Not having seen all of them, I can't answer.
I would expect that of someone was suggesting the valve were "stuck", they would not be talking about the manual leaver. In these situations is more common to take the motor head right off, and see if the spindle sticking out of the top of the wet bit will turn (with pliers and lubrication etc). If its seized, then replacement of the wet part becomes necessary.
No, quite, it was just the possibility / chance I was talking about. ;-)
Ok ...
Ah, so the manual lever isn't actually a manual lever but a manually operated switch to override the timer / controller electrical input?
The issues seemed to be (from what I was overhearing from the plumbers) was the possibility that the 'new valve' they had fitted previously (days / weeks before) wasn't working properly but I also heard them saying to the householder that they 'weren't electricians' so I questioned (in my head) just how much they knew about any of it? ;-(
Maybe they were just plumbers and what my friends needed was 'Heating engineers'?
Time will tell etc. ;-)
Cheers, T i m
When I was looking to fix the problem of the 1st floor radiators warming up when hot water only was called for some two or three years ago, I was initially looking at prices for a complete 3 port Honeywell valve assembly around the 150 quid mark.
After a bit of researching, I discovered that I could retain the expensive brass part of the valve body by upgrading the all in one motor/ valve plate to a modern (post 1982!) two part motor and valve plate that would allow any future motor head problems to be fixed without the need for a drain down. I got the valve plate from, I think, my local Plumb Centre[1] and a modern detachable motor head from Tool Station in the end for just under 70 quid all in.
One thing that tripped me up was testing the motor head in isolation from the valve plate spindle which revealed a slipping gears problem. It was only *after* experiencing the same "fault" with the replacement from Tool Station that it finally dawned on me that it was the lack of support to the final sector cog normally provided by the valve spindle and the only thing that had been at fault was my testing technique.
I felt so bad about returning a fully functioning part as being faulty that I went back to Tool Station, with the second motor unit in hand, just to apologise and explain my mistake to the very accommodating sales member who had dealt with my returned "faulty" motor head just so he could know that there hadn't been anything wrong with the original part in the first place.
Compared to Screwfix, the Tool Station counter staff are a joy to deal with so I felt I owed them the courtesy of an apology. Besides which, TS prices are generally lower than SF's prices so yet another reason to show due respect.
[1] That was my first port of call because I had hopes of being able to cannibalise the rubber ball to replace the hardened and misshapen one in the original unit which had been the root cause of the problem. Only then did it become clear that I'd need to buy yet another part, a compatible motor head unit before I could complete the repair.I think the valve plate was around 23 quid in all with, to my surprise, Tool Station proving to be the cheapest source of a compatible motor head at a mere 45 quid or so compared to on line sources quoting 65 quid or more.
And, whilst I remember, the only other expense involved was the 4 quid spent on the purchase of a 39mm AF open ended chrome vanadium spanner from a second hand tool store my missus had insisted was no longer in business (such insistence resulting in a fruitless search via a 22 mile round trip to the next town's market) to grip the flats of the Honeywell
3 port valve body. Thanks to the upgrade to a modern two piece motor head/ valve plate, a tool I may never use again in anger to repair the central heating system in my lifetime.Thank goodness it was only a mere 4 quid! In all honesty, I think it's more likely to see service as a defensive weapon kept under the bed for use against night time intruders than as a plumbing tool.
No, its a leaver that moves the gearbox mechanism through some of its normal travel - usually enough to move the valve position, but not always enough to bump into the micro switches at the end of the normal motorised travel (and which would be required to fire the boiler with the conventional wiring plan).
Its possible for the gearbox or motor to fail, or simply be unable to exert enough force to turn the spindle (either at all, or far enough). In many cases, adding some lubrication to the spindle and working it back and forth with pliers etc will free it enough to work normally after.
Ah, thanks.
(We have that now and again with the electric curtains where the track gets damp and the current limit trips before the max travel).
Yeah, been there and done that with enough stuff over my life, the last being a mates mates motorcycle rear drum brake lever that was actually seizing up. He was going to just spray it with WD40 (that may have worked, especially short time) but I recommended we 'do it properly'. So we removed the rear wheel, stripped the brake drum, cleaned and *re-greased* the lever and replaced the missing O ring / seal.
Probably not so easy or appropriate to replicate on a valve full of water though. ;-(
Cheers, T i m
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