pump and boiler. Later, the Room
    'stat closes, and opens the valve. We don't know how long it
    takes, but the next time the tank 'stat closes, firing the boiler
    and pump, there is then circulation through the heating circuit.

    You should have two motorized valves, one for the tank, one for the
    CH, *either* of which will energise pump and boiler as their switch
    outputs should be wired in parallel.


    But there is only one, and the system appears to work. "If it ain't
    broke, don't fix it" is a very useful maxim.
    Trying to understand it, yes, but trying to find a solution for a
    problem that has never existed is a waste of time, energy, and
    money. Taking your last point, my suggestion of using the
    microswitch to operate the pump and boiler in parallel with the
    rank 'stat sounds to have the same effect as what you propose.
    I have found the model number of the room 'stat, I will see what I
    can determine about its characteristics.

    The problem then becomes shutting down hot water supply or at least
    limiting the boiler heat output to - say - 60-#C to avoid overheating
    the hot water cylinder.

    The point to having two MVs is to allow *independent* operation of CH
    and DHW.

    You cannot do it with just one. Unless its a three port device.




    But as I say, this has never been a problem. And the timer does not
    enable independent operation of CH and DHW anyway, if the CH is on, so
    is the DHW.

    BUT the CH will shut down when the tank is hot enough. Unless its been
    set up so that the tank never in fact is hot enough by limiting the
    boiler outflow temperature.

    If it works, fine, but don't argue that it is the correct or even usual
    way to do things.
    --
    rCLIdeas are inherently conservative. They yield not to the attack of
    other ideas but to the massive onslaught of circumstance"

    - John K Galbraith


    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From jkn@jkn+nin@nicorp.co.uk to uk.d-i-y on Sun Jan 11 13:16:31 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.d-i-y

    On 11/01/2026 12:45, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
    On 11/01/2026 12:39, Davey wrote:
    On Sun, 11 Jan 2026 12:29:01 +0000
    The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> wrote:

    On 11/01/2026 12:22, Davey wrote:
    On Sun, 11 Jan 2026 10:36:51 +0000
    The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> wrote:
    On 11/01/2026 09:38, Davey wrote:
    The mechanism must be that: The tank 'stat brings the tank to
    temperature, and shuts off the pump and boiler. Later, the Room
    'stat closes, and opens the valve. We don't know how long it
    takes, but the next time the tank 'stat closes, firing the boiler
    and pump, there is then circulation through the heating circuit.

    You should have two motorized valves, one for the tank, one for the
    CH, *either* of which will energise pump and boiler as their switch
    outputs should be wired in parallel.

    But there is only one, and the system appears to work. "If it ain't
    broke, don't fix it" is a very useful maxim.
    Trying to understand it, yes, but trying to find a solution for a
    problem that has never existed is a waste of time, energy, and
    money. Taking your last point, my suggestion of using the
    microswitch to operate the pump and boiler in parallel with the
    rank 'stat sounds to have the same effect as what you propose.
    I have found the model number of the room 'stat, I will see what I
    can determine about its characteristics.
    The problem then becomes shutting down hot water supply or at least
    limiting the boiler heat output to - say - 60-#C to avoid overheating
    the hot water cylinder.

    The point to having two MVs is to allow *independent* operation of CH
    and DHW.

    You cannot do it with just one. Unless its a three port device.




    But as I say, this has never been a problem. And the timer does not
    enable independent operation of CH and DHW anyway, if the CH is on, so
    is the DHW.

    BUT the CH will shut down when the tank is hot enough. Unless its been
    set up so that the tank never in fact is hot enough by limiting the
    boiler outflow temperature.

    If it works, fine, but don't argue that it is the correct or even usual
    way to do things.



    I've not been following this thread particularly ... but isn't the OP describing a 'C plan' arrangement?

    <http://www.home-heating-systems-and-solutions.com/central-heating-design.html#cplan>




    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Davey@davey@example.invalid to uk.d-i-y on Sun Jan 11 14:49:49 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.d-i-y

    On Sun, 11 Jan 2026 13:16:31 +0000
    jkn <jkn+nin@nicorp.co.uk> wrote:
    On 11/01/2026 12:45, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
    On 11/01/2026 12:39, Davey wrote:
    On Sun, 11 Jan 2026 12:29:01 +0000
    The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> wrote:

    On 11/01/2026 12:22, Davey wrote:
    On Sun, 11 Jan 2026 10:36:51 +0000
    The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> wrote:
    On 11/01/2026 09:38, Davey wrote:
    The mechanism must be that: The tank 'stat brings the tank to
    temperature, and shuts off the pump and boiler. Later, the Room
    'stat closes, and opens the valve. We don't know how long it
    takes, but the next time the tank 'stat closes, firing the
    boiler and pump, there is then circulation through the heating
    circuit.

