Jump to content

No engine delivered hot water - Gardner 2LW


Featured Posts

Just finished 6 hrs cruising to Fradley and our normally perfectly functioning engine generated hot water system hasn’t produced hot water!

 

SWMBO not happy

 

As the boat is relatively new to us l’m not totally sure how it all works - Gardner 2LW piped to a calorifier - there seems to be a pump involved with wires to it but I can’t see where they come from possibly a sender unit on the engine - so I’m thinking pump/sender/t/stat - which is most likely to have failed “overnight”? How can I check each of them?.

 

Anyone have a good cheap “man who can” in the Fradley area - heading for Leicester have other means of heating water so I assume running engine won’t be an issue -all dials were reading OK today

 

All help/advice gratefully received

 

Thanks

 

Edited by Halsey
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Check power to pump when engine hot - should have 12v or 24v depending on system. If no power control circuit or fuse failure, if power at  pump then mechanical or electrical failure of pump or air in system. If no power you could wire the pump directly to the battery via a switch and fuse a s temporary measure.

The pump could be controlled by a thermostat and relay so it cuts in only when the engine is hot. Either could have failed.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I lost my hot water from engine late last year after inadvertently letting the header tank run empty and air entering system, which was a bit of a bugger as my ebersbastard kept playing up all winter. 

I've had the opportunity to strip the lot down in the last month, thermostat was OK,  water pump was OK,  but in the pipe from the thermostat to the calorifier there was a load of crud built up....this had led to the problem.

All put back together with new hoses, clips and paint and everything is ticketyboo now.

If your thermostat has stuck open,  you may not get hot water from a 2LW or 2L2 unless running it on a river anyway as it doesn't get particularly hot.

  • Greenie 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 hours ago, Mike Adams said:

Check power to pump when engine hot - should have 12v or 24v depending on system. If no power control circuit or fuse failure, if power at  pump then mechanical or electrical failure of pump or air in system. If no power you could wire the pump directly to the battery via a switch and fuse a s temporary measure.

The pump could be controlled by a thermostat and relay so it cuts in only when the engine is hot. Either could have failed.

Thanks that’s where my overnight thoughts have taken me................

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The normal feed to calorifier for the L2 and LW engines is from the engine side of the thermostat ( the down pipe in the picture).

 

You wouldn't normally need a separate pump unless the feed was to radiators or other kit.

 

 

20180720_065931.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, matty40s said:

The normal feed to calorifier for the L2 and LW engines is from the engine side of the thermostat ( the down pipe in the picture).

 

You wouldn't normally need a separate pump unless the feed was to radiators or other kit.

 

 

20180720_065931.jpg

Thanks for that yes that is pretty much what it looks like ..........

I am an RCR member so as this is an engine based t/stat I will give them a ring first thing

There is definitely also an electric pump to the calorifier which is all a bit hidden away but it doesn’t feed anything else

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Impossible to say but a lamp and couple of wires if you don't have a multimeter would get you a long way on this sort of problem. Correct the lamp across the two input leads to the pump. If it lights up you have power and the circuit to operate the pump is functioning(assuming engine is hot). No power go back to relay which should be 4 pin two of which would go to the pump and two from the control side(the negatives may be common). Check for a voltage at the other two terminals, if nothing then look for what controls the relay. Likely to be a bi metallic thermo switch on the engine. Could have one or two wires with one possibly 0v so that the relay is operated by the contacts closing on the thermo switch or  possibly opening and releasing the relay. If the system has a pump and it is not working then it could cause the normal thermo siphon for the calorifier to stop.  Your RCR man should easily be able to sort it out  - good luck

Link to comment
Share on other sites

SORTED

 

Many thanks to all concerned for your support  - found a spare identical relay in one of those boxes of bits we all have under the floor -  fitted it 1/2 hr ago and problem solved

 

PS - If CRT had remembered to arrange for the Sceptic/Elsan tank to be emptied at Fradley it would be a perfect day - now tied up below the locks so we can enjoy the “mucky duck” at lunchtime (Fish Friday) and hopefully do the cassette(s) tomorrow 

 

Thanks again all

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Halsey said:

SORTED

 

Many thanks to all concerned for your support  - found a spare identical relay in one of those boxes of bits we all have under the floor -  fitted it 1/2 hr ago and problem solved

 

PS - If CRT had remembered to arrange for the Sceptic/Elsan tank to be emptied at Fradley it would be a perfect day - now tied up below the locks so we can enjoy the “mucky duck” at lunchtime (Fish Friday) and hopefully do the cassette(s) tomorrow 

 

Thanks again all

 

Fradley...............and The Mucky.......................complete bliss :cheers:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Good news.  Now more steps:

 

Get another relay as a spare.

Write the date you fitted the relay onto it, ot onto a label and then stick it on the relay.  You can check the service life, at least since you fitted it.

  • Greenie 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.