Scalding water for only 30 seconds

Hi

I have had the misfortune of getting in the MK Group to fix the issue above. They have charged £497 to replace the three port valve and the bypass valve and have left us in exactly the same position (ie. hot water for 30 seconds only). I am not prepared to throw more money down the toilet so thought maybe I could figure it out.

I am neither an electrician nor a plumber but from reading the installation manual and reading the forums it seems like hot water for thirty seconds only is a symptom of the Heat Exchange pump not replacing the hot water from the store. I have tested the pump that feeds the heat exchange and it is not coming on when hot water is called for (our engineer never even tested that).

I checked to see if it was the pump itself that was broken but it isn't receiving any power when hot water is called for. The flow switch is working(ie. it is showing continuity when the hot water is called for). What else determines that the pump comes on? Looking at the manual it looks like it is probably the hot water sensor that is wired in above the flow switch but is there a way for me to prove that?

Thanks

Well first of all the guy from the MK group posts on here.
Have you mentioned your complaint?
Now if you read page 3 in the book.
It states the pump is controlled by the PCB.
You also have a hot water sensor which is related too. And a plate heat exchanger sensor.
And also the hot water mixer valve.
Page 22 in the book shows you how to go through the fault codes, which may help.
I have not got any of these units in my area.
But they are similar to the Boilermate II's.
I have also had the misfortune of draining a Pulsacoil 2000 down to clean it out.
And after all that and adding the chemicals only to switch it on and the pump had decided to pack up.
Such are the joys of life!
What area are you?
Mike
MGC/H2O
Norfolk.

Hi Mike

Thanks for responding. Yes I have complained and received a rejection of my complaint letter - the issue is now being taken up with Trading Standards...

I can see that the pump is controlled by the PCB board and have gone through the fault diagnostics - everything is good except for 'e) Check that the hot water plate exchanger pump stops and starts when the hot water tap is opened and closed'.

All the lights that should be on are and none of the diagnostic lights are on...

there are two Systemate III's one with a single PCB and one with a twin board - mine is the latter (http://www.gledhill-spares.net/documents/SysteMate_III_(Twin_Board).pdf)

on page 4 of that it shows a simplified view of the boards, one of which controls the heat exchange pump. I have confirmed that all components on that board are working except for the hot water temperature sensor - I just want to know how to test that (using a multimeter or something...) because I think that is what is stopping the pump from coming on.

Thanks again

Well there is no way of testing the sensors.
I carry out work for Gledhill.
And that is their answer.
You can try flexing the sensors cable gently to induce something to happen.
And I would recommend changing both sensors at the same time.
It is a shame that your complaint was rejected.
But I will state this very often when I am called upon to repair a unit there are often more than one thing wrong.
Another thing to try is switch the unit of for a few minutes and then switch back on.
This can sometimes "re boot" it.
The PCB is the "brain" and that tells all what to do.
Mike
MGC/H2O
Norwich

And I did ask what area you were in.
And I have a reason for asking that.
Mike
MGC/H2O
Norfolk

Hi Mike

Thanks for that. I'll give the flexing a go tonight :-)

I'm in the Surbiton/Kingston area?

Right I am not 100%
But Gledhill response do give fixed price quotes for repairing units.
Which if they do for your area then goes on to give you breakdown cover for 1 year.
The average cost per year is around £100:00p for B/D cover.
So although your fixed price repair may have been £200:00 to £400 it would have been a better deal.
If B/D cover is carried out for your area, you can NOT claim for the first 30 days.
Also Gledhill has a technical help line which at 60p per minute is not bad if instant help is needed.
Mike
MGC/H2O
Norfolk

Hallelujah - That was it!!! Just flexing the cable and wiggling it and I was getting readings with my multimeter

So the actual culprit is the heating sensor... Thanks Mike!!!

I'll make sure it carries on working for a week to confirm that that is the real culprit before posting reviews about my whole experience with the MK Group - I'll let you judge then whether I am being unfair in my criticism.

Well I wanted to give MKGroup the benefit of the doubt to confirm that what I did fixed the problem and it wasn't just a sporadic thing with the hot water coming and going but I can now confirm that the pump comes on when requested and the hot water sensor was the culprit.

As promised my review for MK Group can be found here: https://gledhill-repairs.forumotion.net/t1154-review-of-mk-group-ltd-do-not-use

To whom it may concern,

This is the first bad review of any kind to be found on the internet regarding our Company and is unfounded,

All companies have difficult and hard to please customers and so far throughout our trading history this is the first time we have been unable to resolve such issues.

MK Group very rarely have any form of complaint and in such an eventuality we have a strict complaints policy, we recommend to our customer who feel that we have not lived up to their expectations to report our Company for further investigation by Trading Standards.

Mr Kent has not followed this advice and instead has chosen to slander our Company on the internet.

I would like to point out that we have factual evidence that the parts replaced at Mr Kent's property were required.

Our Company solicitor has been informed and Mr Kent will be receiving a letter of our intentions with regards to his slanderous accusations.

Here are some reviews from Customers which are happy with our service:

https://gledhill-repairs.forumotion.net/t510-24-hour-service-gledhill-repair-specialists-buckinghamshire-bedfordshire-northamptonshire-oxfordshire-hertfordshire-repair-specialists


S Diamond
Customer Services Manager
MK Group Limited

Reply posted in my review of MK group (https://gledhill-repairs.forumotion.net/t1154-review-of-mk-group-ltd-do-not-use)- This topic was to help me get my hot water back