Massive thank you for this! I’ve had luke warm water to the bath and when fitting a shower today had a play with the hot isolation valve and I’ve now got BOILING hot water! So grateful for this video 🙏🏻 THANK YOU!!
Thank you SO much! The water doesn’t soak the place with spray and the water is properly hot now. You’re an ANGEL! I almost called the plumber out for something so daft! THANK YOU SO MUCH! 🙏🏻
Great video, installed a New sink and tap last weekend and was wondering why the temp wasn’t staying on the hot tap after a few seconds. This resolved the issue in less than a minute. Thanks!
Hi Great videos. Advice needed please. I have a Vaillant Turbomax plus 824 boiler. The heating works fine but hot water is only luke warm from all taps. I noticed when i turn the temperature dial up on the boiler the temp doesn't go up like it does when i turn temperature dial up on the radiators. Any advice please would be very much appreciated. Kindest Regards Nick
Have you ever considered a role on a tv repair show Al you really are quite professional and interesting to watch and obviously have the years of experience old stylee - easily the best vids on plumbing on youtube and dare i say it even better than Ultimate Handyman and thats saying something - watching your vids i knew very little about plumbing and nothing about boilers - now i know how to flood any house perfectly and i can deal with my old boiler and keep her quiet for at least five minutes - ahhhh five minutes nag free its worth £60 a minute for sure lol >;o) Keep up the good work Al
On an old worn out or under speced combi,with a good flow switch bellows this works quite well, one with a bad flow switch bellows it's best to restrict the flow on the hot side, like you do on the kitchen tap with the iso valve. If the bellows are that old and hard, you can glue a spacer such as a guitar plectrum to the bellow so it hits the switch earlier, like it did when it was new and flexible. These older combis don't regulate the flow automaticaly to acomodate a set temp like the newer ones, or good old ones.
Hi Derek. Have this issue except it's the hot tap in the shower. Have to have the water trickling to get any heat from the hot tap. If I open it up, it goes completely cold. Hot water to kitchen sink works fine. Both heating & water heated by a combi boiler. Should I try to reduce the flow in my situation? Thanks for the help.
My kitchen water doesn't come out as hot until I open the tap fully which wastes a whole lot of water. Is it something to do with these things? Can I fix the valve myself? Which colour will be the kitchen one, out of blue,yellow and red? Thank-you
You have a long dead leg of pipework from the hot tank or combi boiler which has to run out first, before the hot water arrives at the tap. Kitchen tap is red.
Reducing the cold water inlet fixed my issue is it safe to leave it like this? Cause the valve is half on it makes a hissing noise when the water is running.
My Worcester combi boiler has an open vented system fitted. Recently an engineer replaced the heat exchanger, and in doing so must have increased the pressure at which water enters the boiler, from the loft tank, and passes through the heat exchanger. The result is the hot water is not hot enough in the shower. You can control this to some degree by reducing the flow from the tap, but the temperature becomes very difficult to control, to get right. In an open vented system, is there an easy way to control the pressure of the water entering the boiler from the boiler cupboard itself, via an obvious tap/valve, or does this need to be adjusted at the loft tank? Due to the current situation we can't get the engineer back to do this, so can it easily be done myself? I'm guessing the boiler in your video is fitted with a sealed system kit??
As antonio says, depends what type of scaling you have if you live in a hard water area, then it could be limescale, but it could also be black sludge build up. There are cleaners out there you put in the system but what ever you decide to do, it is always better to renew the exchanger.
If I want to run hot water with the valve set to max temperature in the bath/shower faucet The hot water runs cool (35*C) when faucet/tap is turned to MAXIMUM output (and max temp) in the BATH. If I want to run the hot water at the desired temperature of lets say 60*C, I must reduce the faucet valve to mid-range output, consequently weakening the stream. I do not have this issue with the Kitchen and bathroom sinks. The can run very hot water with tap valves at max output… Could it be that the pipes which supply the hot water to the bath are larger than those which supply hot water to the sinks?? Perhaps the boiler cannot keep up with heating the water when its running at a high output? Not sure this is the reason though. The apartment is relatively new, and so is the Vaillant boiler.. Also the boiler supplies hot water to the radiators with no issues… The hot water supply temperature setting on the boiler is indeed set at 65*C…. Also, this isn’t a faucet cartridge issue, because the hot water in the bath-faucet still behaves like this, even if I shut down the main cold-water supply, i.e. so there is not cold water interference… Can’t get my head around this, any suggestions how I can get the hot water to run at a decent outout?! THANKS
It is indeed the 22 mm pipework to the bath tap. You get a hotter flow once you slow the flow to the bath tap by turning the tap down. This is all quite normal though.
