DIY Doctor UK DIY Forums

Hello we just moved in and have an indirect system, with an f+e tank in the attic which feeds a back-boiler. the f&e tank has water and stopcock is working ok now, so water gets that far. there however appears to be no water in the radiators, nothing comes out when bleeding them.

Nothing comes out of what I think is a drain-off valve at the bottom of the feed pipe from the f&e pipe after it tees to the boiler. I cant see a valve on this pipe further up either.

I think this system has been drained for a few years so could be blocked, then it must be somewhere between the f+e tank and this drain valve?

if so what is the best way to unblock this?

I've been thinking some more about this - is there a particular method for refilling the system? We have 4 rads downstairs and 2 rad up.

if u have water in ur heating header tank, but no water comes out when u bled them, it suggests ur cold feed is blocked (due to sludge, muck in the system, common on older systems) u need to drain ur system and cut out the cold feed pipe from cylinder to header tank and replace! When u remove u will c it's virtually solid!

hi

i agree with the last post. we have had this problem, loosen the nut in your central heating pump if no water or little water comes out then you know the block is above the pump,

we had to drain the system, cut out the pipework above the pump (flow and return) and then clean out the blockage. then put back together.

call a plumber if unsure what to do

you can always back fill the system in the mean time, but it's a temporary measure to get the system working in the short term only

ok there is a chance that that Drain off may be old and when you turn it to drain water, the old washer stays in place and stops any water coming out. I've seen this happen a few times. unscrew it all the way, if when the screw comes out, all there is is a brass ring with a nipple in the centre then the washer is stuck in, a slight trickle should come out now, you can get the old washer out with a screw, but BEWARE make sure you fit a NEW washer onto the end of the DOC screw before you do this, and have a large bucket at hand, coz water will fly out of it.
if when you remove the screw, the washer is on the nipple intact please ignore everything i have just said!! and regard the F&E service pipe blocked