    You should have two motorized valves, one for the tank, one for
    the CH, *either* of which will energise pump and boiler as
    their switch outputs should be wired in parallel.

    But there is only one, and the system appears to work. "If it
    ain't broke, don't fix it" is a very useful maxim.
    Trying to understand it, yes, but trying to find a solution for a
    problem that has never existed is a waste of time, energy, and
    money. Taking your last point, my suggestion of using the
    microswitch to operate the pump and boiler in parallel with the
    rank 'stat sounds to have the same effect as what you propose.
    I have found the model number of the room 'stat, I will see what
    I can determine about its characteristics.
    The problem then becomes shutting down hot water supply or at
    least limiting the boiler heat output to - say - 60-#C to avoid
    overheating the hot water cylinder.

    The point to having two MVs is to allow *independent* operation
    of CH and DHW.

    You cannot do it with just one. Unless its a three port device.




    But as I say, this has never been a problem. And the timer does not
    enable independent operation of CH and DHW anyway, if the CH is
    on, so is the DHW.

    BUT the CH will shut down when the tank is hot enough. Unless its
    been set up so that the tank never in fact is hot enough by
    limiting the boiler outflow temperature.

    If it works, fine, but don't argue that it is the correct or even
    usual way to do things.



    I've not been following this thread particularly ... but isn't the OP describing a 'C plan' arrangement?

    <http://www.home-heating-systems-and-solutions.com/central-heating-design.html#cplan>




    The 'C' Plan uses the valve microswitch to turn the boiler on and off.
    In my system, the tank 'stat operates the pump and boiler together, the
    Room 'stat opens the zone valve which feeds the CH loop. The timer
    always has a DHW output if the CH output is On. In theory, when the
    room 'stat opens the valve, if the tank is at temp. and so the pump is
    not pumping, there is nothing to push water around the CH loop, but it
    appears to work. I think that the system waits in stasis until the next
    time the tank 'stat demands heat, then when the pump starts the CH loop
    is in action, and the heat demand keeps the pump and boiler running
    until the room reaches temperature. We don't know for sure if this is
    what is happening, we don't know the length of the delay between the
    Room 'stat making and the next time the pump runs.
    But I am certain that the piping and wiring are as I describe. the
    wiring is as it was with the previous timer. The resident in the flat
    was totally happy with it last winter, and is again now it is working
    again, after a timer and pump replacement. The old pump was the
    original, installed in 1976, the timer was last replaced in 2015/6.
    Hope this helps!
    --
    Davey.
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Davey@davey@example.invalid to uk.d-i-y on Sun Jan 11 14:53:42 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.d-i-y

    On Sun, 11 Jan 2026 11:43:13 +0000
    Roger Mills <mills37.fslife@gmail.com> wrote:

    On 11/01/2026 09:38, Davey wrote:
    On Sat, 10 Jan 2026 19:55:53 +0000
    Roger Mills <mills37.fslife@gmail.com> wrote:

    I think I have solved the mystery. The timer does not offer
    DHW-off/CH-on Operation. So if the room 'stat is enabled, the hot
    water is already running. Simple!

    Except that you said that the tank stat turns off the boiler and
    pump once it is satisfied. If that is true, the zone valve can
    open as much as it likes but the radiators won't get hot if the
    boiler and pump have been turned off.

    But assuming that they *do* get hot by some mechanisn as yet
    unexplained, there is nothing to stop the DHW from overheating when
    the CH is on because water will still circulate round the HW
    circuit regardless of the tank stat.