Quick Question Al - I have an old flat going back to the sixties - it has a loft cold water tank fed cylinder which provides the hot water to the bathroom and kitchen taps - the shower is electric. I have looked to see if i can replace it but it seems these systems are no longer used - I have seen the direct fed and indirect systems but mine doesnt seem to fit into either category as it isnt heated indirectly by a boiler feeding the hot water into the cylinder as the cylinder is standalone and obviously has its own heating element inside , it also isnt direct as it isnt fed from the mains but from the cold water tank so what actually do i have? A direct , indirect immersion heater? lol Also i would imagine that the cylinder has some sort of bimetallic strip to switch the heating element off as the wall control only has a timer control and nothing to control the temperature! Do you know of anywhere i could get one of these older systems?
You have an old tank feed direct cylinder that uses an immersion to heat the water. The cylinder is fed from the roof tank, so still an indirect system. There is a thermostat inside the immersion which controls the temperature.
Thanks Al very decent of you to reply old chep - its just i am looking to add a wifi smart switch to replace the old timer block on the wall so trying to work out the draw which i think is limited to 3kw - i doubt the cylinder is higher draw than this as its so old. www.amazon.co.uk/Timeguard-Controlled-Timeswitch-Socket-FSTWIFI/dp/B07228W28L/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1503701224&sr=8-9&keywords=wifi+boiler I cannot find anyone who sells a replacement cylinder - are there any? Or is it a case of having to buy a conventional direct feed and just plumbing it up to the tank again or are modern ones requiring a high pressure mains feed?
The hot water coming from my combi boiler seems to have got colder, It used to be so hot that I wouldn't be able to hold my hand under the tap, now I am having showers with just the hot tap on and no cold added (mixer shower). Is this a sign that something has broken?
If your other hot taps are ok, then it is a fault with the shower, if all your taps and shower are not getting hot then it is a problem with the boiler.
hi al my combi boiler keeps losing pressure,i have re-pressurised as per one of your vids but still keeps going down! is this a easy fix maybe a valve? or do i need to call a heating engineer?
It will be a leak somewhere, take a look at all your rad valves, they often leak. check all pipework and joints for leaks, if you cannot find anything, then call in an engineer.
Hello Thanks for your help. I have a question . I have a combi boiler valiant ecofit pure. When the shower is in use the kitchen hot water becomes very thin . Mot much water. Please help me there. Thanks kamlah
It's tricky get the flow right on a standard washer type tap as the the brass gear in the cartridge expands as it gets hot and closes the washer down to the seat. This doesn't happen on ceramic cartridges.
🙋♀️ Hi, what a handy tip. I have a Ravenheat Rsf 820/20 combi ( old, but always been reliable ). No hot water, only a warm bit IF heating is on.. Heating is fine. When calling for hot water at tap > boiler isn't firing up ( sounds electrical? ) ♡ I've had awful time, 2 gas service engineers sent said cant touch it if a fault! The supposed 'real gas engineer' came round today,, ignored the that my boiler isn't firing when calling for hot water. He decided I need a new 3 way divertor valve, saying my hot water is going to my radiators, but it isn't! Not firing to heat any water! ☆ He warned me 3 times this part isn't made & they probably won't be able to get it >> saying I will need a new boiler 😥 This guy wasn't a corgi gas engineer, he couldn't even open the control panel that flaps down on hinges! ♤ He said maybe 3 weeks to try find this part! > I feel they are scamming me to force a new boiler sale! Can you please give me an idea what you think? Electrical? I have the manual here. ♡ I feel so stupid,, paying for gas service plan @£400 per/year now, for 25years! Imagine a life insurance policy be better. Thank you for your help.💜🙏🏻🙂
Hi Suzy, it more than likely is the 3 way valve and unfortunately the older your boiler is the harder it is to get parts for it. The gas service plan only covers a service and not any part breakdowns as you have. I would get a second opinion however and make sure the engineer is gas safe registered. Sorry I cant help you more.
