Evohome zone problem.

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  • Evo user
    Automated Home Lurker
    • Apr 2018
    • 7

    Evohome zone problem.

    Hmmm, can't figure this one out.

    I have a zone on the top floor of my house with 4 actuators however which simply won't kick their radiators into life. The radiators all work fine with TRVs on and the actuators all work when put on other radiators but they will not switch the radiators on and off on the top floor. I wondered whether it might be because they aren't picking up the signal from the controller but they do seem to change when I change the temperature settings, they just don't open up as required.

    I've changed all the batteries, deleted the zone and recreated it and tried with just one actuator, all without any joy.

    Any ideas or thoughts very welcome!
  • BuxtonJim
    Automated Home Jr Member
    • Aug 2018
    • 45

    #2
    Are they mounted cleanly with the locking lever in place? Also are the valve bodies the same as are in zones which respond properly?

    Comment

    • Evo user
      Automated Home Lurker
      • Apr 2018
      • 7

      #3
      Hi BuxtonJim. Many thanks - yes, I tightened all 4 and made sure they fitted on properly and latched on. Not sure what you mean about the "valve bodies" - the actuators all fit on in the same way as those in zones which work correctly.

      Comment

      • BuxtonJim
        Automated Home Jr Member
        • Aug 2018
        • 45

        #4
        Hi Evo -user. I wondered whether for some reason your top floor TRVs were a different model from others you have and perhaps needed adaptors. By valve body I meant what's left on the radiator when you take the actuator off the top.

        Comment

        • Evo user
          Automated Home Lurker
          • Apr 2018
          • 7

          #5
          I'm with you. Actually one of them did need an adapter but the other three all fit on in the same way so I don't think it's that. When they were installed all the zones worked no problem but at some point the top floor became an issue. Not sure that helps!

          Comment

          • DBMandrake
            Automated Home Legend
            • Sep 2014
            • 2361

            #6
            Sounds like an incompatibility or problem with the valve bodies on that top floor.

            Forget about wireless comms for the moment - try turning the temperature setting on the HR92 itself to a high temperature, and listen for the motor whiring to open the valve. If it still doesn't get hot (assuming some other rooms are calling for heat to get the boiler running, so turn up some other zone a couple of degrees higher than the current temperature before testing) its a mechanical problem.

            Next test - remove the HR92 from the radiator but leave the white and black plastic base on the radiator. Turn the black wheel fully anti-clockwise. Does it get hot now ? (For this test to work some other room in the house must be calling for heat as above as this HR92 will not call for heat when removed from the base)

            If yes, try setting the HR92 Stroke setting (option 6) to 1. However this should be considered a workaround for a partially incompatible valve body and still not give a fully satisfactory result.

            If it still does not get hot when you turn the black wheel anti-clockwise but it does get hot if you unscrew the entire plastic base from the radiator then your radiator valve bodies are not compatible dimensionally, for example the pin is probably too long and is therefore always pushed down to the closed position. The HR92 can only effect 4mm of total pin travel so the pin only has to be 4mm too long before the HR92 can't open the valve at all.

            Not all M30 x1.5 radiator valve bodies are compatible!
            Last edited by DBMandrake; 13 November 2019, 10:00 AM.

            Comment

            • G4RHL
              Automated Home Legend
              • Jan 2015
              • 1580

              #7
              Originally posted by Evo user View Post
              Hmmm, can't figure this one out.

              I have a zone on the top floor of my house with 4 actuators however which simply won't kick their radiators into life. The radiators all work fine with TRVs on and the actuators all work when put on other radiators but they will not switch the radiators on and off on the top floor. I wondered whether it might be because they aren't picking up the signal from the controller but they do seem to change when I change the temperature settings, they just don't open up as required.

              I've changed all the batteries, deleted the zone and recreated it and tried with just one actuator, all without any joy.

              Any ideas or thoughts very welcome!
              My initial reaction is signal strength as there is more than one radiator affected and the HR92s work fine on other radiators? It points to the message not getting through.

              Comment

              • Evo user
                Automated Home Lurker
                • Apr 2018
                • 7

                #8
                Thanks v much both, I will test both these thoughts and report back.

                Comment

                • Stevedh
                  Automated Home Guru
                  • Mar 2017
                  • 177

                  #9
                  Have you tried sitting next to the radiator and using your phone to set very high and 5 deg temperatures and waiting up to 5 mins to see if you can hear actuator responding.
                  Also is the problem the radiators not coming on or not going off?

                  Comment

                  • filbert
                    Automated Home Guru
                    • Oct 2017
                    • 162

                    #10
                    Originally posted by Evo user View Post
                    .

                    .... The radiators all work fine with TRVs on ...
                    I assume this means that an air lock can be ruled out?

                    Comment

                    • Evo user
                      Automated Home Lurker
                      • Apr 2018
                      • 7

                      #11
                      Thank you very much all. I've gone through the tips and here's what I found:

                      filbert - yes, I think an air lock isn't the issue as the radiators do function with TRVs

                      Stevedh - I don't have the system tied up to my phone so can't try that but I've done a bit of running up and down stairs and tested it that way!

                      G4RHL - I had a look at the signal strength and that seemed to be Ok, and the actuators do seem to respond to the controller ok

                      DBMandrake - after trying a few of your options on a few different radiators/actuators I have found that yes, two of them did get hot when I turned the black wheel anti-clockwise.

                      I then set the Stroke setting to 1 - you said it is a workaround, will that be an issue I need to deal with in some way?

                      Two of them were unresponsive though - one of which has some kind of adapter on to allow the actuator to screw on to the radiator. That is a bit loose so I wonder whether I may need another/better designed one (any ideas of what I want for the best?). The other still stays resolutely cold though (albeit heats up with a TRV one).

                      So some success, some less to resolve - any advice v welcome and thanks v much everyone so far!
                      Last edited by Evo user; 13 November 2019, 05:16 PM.

                      Comment

                      • frankmalia
                        Automated Home Sr Member
                        • Apr 2019
                        • 63

                        #12
                        If you can hear the motors winding down, and see the valve spool position changing in menu 10 set to 1, between 0(closed) and 100(fully open) when controlled by the controller on all four rads then comms must be ok.

                        If you can manually get heat when you wind the black nob out. Then I would assume you can get heat if the hr92 is fitted.

                        The other 2 radiatiors not working with nob wound out must have mechanical issue with water flow. Maybe get some new valencia TRV bodies. If you remove the white hr92 adaptor with black nob, do you get heat through radiator when boiler is operating?

                        Are the four radiators piped in series by any chance, are they in same room?

                        Comment

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