    The mechanism must be that: The tank 'stat brings the tank to
    temperature, and shuts off the pump and boiler. Later, the Room
    'stat closes, and opens the valve. We don't know how long it takes,
    but the next time the tank 'stat closes, firing the boiler and
    pump, there is then circulation through the heating circuit. This
    continues until the room 'stat is satisfied, and the system reverts
    to tank 'stat control. We also don't know the hysteresis of the
    Room 'stat, it might be quite small. I'll see if I can find
    anything on it. The next time I am there, I will try to do some experiments. There is no external indication of the state of the
    Room 'stat, so there is nothing to bring a delay to anybody's
    attention, as long as the temperature in the flat remains ok. It is certainly better than no heat at all.

    Sorry, but that ain't going to work! You *can't* rely on a demand for
    DHW to make the CH work - you could wait all day if you've got a well insulated tank of hot water and don't draw much off.

    I've knocked up a schematic of how you would need to wire your
    existing hardware to make it work (almost) correctly. See https://app.box.com/s/qq1u8olzksjl2mvibdiubj359i66u13r


    My scheme uses the microswitch on the zone valve and turns on the
    boiler and pump whenever either or both DHW and CH are demanding heat.

    That still suffers from the problem that unless you run the boiler
    flow temperature artificially low, the HW tank will continue to get
    hotter than the tank stat set point whenever the CH is running.

    As TNP has said, the proper way to do it would be to get an
    additional zone valve and insert it into the HW circuit. That should
    be fairly trivial to do - and you would then, with the correct
    wiring, have a fully fledged S-Plan system which would overcome the
    problems which I highlighted above, and would enable your flat
    occupant to live happily and cosily ever after!

    Your diagram is exactly what I suggested. earlier, when I was trying to
    find a true digital replacement for the Randall 3060.
    --
    Davey.

    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Roger Mills@mills37.fslife@gmail.com to uk.d-i-y on Sun Jan 11 15:27:10 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.d-i-y

    On 11/01/2026 13:16, jkn wrote:
    On 11/01/2026 12:45, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
    On 11/01/2026 12:39, Davey wrote:
    On Sun, 11 Jan 2026 12:29:01 +0000
    The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> wrote:

    On 11/01/2026 12:22, Davey wrote:
    On Sun, 11 Jan 2026 10:36:51 +0000
    The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> wrote:
    On 11/01/2026 09:38, Davey wrote:
    The mechanism must be that: The tank 'stat brings the tank to
    temperature, and shuts off the pump and boiler. Later, the Room
    'stat closes, and opens the valve. We don't know how long it
    takes, but the next time the tank 'stat closes, firing the boiler >>>>>>> and pump, there is then circulation through the heating circuit.

    You should have two motorized valves, one for the tank, one for the >>>>>> CH, *either* of which will energise pump and boiler as their switch >>>>>> outputs should be wired in parallel.

    But there is only one, and the system appears to work. "If it ain't
    broke, don't fix it" is a very useful maxim.
    Trying to understand it, yes, but trying to find a solution for a
    problem that has never existed is a waste of time, energy, and
    money. Taking your last point, my suggestion of using the
    microswitch to operate the pump and boiler in parallel with the
    rank 'stat sounds to have the same effect as what you propose.
    I have found the model number of the room 'stat, I will see what I
    can determine about its characteristics.
    The problem then becomes shutting down hot water supply or at least
    limiting the boiler heat output to - say - 60-#C to avoid overheating
    the hot water cylinder.

    The point to having two MVs is to allow *independent* operation of CH
    and DHW.

    You cannot do it with just one. Unless its a three port device.




    But as I say, this has never been a problem. And the timer does not
    enable independent operation of CH and DHW anyway, if the CH is on, so
    is the DHW.

    BUT the CH will shut down when the tank is hot enough. Unless its been
    set up so that the tank never in fact is hot enough by limiting the
    boiler outflow temperature.

    If it works, fine, but don't argue that it is the correct or even
    usual way to do things.



    I've not been following this thread particularly ... but isn't the OP describing a 'C plan' arrangement?

    <http://www.home-heating-systems-and-solutions.com/central-heating- design.html#cplan>


    No, because it's fully pumped whereas C-Plan is gravity HW and pumped
    CH. Also, C-Plan has a single zone valve in the HW circuit whereas the
    OP's system has a single zone valve in the CH circuit. It's closest to
    S-Plan but with one zone valve missing along with the usual control
    logic which makes use of the zone valves' microswitches.
    --
    Cheers,
    Roger
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Davey@davey@example.invalid to uk.d-i-y on Sun Jan 11 17:08:24 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.d-i-y

    On Sun, 11 Jan 2026 11:43:13 +0000
    Roger Mills <mills37.fslife@gmail.com> wrote:

    As TNP has said, the proper way to do it would be to get an
    additional zone valve and insert it into the HW circuit. That should
    be fairly trivial to do - and you would then, with the correct
    wiring, have a fully fledged S-Plan system which would overcome the
    problems which I highlighted above, and would enable your flat
    occupant to live happily and cosily ever after!