hi d I've gateway valve in my airing cupboard think it is shut off could this be the reason am not getting hot water when when I turn central heating on only get hot water when I put immersion on also pressure guage is at 1.5 tthanks
That's a handy trick. It's a shame that there can't be two sets of outputs on a combi boiler so you can have one rate for certain devices (e.g. sink) and anther rate for others (e.g. bath)...unless this is something you would only get on boilers geared for larger houses?
You can install thermostatic mixer valves (TMV) to any hot tap you like and preset the maximum temperature you want. Say 38c on your basin tap for washing your hands comfortably, 45-50c to run a bath without having to muck about adding cold water and just leave the kitchen tap as is for scorching water to kill germs for washing up.
I turn my hot water on and tap doesn't heat up but the radiator in kitchen gets warm. Is that a burst Diverter Valve? Is it an easy job to fix? It's a ravenheat. Thanks 😁
Whats your old boilers name - mines is Nora she is a right old nagging boiler and no mistake. Watch it dont you send no dirty boiler pictures to our Al he only does clean boiler pics and i doubt he likes being called a dear lol! >;o)
I have a Worcester combi boiler, I can't get the hot water higher than 45 degrees the reason I want it higher is to add cold water during dish washing. The hot water dial is full, tried Eco and Eco off, no effect.Tried slowing the hot water tap, hardly any effect.
I only came here to say that a title and thumbnail is all i needed for absolute assurance that this is the most english video on youtube
Ha ha thank you.
Massive thank you for this! I’ve had luke warm water to the bath and when fitting a shower today had a play with the hot isolation valve and I’ve now got BOILING hot water! So grateful for this video 🙏🏻 THANK YOU!!
You're so welcome!
Thank you SO much! The water doesn’t soak the place with spray and the water is properly hot now. You’re an ANGEL! I almost called the plumber out for something so daft! THANK YOU SO MUCH! 🙏🏻
No problem
Kin Ell ‘
This is great advice, my kitchen sink is nice and hot now. Thanks for posting this video!
No problem.
Great video, installed a New sink and tap last weekend and was wondering why the temp wasn’t staying on the hot tap after a few seconds. This resolved the issue in less than a minute. Thanks!
Glad it helped
Just the answer I was looking for, fixed my issue. Thanks 😁
No problem.
love your videos always easy to understand and very helpful!
Thanks Monica.
Thank you for enlightenment, enjoying hot baths instead of lukewarm ones 😂👍🏼
Our pleasure!
Hi Great videos.
Advice needed please. I have a Vaillant Turbomax plus 824 boiler. The heating works fine but hot water is only luke warm from all taps. I noticed when i turn the temperature dial up on the boiler the temp doesn't go up like it does when i turn temperature dial up on the radiators. Any advice please would be very much appreciated.
Kindest Regards
Nick
Trouble with the 3 way valve. Engineer required.
Mine was the flow sensor that needed to be replaced. After that. Hot water from the taps was hotter then ever.
Have you ever considered a role on a tv repair show Al you really are quite professional and interesting to watch and obviously have the years of experience old stylee - easily the best vids on plumbing on youtube and dare i say it even better than Ultimate Handyman and thats saying something - watching your vids i knew very little about plumbing and nothing about boilers - now i know how to flood any house perfectly and i can deal with my old boiler and keep her quiet for at least five minutes - ahhhh five minutes nag free its worth £60 a minute for sure lol
>;o)
Keep up the good work Al
Ha ha thanks Garry, I don`t think I will quite make it to TV presenter, not with my accent.
Top Man Dereton shame your not my neighbour, they don't make em like they used to
We are a dying breed.
