Ware Online Community Forum

Hi,

Could any recommend a local Warm Air Heating Engineer, mine is currently giving a draft rather than a blast


Thanks in advance

Don't think that it was ever designed to do anything much more than give a 'warm' draught, especially downstairs, as the fan feeds at least 7 outlets at various points in the house, depends I suppose on how many you have shut off. Of course duct joints leaking in either the loft or under the floor, for the downstairs outlets, would have a major effect on how much actually comes out of the vents. A look in the loft at the ducting up there to check that any joints haven't come un-taped and are majorly leaking would be a good initial start before getting in 'the professionals' (loft as warm as toast would be a good give away )
p.s. have you removed the fan inlet filter and cleaned it? Ours comes out every few weeks and is rinsed down in the bath with the shower head then left to drain off for a while before replacing it.

Cheers John

There's definitely something wrong with it as it makes a loud humming noise whenever it's in 'standby' have to switch it of at the mains to stop the noise
When we first moved in a few years ago, the vents would be at least powerful enough to make the net curtains move

I turned thermostat up to '8' maximum but just makes the house warm as opposed to roasting like it would be before on '6'

Like you say, maybe something is a miss in the loft

I'll give the vent a clean as well, is it easy to get at?

BTW, are you the same John a couple of doors down from me? I'm in between Tony & the couple who had the big black dogs

Found the inlet filter, had a layer on it thicker than my carpet, waiting for it to dry off a bit before putting it back

Still the annoying hum though

Sounds possibly like the fan speed regulator is playing up. If you replace it with a new one you will also need a new electronic panel as the old and new versions are incompatible, unless you can find an old version from somewhere, but then if the electronic panel ever goes your back to square one! So tend to recommend people bite the bullet and buy both, expensive but then the units probably 25yrs+ so it's doing well! I'm guessing you're on the west end of Wulfrath Way?

I'm on Trapstyle Road

The draft to blast issue is sorted now thanks to John's suggestion of cleaning the filter (which I hadn't done since we've been here, 3 years+)
The house is lovely and warm now

The fan speed regulator issue you mention, is that what causes the annoying humming sound while it's not in use? The noise is definitely coming from the part that houses the fan

Yes to your question in your earlier reply The humming is possibly a relay buzzing, you would have to take off the front of the fan housing to see the area around the fan casing to check. I've had 30 odd years playing with our system, the real fun starts when you get a build up of dirt on the fan blades, putting it out of balance, which entails stripping the fan down to clean it
It would be a very good idea to get a qualified gas engineer in to service the burner assy and check that it is not producing carbon dioxide.

Yes the fan speed regulator is what causes the humming. Its a "feature" on the mod air flow units like you have(the 1 to 9 thermostat is what comes with the J&s MAF units) due to the way it alters the fan speed by voltage modulation. Although luckily if all is working now then its likely more of an annoyance. The 2 parts I mentioned are the best part of £400 It should ideally be serviced every year, as although WAUs are generally very reliable and safe there are some rare problems that can be extremely dangerous and an audible Carbon Monoxide(I'm sure thats what John meant ) detector is never a bad idea. As well as checking the heater the flue would be checked and particularly if you have a ridge terminal this should be regularly inspected.

Michael

MJ_Game wrote:Yes the fan speed regulator is what causes the humming. Its a "feature" on the mod air flow units like you have(the 1 to 9 thermostat is what comes with the J&s MAF units) due to the way it alters the fan speed by voltage modulation. Although luckily if all is working now then its likely more of an annoyance. The 2 parts I mentioned are the best part of £400 It should ideally be serviced every year, as although WAUs are generally very reliable and safe there are some rare problems that can be extremely dangerous and an audible Carbon Monoxide(I'm sure thats what John meant ) detector is never a bad idea. As well as checking the heater the flue would be checked and particularly if you have a ridge terminal this should be regularly inspected.

Michael

a 'senior moment' Michael , I (and obviously you) knew what I meant, brain said one thing, sadly the fingers typed something else.
Interestingly our thermostat is marked in degrees C and not 1-9 and the fan appears to be either on or off, no speed variation.

MJ_Game wrote:Yes the fan speed regulator is what causes the humming. Its a "feature" on the mod air flow units like you have(the 1 to 9 thermostat is what comes with the J&s MAF units) due to the way it alters the fan speed by voltage modulation. Although luckily if all is working now then its likely more of an annoyance. The 2 parts I mentioned are the best part of £400 It should ideally be serviced every year, as although WAUs are generally very reliable and safe there are some rare problems that can be extremely dangerous and an audible Carbon Monoxide(I'm sure thats what John meant ) detector is never a bad idea. As well as checking the heater the flue would be checked and particularly if you have a ridge terminal this should be regularly inspected.

Michael

The humming is a new annoyance, it used to be that I could leave it on 'timed' and it would be absolutely silent until the timer clicked into play and the heating started, now it hums loudly whenever it's not heating (obviously more noticeable at night)
I'm missing out on the benefit of a timer as I'm having to switch it on manually in the mornings at the mains socket

I've got a carbon monoxide detector in my daughters room, tested it recently actually

I'm jealous that John's thermostat has temps on it, mine is regular struggle to get the temp somewhere between 'Oven' & 'Artic' which if I remember correctly is between 5 ¾ & 6 on the dial

I think the system was serviced just before I moved in, it's overdue one now, I'll ping you a message as you obviously know your stuff