I recently moved into a new house with an old floor standing Potterton kingfisher boiler. The central heating works OK however we have no hot water. It is a gravity fed system and the tanks in the loft seem to be free flowing and full.
The boiler fires when the control switch is set to CH however when on HW the boiler returns back to the pilot light. The boiler fires when the CH+HW setting is selected but on the central heating works. The HW popes exiting the boiler are only mildly warm (only due to heat transfer I guess).
The pipes in the hot water tank are cold both in and out. I have looked into bleeding the primaries but all of the compression joints are sealed shut so I can't undo any of them. There is no vent pipe that I can see. I have emptied the system and refilled it since the problem started.
The electric immersion heater doesn't work. There is a thermostat on the cyclinder connected to a diverted valve. However the valve is on a single pipe run (not three way).
I've had a couple of plumbers around but they both seem more interested in selling me a new system. I'm not in position to buy a new system yet, but will be in few months.
I'm looking to get it up and running to tide me over so if anyone has any ideas or pointers for me, they'd be greatly received.
Thanks