On an old worn out or under speced combi,with a good flow switch bellows this works quite well, one with a bad flow switch bellows it's best to restrict the flow on the hot side, like you do on the kitchen tap with the iso valve. If the bellows are that old and hard, you can glue a spacer such as a guitar plectrum to the bellow so it hits the switch earlier, like it did when it was new and flexible. These older combis don't regulate the flow automaticaly to acomodate a set temp like the newer ones, or good old ones.
Thanks for the info Sirus.
Hi Derek. Have this issue except it's the hot tap in the shower. Have to have the water trickling to get any heat from the hot tap. If I open it up, it goes completely cold. Hot water to kitchen sink works fine. Both heating & water heated by a combi boiler. Should I try to reduce the flow in my situation? Thanks for the help.
Put a small ballafix valve on the feed pipe and turn down the flow with that.
Thank u sooooo much. Was looking how to get more pressure from my shower taps but have also fixed the kitchen sink pressure problem...👌👌👌👍👍👍👍
Hope you are keeping well you lovely person
Just fine thanks. Aman A.
My kitchen water doesn't come out as hot until I open the tap fully which wastes a whole lot of water. Is it something to do with these things? Can I fix the valve myself? Which colour will be the kitchen one, out of blue,yellow and red? Thank-you
You have a long dead leg of pipework from the hot tank or combi boiler which has to run out first, before the hot water arrives at the tap. Kitchen tap is red.
Thank-You So, much....This little tip worked a treat. Brilliant!!!!....D.
You're welcome!
Reducing the cold water inlet fixed my issue is it safe to leave it like this? Cause the valve is half on it makes a hissing noise when the water is running.
It will be fine.
My Worcester combi boiler has an open vented system fitted. Recently an engineer replaced the heat exchanger, and in doing so must have increased the pressure at which water enters the boiler, from the loft tank, and passes through the heat exchanger. The result is the hot water is not hot enough in the shower. You can control this to some degree by reducing the flow from the tap, but the temperature becomes very difficult to control, to get right. In an open vented system, is there an easy way to control the pressure of the water entering the boiler from the boiler cupboard itself, via an obvious tap/valve, or does this need to be adjusted at the loft tank? Due to the current situation we can't get the engineer back to do this, so can it easily be done myself? I'm guessing the boiler in your video is fitted with a sealed system kit??
Yes this is a sealed system. As to your pressure problem just fit a valve on the cold feed and adjust it down to what you require.
Hi, Al what would you recommend to clean the plate exchanger?
As antonio says, depends what type of scaling you have if you live in a hard water area, then it could be limescale, but it could also be black sludge build up. There are cleaners out there you put in the system but what ever you decide to do, it is always better to renew the exchanger.
you are a legend - thanks for the vid.
You're welcome!
I have an Evoke 33 combi. How can I turn the heating off,without losing my hot water during Summertime?
Just turn the heat setting to off but leave the hot water still on.
Er...you could have just turned the flow down at the tap...which also slows the flow through the heat exchanger ?
Try telling that to my grand children. Or for that matter anyone under 21, ha ha.
If I want to run hot water with the valve set to max temperature in the bath/shower faucet
The hot water runs cool (35*C) when faucet/tap is turned to MAXIMUM output (and max temp) in the BATH. If I want to run the hot water at the desired temperature of lets say 60*C, I must reduce the faucet valve to mid-range output, consequently weakening the stream.
I do not have this issue with the Kitchen and bathroom sinks. The can run very hot water with tap valves at max output…
Could it be that the pipes which supply the hot water to the bath are larger than those which supply hot water to the sinks?? Perhaps the boiler cannot keep up with heating the water when its running at a high output? Not sure this is the reason though. The apartment is relatively new, and so is the Vaillant boiler.. Also the boiler supplies hot water to the radiators with no issues…
The hot water supply temperature setting on the boiler is indeed set at 65*C….
Also, this isn’t a faucet cartridge issue, because the hot water in the bath-faucet still behaves like this, even if I shut down the main cold-water supply, i.e. so there is not cold water interference…
Can’t get my head around this, any suggestions how I can get the hot water to run at a decent outout?!