    He lived cosily and happily through the whole of last winter, and
    now appears to be doing so in this one as well.
    Installing a valve would not be too difficult, but I have seen no
    compelling reason to do so. Theoretical, yes, but theoretically the HW
    system shouldn't work, but it does, and very well.
    --
    Davey.

    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From The Natural Philosopher@tnp@invalid.invalid to uk.d-i-y on Sun Jan 11 19:05:22 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.d-i-y

    On 11/01/2026 13:16, jkn wrote:
    On 11/01/2026 12:45, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
    On 11/01/2026 12:39, Davey wrote:
    On Sun, 11 Jan 2026 12:29:01 +0000
    The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> wrote:

    On 11/01/2026 12:22, Davey wrote:
    On Sun, 11 Jan 2026 10:36:51 +0000
    The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> wrote:
    On 11/01/2026 09:38, Davey wrote:
    The mechanism must be that: The tank 'stat brings the tank to
    temperature, and shuts off the pump and boiler. Later, the Room
    'stat closes, and opens the valve. We don't know how long it
    takes, but the next time the tank 'stat closes, firing the boiler >>>>>>> and pump, there is then circulation through the heating circuit.

    You should have two motorized valves, one for the tank, one for the >>>>>> CH, *either* of which will energise pump and boiler as their switch >>>>>> outputs should be wired in parallel.

    But there is only one, and the system appears to work. "If it ain't
    broke, don't fix it" is a very useful maxim.
    Trying to understand it, yes, but trying to find a solution for a
    problem that has never existed is a waste of time, energy, and
    money. Taking your last point, my suggestion of using the
    microswitch to operate the pump and boiler in parallel with the
    rank 'stat sounds to have the same effect as what you propose.
    I have found the model number of the room 'stat, I will see what I
    can determine about its characteristics.
    The problem then becomes shutting down hot water supply or at least
    limiting the boiler heat output to - say - 60-#C to avoid overheating
    the hot water cylinder.

    The point to having two MVs is to allow *independent* operation of CH
    and DHW.

    You cannot do it with just one. Unless its a three port device.




    But as I say, this has never been a problem. And the timer does not
    enable independent operation of CH and DHW anyway, if the CH is on, so
    is the DHW.

    BUT the CH will shut down when the tank is hot enough. Unless its been
    set up so that the tank never in fact is hot enough by limiting the
    boiler outflow temperature.

    If it works, fine, but don't argue that it is the correct or even
    usual way to do things.



    I've not been following this thread particularly ... but isn't the OP describing a 'C plan' arrangement?

    <http://www.home-heating-systems-and-solutions.com/central-heating-design.html#cplan>




    There was no mention of automatic by pass...
    --
    If I had all the money I've spent on drink...
    ..I'd spend it on drink.

    Sir Henry (at Rawlinson's End)

    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Roger Mills@mills37.fslife@gmail.com to uk.d-i-y on Sun Jan 11 19:30:20 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.d-i-y

    On 11/01/2026 19:05, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
    On 11/01/2026 13:16, jkn wrote:
    On 11/01/2026 12:45, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
    On 11/01/2026 12:39, Davey wrote:
    On Sun, 11 Jan 2026 12:29:01 +0000
    The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> wrote:

    On 11/01/2026 12:22, Davey wrote:
    On Sun, 11 Jan 2026 10:36:51 +0000
    The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> wrote:
    On 11/01/2026 09:38, Davey wrote:
    The mechanism must be that: The tank 'stat brings the tank to
    temperature, and shuts off the pump and boiler. Later, the Room >>>>>>>> 'stat closes, and opens the valve. We don't know how long it
    takes, but the next time the tank 'stat closes, firing the boiler >>>>>>>> and pump, there is then circulation through the heating circuit. >>>>>>>
    You should have two motorized valves, one for the tank, one for the >>>>>>> CH, *either* of which will energise pump and boiler as their switch >>>>>>> outputs should be wired in parallel.

