FAQs

Check to see if the gas has been left on or if the pilot light has gone out. Turn the gas supply off at the meter immediately and open the doors and windows. Call Transco on 0800 111 999 but do not use a phone near the gas leak and don not use a mobile phone at all. If the leak is on the customer side of the meter, Transco will advise that a Gas Safe Registered operative is contacted to carry out the necessary repairs. Meter leaks will be attended to whilst on site. In the meantime, do not turn on or off any electrical appliances including electrical intercoms and entry systems. Do not use matches, naked flames or smoke. Ensure you are safe at all times.

The radiator needs to be bled, as air has entered the central heating system and become trapped. The air will rise to the top of the radiator, forming a pocket that will stop the hot water from reaching that part. To bleed the radiator, firstly turn off the heating system, in order that no more air is drawn in. Now with a cloth held beneath, use a radiator key to slacken the air bleed valve located at one end toward the top of the radiator. Turn the bleed key anti clockwise to release the air. As soon as water begins to flow, close the bleed valve by turning it clockwise. Do not over tighten the bleed valve. Note radiators should not require frequent bleeding. If they do, there is an underlying problem with air entering the system, and this should be attended to by a Combiline engineer.

The radiator is most likely to be blocked with black iron oxide sludge and ferrous oxide sediment. The most permanent remedy to this problem is a procedure called powerflushing a process implemented by a pump, which forcibly cleans the central heating system using water and or chemicals at high velocity and low pressure. This allows the build up of debris to be removed from the bottom of the radiator, which has been preventing it from reaching the correct temperature.

It is best to paint radiators in radiator enamel, which is far less likely to discolour with heat overtime. Most new radiators already come with a gloss white finish. Painting will have very little effect on performance, as most heat is actually created by convection rather than radiation.

Yes you can. However, bare or new copper should be first lightly abraded with emery cloth or wire wool, and then wiped with white spirit in order to remove and preservative or grease.

• Check your power supply is working and that the fuse has not blown.
• Check the gas hasn’t been turned off.
• Check your thermostats and control switches are on.
• Check the pump is running.
• Check the pilot light is lit, your boiler manual will tell you how to relight it.

On most modern boilers the pilot light will come on automatically when the boiler detects a call for heat from a room stat or a hot water thermostat. If this does not happen, then a Combiline Gas Safe Registered engineer would need to be called. Older types of boiler will have a permanent pilot light. This may go out for a number of reasons, such as an interruption in the supply, a draught, or a fault with the boiler itself. Before calling for professional help, it is worth attempting to re-light the pilot following the instructions issued with the appliance.

The boiler pressure should be at 1 to 1.5 bar, which will need topping up manually by the filling loop. This is usually under the boiler and may have one or two taps, both of which will need to be open, on it and should be a flexible pipe. Fill to 1 to 1.5 bar, then bleed all the radiators and finally refill to 1 to 1.5bar. Close all taps.