THANKS
It is indeed the 22 mm pipework to the bath tap. You get a hotter flow once you slow the flow to the bath tap by turning the tap down. This is all quite normal though.
When you are turning the blue valve on the boiler at the begging, do you need to understand this or something first? Mine is solid and won't move?
They only move a quarter of a turn, you may be trying to turn it the wrong way. If still stiff try a small spanner on it.
@@dereton33 thanks for the reply
Just turn the tap on so it flows more slowly. Honestly, it’s that simple.
Thanks reg.
Quick Question Al - I have an old flat going back to the sixties - it has a loft cold water tank fed cylinder which provides the hot water to the bathroom and kitchen taps - the shower is electric.
I have looked to see if i can replace it but it seems these systems are no longer used - I have seen the direct fed and indirect systems but mine doesnt seem to fit into either category as it isnt heated indirectly by a boiler feeding the hot water into the cylinder as the cylinder is standalone and obviously has its own heating element inside , it also isnt direct as it isnt fed from the mains but from the cold water tank so what actually do i have?
A direct , indirect immersion heater? lol
Also i would imagine that the cylinder has some sort of bimetallic strip to switch the heating element off as the wall control only has a timer control and nothing to control the temperature!
Do you know of anywhere i could get one of these older systems?
You have an old tank feed direct cylinder that uses an immersion to heat the water. The cylinder is fed from the roof tank, so still an indirect system. There is a thermostat inside the immersion which controls the temperature.
Thanks Al very decent of you to reply old chep - its just i am looking to add a wifi smart switch to replace the old timer block on the wall so trying to work out the draw which i think is limited to 3kw - i doubt the cylinder is higher draw than this as its so old.
www.amazon.co.uk/Timeguard-Controlled-Timeswitch-Socket-FSTWIFI/dp/B07228W28L/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1503701224&sr=8-9&keywords=wifi+boiler
I cannot find anyone who sells a replacement cylinder - are there any?
Or is it a case of having to buy a conventional direct feed and just plumbing it up to the tank again or are modern ones requiring a high pressure mains feed?
Do you need to do both of these or just 1???
Just 1.
Hi pal. My water now never gets really hot. Not hot enough to shower at the moment. Any ideas? This has just happened. Only gets to about 56c max.
If your other hot taps are hot then it will be a problem with the mixer tap.
Good tip
Happy to help
I have a combi boiler. I wanted to know if there was a control for the the water temperature.
Yes on the front
Great tip thanks
No problem!
The hot water coming from my combi boiler seems to have got colder, It used to be so hot that I wouldn't be able to hold my hand under the tap, now I am having showers with just the hot tap on and no cold added (mixer shower).
Is this a sign that something has broken?
If your other hot taps are ok, then it is a fault with the shower, if all your taps and shower are not getting hot then it is a problem with the boiler.
hi al my combi boiler keeps losing pressure,i have re-pressurised as per one of your vids but still keeps going down! is this a easy fix maybe a valve? or do i need to call a heating engineer?
It will be a leak somewhere, take a look at all your rad valves, they often leak. check all pipework and joints for leaks, if you cannot find anything, then call in an engineer.
Hello
Thanks for your help. I have a question . I have a combi boiler valiant ecofit pure. When the shower is in use the kitchen hot water becomes very thin . Mot much water. Please help me there. Thanks kamlah
Not much you can do about that, the shower is taking away the water pressure from your tap.
hi Al thanks for the tip nice one mate
Thanks david.
My hot water tap in the bath is Barely hot but my other taps in the house are boiling?
Run it at a slower flow rate, combi boilers cannot keep up with a fast flow rate.
Or simply don't open the tap fully to slow the water flow down.
Yes that`s right but if you have kids I really do not see them doing that.
So this video is only applicable to people who have kids? lol
It's tricky get the flow right on a standard washer type tap as the the brass gear in the cartridge expands as it gets hot and closes the washer down to the seat. This doesn't happen on ceramic cartridges.
🙋♀️ Hi, what a handy tip. I have a Ravenheat Rsf 820/20 combi ( old, but always been reliable ).