    But there is only one, and the system appears to work. "If it ain't >>>>>> broke, don't fix it" is a very useful maxim.
    Trying to understand it, yes, but trying to find a solution for a
    problem that has never existed is a waste of time, energy, and
    money. Taking your last point, my suggestion of using the
    microswitch to operate the pump and boiler in parallel with the
    rank 'stat sounds to have the same effect as what you propose.
    I have found the model number of the room 'stat, I will see what I >>>>>> can determine about its characteristics.
    The problem then becomes shutting down hot water supply or at least
    limiting the boiler heat output to - say - 60-#C to avoid overheating >>>>> the hot water cylinder.

    The point to having two MVs is to allow *independent* operation of CH >>>>> and DHW.

    You cannot do it with just one. Unless its a three port device.




    But as I say, this has never been a problem. And the timer does not
    enable independent operation of CH and DHW anyway, if the CH is on, so >>>> is the DHW.

    BUT the CH will shut down when the tank is hot enough. Unless its
    been set up so that the tank never in fact is hot enough by limiting
    the boiler outflow temperature.

    If it works, fine, but don't argue that it is the correct or even
    usual way to do things.



    I've not been following this thread particularly ... but isn't the OP
    describing a 'C plan' arrangement?

    <http://www.home-heating-systems-and-solutions.com/central-heating-
    design.html#cplan>




    There was no mention of automatic by pass...


    Indeed. But since the boiler is 50 years old, it almost certainly has a
    heavy cast iron heat exchanger and large water capacity, so it doesn't
    suffer fron overheating when it's turned off with no over-run water
    flow. There's pretty certainly no pump over-run because the pump appears
    to be wired in parallel with the boiler.

    If the boiler is ever replaced by a modern one with a low volume
    aluminium heat exchanger, and a proper S-Plan control installed,it will probably then need to have pump over-run and an auto by-pass.
    --
    Cheers,
    Roger
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Roger Mills@mills37.fslife@gmail.com to uk.d-i-y on Sun Jan 11 19:51:07 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.d-i-y

    On 11/01/2026 17:08, Davey wrote:
    On Sun, 11 Jan 2026 11:43:13 +0000
    Roger Mills <mills37.fslife@gmail.com> wrote:

    As TNP has said, the proper way to do it would be to get an
    additional zone valve and insert it into the HW circuit. That should
    be fairly trivial to do - and you would then, with the correct
    wiring, have a fully fledged S-Plan system which would overcome the
    problems which I highlighted above, and would enable your flat
    occupant to live happily and cosily ever after!

    He lived cosily and happily through the whole of last winter, and
    now appears to be doing so in this one as well.
    Installing a valve would not be too difficult, but I have seen no
    compelling reason to do so. Theoretical, yes, but theoretically the HW
    system shouldn't work, but it does, and very well.


    Fair enough, but there are a few things which you perhaps ought to consider.

    If the boiler is 50 years old, it's a miracle that it's still working -
    and it's certainly living on borrowed time! I doubt very much whether
    you could get spares if you needed then.

    It will also be grossly inefficient compared with modern boilers, and
    probably has an always on pilot light rather than having spark ignition.
    Since how it is controlled is still not entirely clear, there may well
    be times when it wastes energy by cycling on its own stat when there is
    no demand, whereas a proper control system with boiler interlock would
    prevent that.

    So, replacing the gas boiler with a new one (before they are banned!)
    and upgrading the controls to a system which complies with current
    building regs may be a good investment with a relatively short pay-back
    time and may also enhance the value of the flat should you wish to sell
    it. [If I were buying it, my offer would certainly need to take account
    of the need for a major refurb on the heating systems.]

    However, I accept that the low payback time may not seem quite so
    attractive if the person making the capital investment is not the same
    person who pays the gas bill.
    --
    Cheers,
    Roger
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Fredxx@fredxx@spam.invalid to uk.d-i-y on Mon Jan 12 06:06:29 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.d-i-y

    On 22/12/2025 17:53, Davey wrote:
    I think I have a dead zone valve. If I apply power, there is no
    movement of the little manual operator tit. I can move this across, and
    there is the expected resistance as it moves. I can hook it in place,
    or let go, and it spring returns to the closed position.
    Should the lever move when the valve is energised, as I believe it
    should?
    Don't say 'does it let water through?', we are not at that stage yet.
    This is a 1986 system, that appears to have had failure of most of its ancient components, and I am debugging or replacing them one by one.
    And this is 75 miles from home!

    An old thread I know.

    A energised motor runs warm. With the heating on and cold pipes it
    should be obvious. If cold then I would check power to the motor before condemning it.

    Motors can replaced on their own without the need for a system drain
    down and refill.


    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Davey@davey@example.invalid to uk.d-i-y on Mon Jan 12 09:38:51 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.d-i-y

    On Mon, 12 Jan 2026 06:06:29 +0000
    Fredxx <fredxx@spam.invalid> wrote:

    On 22/12/2025 17:53, Davey wrote:
    I think I have a dead zone valve. If I apply power, there is no
    movement of the little manual operator tit. I can move this across,
    and there is the expected resistance as it moves. I can hook it in
    place, or let go, and it spring returns to the closed position.
    Should the lever move when the valve is energised, as I believe it
    should?
    Don't say 'does it let water through?', we are not at that stage
    yet. This is a 1986 system, that appears to have had failure of
    most of its ancient components, and I am debugging or replacing
    them one by one. And this is 75 miles from home!

    An old thread I know.

    A energised motor runs warm. With the heating on and cold pipes it
    should be obvious. If cold then I would check power to the motor
    before condemning it.

    Motors can replaced on their own without the need for a system drain
    down and refill.



    At the moment, there is no reason to suspect the valve, the system is
    working. But thanks.
    --
    Davey.

    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Davey@davey@example.invalid to uk.d-i-y on Mon Jan 12 10:22:33 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.d-i-y

    On Sun, 11 Jan 2026 19:30:20 +0000
    Roger Mills <mills37.fslife@gmail.com> wrote:
    On 11/01/2026 19:05, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
    On 11/01/2026 13:16, jkn wrote:
    On 11/01/2026 12:45, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
    On 11/01/2026 12:39, Davey wrote:
    On Sun, 11 Jan 2026 12:29:01 +0000
    The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> wrote:

    On 11/01/2026 12:22, Davey wrote:
    On Sun, 11 Jan 2026 10:36:51 +0000
    The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> wrote:
    On 11/01/2026 09:38, Davey wrote:
    The mechanism must be that: The tank 'stat brings the tank to >>>>>>>> temperature, and shuts off the pump and boiler. Later, the
    Room 'stat closes, and opens the valve. We don't know how
    long it takes, but the next time the tank 'stat closes,
    firing the boiler and pump, there is then circulation
    through the heating circuit.

    You should have two motorized valves, one for the tank, one
    for the CH, *either* of which will energise pump and boiler
    as their switch outputs should be wired in parallel.

    But there is only one, and the system appears to work. "If it
    ain't broke, don't fix it" is a very useful maxim.
    Trying to understand it, yes, but trying to find a solution
    for a problem that has never existed is a waste of time,
    energy, and money. Taking your last point, my suggestion of
    using the microswitch to operate the pump and boiler in
    parallel with the rank 'stat sounds to have the same effect as
    what you propose. I have found the model number of the room
    'stat, I will see what I can determine about its
    characteristics.
    The problem then becomes shutting down hot water supply or at
    least limiting the boiler heat output to - say - 60-#C to avoid
    overheating the hot water cylinder.

    The point to having two MVs is to allow *independent* operation
    of CH and DHW.

    You cannot do it with just one. Unless its a three port device.




    But as I say, this has never been a problem. And the timer does
    not enable independent operation of CH and DHW anyway, if the CH
    is on, so is the DHW.

    BUT the CH will shut down when the tank is hot enough. Unless its
    been set up so that the tank never in fact is hot enough by
    limiting the boiler outflow temperature.

    If it works, fine, but don't argue that it is the correct or even
    usual way to do things.



    I've not been following this thread particularly ... but isn't the
    OP describing a 'C plan' arrangement?

    <http://www.home-heating-systems-and-solutions.com/central-heating-
    design.html#cplan>




    There was no mention of automatic by pass...


    Indeed. But since the boiler is 50 years old, it almost certainly has
    a heavy cast iron heat exchanger and large water capacity, so it
    doesn't suffer fron overheating when it's turned off with no over-run
    water flow. There's pretty certainly no pump over-run because the
    pump appears to be wired in parallel with the boiler.