No hot water, only a warm bit IF heating is on.. Heating is fine. When calling for hot water at tap > boiler isn't firing up ( sounds electrical? )
♡ I've had awful time, 2 gas service engineers sent said cant touch it if a fault!
The supposed 'real gas engineer' came round today,, ignored the that my boiler isn't firing when calling for hot water.
He decided I need a new 3 way divertor valve, saying my hot water is going to my radiators, but it isn't! Not firing to heat any water!
☆ He warned me 3 times this part isn't made & they probably won't be able to get it >> saying I will need a new boiler 😥
This guy wasn't a corgi gas engineer, he couldn't even open the control panel that flaps down on hinges!
♤ He said maybe 3 weeks to try find this part! > I feel they are scamming me to force a new boiler sale!
Can you please give me an idea what you think? Electrical? I have the manual here.
♡ I feel so stupid,, paying for gas service plan @£400 per/year now, for 25years! Imagine a life insurance policy be better.
Thank you for your help.💜🙏🏻🙂
Hi Suzy, it more than likely is the 3 way valve and unfortunately the older your boiler is the harder it is to get parts for it. The gas service plan only covers a service and not any part breakdowns as you have. I would get a second opinion however and make sure the engineer is gas safe registered. Sorry I cant help you more.
hi d I've gateway valve in my airing cupboard think it is shut off could this be the reason am not getting hot water when when I turn central heating on only get hot water when I put immersion on also pressure guage is at 1.5 tthanks
No it`s a problem with the 3 way valve.
My boiler only has black taps. No coloured so no blue one. Which one do I turn?
The one on the cold feed inlet.
That's a handy trick. It's a shame that there can't be two sets of outputs on a combi boiler so you can have one rate for certain devices (e.g. sink) and anther rate for others (e.g. bath)...unless this is something you would only get on boilers geared for larger houses?
Yes it is a pity.
You can install thermostatic mixer valves (TMV) to any hot tap you like and preset the maximum temperature you want. Say 38c on your basin tap for washing your hands comfortably, 45-50c to run a bath without having to muck about adding cold water and just leave the kitchen tap as is for scorching water to kill germs for washing up.
I turn my hot water on and tap doesn't heat up but the radiator in kitchen gets warm. Is that a burst Diverter Valve? Is it an easy job to fix? It's a ravenheat. Thanks 😁
Yes diverter valve problem.
hi dear how I send you picks of my old boiler picks I need your help plz
Whats your old boilers name - mines is Nora she is a right old nagging boiler and no mistake.
Watch it dont you send no dirty boiler pictures to our Al he only does clean boiler pics and i doubt he likes being called a dear lol!
>;o)
Simply running the taps slower makes my water hotter
Yes it is just training the rest of the family to do it.
hi all i got indierct system my hot water in kitchen sink is not enough pressure whats the best way a round it.
Either low pressure taps or a pump.
I have same problem
why not just turn the tap down so its not flowing so fast
Try telling that to children.
Wouldn't like to change the valve under the sink with that waste pipe right in front of it,,
well will try this in bathroom for the bath, and maybe the shower as both cold
It is worth a try and cost nothing.
Thanks
very good for me,,,, 2 min job instead,, of getting gas engineer out thank you+++++
No problem.
I have a Worcester combi boiler, I can't get the hot water higher than 45 degrees the reason I want it higher is to add cold water during dish washing. The hot water dial is full, tried Eco and Eco off, no effect.Tried slowing the hot water tap, hardly any effect.
Try turning the cold inlet to a slower rate. The blue tap under the boiler.
good tip enjoy the video
Thanks.
That’s dangerous mate,why don’t you just tell people to open the tap slightly for hotter water, don’t ever restrict the flow into the boiler....
I take it you do not like Combisaves then as they make and sell a device that does just that.
But still not working the hot water
Check boiler pressure.
Hi
Thanks for reply
Hitting is working
But not hot water
Hi
Thanks for the 2 minutes of chit chat had me shouting get on with it:/.. in the woman house making out I'm in the know
I want hotter water in all my taps!
What even the cold ones, ha ha.
No puppy 🐶
Next video up I promise.