    If the boiler is ever replaced by a modern one with a low volume
    aluminium heat exchanger, and a proper S-Plan control installed,it
    will probably then need to have pump over-run and an auto by-pass.

    On the subject of boiler replacement.
    The current resident in the flat expressed an interest in replacing it
    with a Combi, which I do not really want. The existing unit is a
    Glow-worm 38, which is indeed obsolete, and which does have a
    standing pilot. Glow-worm suggest that the suitable replacement unit is
    their Energy regular boiler, 12kW (sufficient for 6 radiators, I have
    3). I have not yet delved into the control requirements, but I would
    discuss them with whomever is selected to do the installation.
    More later on this subject.
    --
    Davey.
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Indy Jess John@bathwatchdog@OMITTHISgooglemail.com to uk.d-i-y on Tue Jan 13 01:33:03 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.d-i-y

    On 10/01/2026 19:55, Roger Mills wrote:
    In days of yore, when systems were common which had gravity HW and
    pumped CH, programmers had an optional link which forced the boiler on
    when there was a CH demand - but they probably don't do that now because there must be very few gravity HW systems left.

    I have got one. The HW tank is on a platform half a metre above the top
    of the floor mounted boiler so the gravity pipework is quite short.
    When the Programmer HW setting has the HW function On, the HW tank
    thermostat decides whether the zone valve is open or closed, and the
    zone valve microswitch allows the boiler to fire up when the zone valve
    is open. When the Programmer CH setting has the CH function On the CH
    room thermostat decides whether the pump runs and if the pump runs then
    the same circuit allows the boiler to fire up.

    The programmer is basically an electric clock that has 2 ons and 2 offs (alternately, on/off/on/off) that I set to the times I want. Then there
    is a slide switch for each of CH and HW, so for each I can choose
    between Always On, or On at the first time and Off at the last time (=on
    all day), or On then Off then On then Off for being on twice a day with
    Off for the time between, or Off permanently. There is also a frost thermostat wired in which overrides the timeswitch settings to make the
    CH run whenever the temperature gets down to the frost temperature.

    It took a bit of thinking and a large sketch to work out what had to be connected to what, and it all worked after I wired it up. My father and
    my younger brother were both qualified electricians so from an early age
    I have always known how to wire things up properly.

    I had bought a long strip of screw-onto-the-wire connectors which I
    mounted in a plastic box, and it made connecting thermostats to the
    things that functioned when satisfied or unsatisfied very easy. I
    labelled the sections of connectors with "mains", "HW", "Zone", "CH"
    before I screwed the lid on the plastic box so that if I ever sell the
    house, the buyer will have some idea of which wires do what.


    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Roger Mills@mills37.fslife@gmail.com to uk.d-i-y on Tue Jan 13 08:35:14 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.d-i-y

    On 13/01/2026 01:33, Indy Jess John wrote:
    On 10/01/2026 19:55, Roger Mills wrote:
    In days of yore, when systems were common which had gravity HW and
    pumped CH, programmers had an optional link which forced the boiler on
    when there was a CH demand - but they probably don't do that now
    because there must be very few gravity HW systems left.

    I have got one.-a The HW tank is on a platform half a metre above the top
    of the floor mounted boiler so the gravity pipework is quite short. When
    the Programmer HW setting has the HW function On, the HW tank thermostat decides whether the zone valve is open or closed, and the zone valve microswitch allows the boiler to fire up when the zone valve is open.
    When the Programmer CH setting has the CH function On the CH room
    thermostat decides whether the pump runs and if the pump runs then the
    same circuit allows the boiler to fire up.

    The programmer is basically an electric clock that has 2 ons and 2 offs (alternately, on/off/on/off) that I set to the times I want.-a Then there
    is a slide switch for each of CH and HW, so for each I can choose
    between Always On, or On at the first time and Off at the last time (=on
    all day), or On then Off then On then Off for being on twice a day with
    Off for the time between, or Off permanently.-a There is also a frost thermostat wired in which overrides the timeswitch settings to make the
    CH run whenever the temperature gets down to the frost temperature.

    It took a bit of thinking and a large sketch to work out what had to be connected to what, and it all worked after I wired it up.-a My father and
    my younger brother were both qualified electricians so from an early age
    I have always known how to wire things up properly.

    I had bought a long strip of screw-onto-the-wire connectors which I
    mounted in a plastic box, and it made connecting thermostats to the
    things that functioned when satisfied or unsatisfied very easy.-a I
    labelled the sections of connectors with "mains", "HW", "Zone", "CH"
    before I screwed the lid on the plastic box so that if I ever sell the house, the buyer will have some idea of which wires do what.


    Yes, indeed - there will still be a few such systems in existence - just
    not very many!

    Sounds like you've got a C-Plan system, or something very close to one.
    How long ago did you install it?
    --
    Cheers,
    Roger
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Andy Burns@usenet@andyburns.uk to uk.d-i-y on Tue Jan 13 08:47:08 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.d-i-y

    Roger Mills wrote:

    In days of yore, when systems were common which had gravity HW and
    pumped CH, programmers had an optional link which forced the boiler on
    when there was a CH demand - but they probably don't do that now because there must be very few gravity HW systems left.

    Mine is, I never seem to get round to converting it to fully pumped ...

    So I have a question for the electronics folks here. I have modified the
    wiring diagram to use a digital timer that separately powers the pump
    and boiler when the valve microswitch is activated by the Room 'stat. My
    question is: Is there likely to be any harm done to the electronics in
    the digital timer by feeding power from the microswitch to the terminal
    which is the DHW control in the timer, ie backfeeding it from a
    different location? It is still the same power, but feeding the load
    side of the DHW terminal. I am concerned in case the electronic
    component that usually makes the connection might not like power being
    applied to its load terminal but not its internal supply terminal. Maybe
    it is not even a consideration, but maybe it is.
    i will also ask Danfoss, once I have established communication with
    them, but if anyone has any input, it would be most welcome.

    I don't see a problem with that.
    I have a relay in my wiring centre so that both the C/H and DHW outputs
    of the programmable timer can fire the boiler, without DHW running the
    C/H pump
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Indy Jess John@bathwatchdog@OMITTHISgooglemail.com to uk.d-i-y on Tue Jan 13 11:15:24 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.d-i-y

    On 13/01/2026 08:35, Roger Mills wrote:
    On 13/01/2026 01:33, Indy Jess John wrote:
    On 10/01/2026 19:55, Roger Mills wrote:
    In days of yore, when systems were common which had gravity HW and
    pumped CH, programmers had an optional link which forced the boiler
    on when there was a CH demand - but they probably don't do that now
    because there must be very few gravity HW systems left.

    I have got one.-a The HW tank is on a platform half a metre above the
    top of the floor mounted boiler so the gravity pipework is quite
    short. When the Programmer HW setting has the HW function On, the HW
    tank thermostat decides whether the zone valve is open or closed, and
    the zone valve microswitch allows the boiler to fire up when the zone
    valve is open. When the Programmer CH setting has the CH function On
    the CH room thermostat decides whether the pump runs and if the pump
    runs then the same circuit allows the boiler to fire up.

    The programmer is basically an electric clock that has 2 ons and 2
    offs (alternately, on/off/on/off) that I set to the times I want.
    Then there is a slide switch for each of CH and HW, so for each I can
    choose between Always On, or On at the first time and Off at the last
    time (=on all day), or On then Off then On then Off for being on twice
    a day with Off for the time between, or Off permanently.-a There is
    also a frost thermostat wired in which overrides the timeswitch
    settings to make the CH run whenever the temperature gets down to the
    frost temperature.

    It took a bit of thinking and a large sketch to work out what had to
    be connected to what, and it all worked after I wired it up.-a My
    father and my younger brother were both qualified electricians so from
    an early age I have always known how to wire things up properly.

    I had bought a long strip of screw-onto-the-wire connectors which I
    mounted in a plastic box, and it made connecting thermostats to the
    things that functioned when satisfied or unsatisfied very easy.-a I
    labelled the sections of connectors with "mains", "HW", "Zone", "CH"
    before I screwed the lid on the plastic box so that if I ever sell the
    house, the buyer will have some idea of which wires do what.


    Yes, indeed - there will still be a few such systems in existence - just
    not very many!

    Sounds like you've got a C-Plan system, or something very close to one.
    How long ago did you install it?

    I am not sure of the exact date. Mid 1980s I think.


    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2