Starting out on my heat pump journey

[Richard77]

Make sure they put the milk in the correct fridge Ronski and not in the uniTower!

[Ronski]

The main fridge freezer is in the kitchen, but we've had another in the utility room for 20 years or so, and it stood where the uniTower is now, only yesterday I said to the Mrs how manys times are you going to try and open the uniTower to get something out of the fridge after she said it looks like a fridge

[Richard77]

The main fridge freezer is in the kitchen, but we've had another in the utility room for 20 years or so, and it stood where the uniTower is now, only yesterday I said to the Mrs how manys times are you going to try and open the uniTower to get something out of the fridge after she said it looks like a fridge

When I saw the picture and read the post.. I saw the words fridge freezer ... Pipes.. and thought you had posted a picture of the fridge...

Hope you get your issues sorted asap. Why can't people just do a proper job! Does my head in!

[Fintray]

• A power flush is highly recommended.
  He mentioned only one side was filled, not sure what he meant by this - I forgot to clarify.
  No strainers appear to be fitted, and that voids the warranty.
  Outside weather compensation is fitted to an ESE wall, ideally should be a north wall.
  Poor insulation finish on outside piping at the ASHP.

I've been in contact with SGS, he said that a power flush was supposed to have been done, and is annoyed that it wasn't, he's trying to organise people to come out today and sort the issues, although he's adamant that strainers aren't required and it's the first he's heard that it will void the warranty.

I had a look over the installation instructions and it does say:
Flush the heating installation thoroughly before connecting the product in order to remove any possible residue from the pipelines.
Install a line strainer in the pipeline for the heating return.
All appliances shall be fully commissioned in accordance with our installation manual and Benchmark commissioning check list (this will be included within the installation manual).
Failure to install and commission this appliance in compliance with the manufacturer’s instructions will invalidate the guarantee (this does not affect the customer’s statutory rights).
The Benchmark Checklist states:
The system has been flushed and cleaned in accordance with BS7593 and heat pump manufacturers instructions.

My system has a strainer fitted and during the service it was opened and found to contain a small curl of copper from deburring the pipes.

[AGT]

Do you fit magnetic filters to the system? Just wondering ?

[Ronski]

@Fintray, Thanks, I'd read that as well this morning. SGS are saying they have fitted a suitable filter, I've seen one in the uniTower, I don't see mention of it in the uniTower instructions, so it may well be separate and have been fitted by SGS.

@AGT Yes, there should be strainers and a magnetic filter.

These look ideal and is what the Vaillant engineer mentioned, I shall ask for these to be fitted in place of the existing isolation valves.

https://www.bes.co.uk/inta-full-bore-ba ... omp-25793/

Two electricians from SGS have just been here for an hour and a half, they thoroughly checked the cable, and are adamant its OK. They said they are not getting 24v out of the heat pump on the E-BUS line, so its got to be a fault of the ASHP.

So the balls back in Vaillant's court, and hopefully they'll be out again this weekend - they have engineers working all weekend apparently.

It's not possible to get the immersion working on its own, as it does not sit directly in the tank and requires the pump to circulate the water.

I'm off to wire in my Shelly energy monitors.

[Ronski]

Just to update, I fired off an email to SGS last night with my concerns, and listing the items that needed addressing.

I got a phone call at 8:35 this morning from them, Vaillant would be coming out this afternoon, they had made sure they'd got the correct number, and they would message me to confirm an ETA. The SGS electrician will attend, once the unit is running they will then address the other issues.

Vaillant did come out this afternoon, but no messages from Vaillant (SGS never received one either), luckily my daughter was home and she messaged me, so I let SGS know, and I came home.

Different guy today, he checked the ASHP and said it needs a new board, yep one of the ones replaced Saturday, and guess what, he didn't have one. I cancelled the SGS electrician as no point him coming.

Hopefully another visit tomorrow, with a new board.

The guy I'm mow dealing with at SGS is apparently Heat Geek trained. Whilst there was problems last week, such as squeezing it into 4 days instead of five, sending one experienced plumber and two trainee's, not doing the power flush etc. SGS have certainly been on top of trying to get the issues sorted, so it's not a total disaster.

[Joeboy]

Just to update, I fired off an email to SGS last night with my concerns, and listing the items that needed addressing.

I got a phone call at 8:35 this morning from them, Vaillant would be coming out this afternoon, they had made sure they'd got the correct number, and they would message me to confirm an ETA. The SGS electrician will attend, once the unit is running they will then address the other issues.

Vaillant did come out this afternoon, but no messages from Vaillant (SGS never received one either), luckily my daughter was home and she messaged me, so I let SGS know, and I came home.

Different guy today, he checked the ASHP and said it needs a new board, yep one of the ones replaced Saturday, and guess what, he didn't have one. I cancelled the SGS electrician as no point him coming.

Hopefully another visit tomorrow, with a new board.

The guy I'm mow dealing with at SGS is apparently Heat Geek trained. Whilst there was problems last week, such as squeezing it into 4 days instead of five, sending one experienced plumber and two trainee's, not doing the power flush etc. SGS have certainly been on top of trying to get the issues sorted, so it's not a total disaster.

That's reading as if it's getting there Ronski. Glad to hear it. Try and make the HG trained guy your only point of contact so nothing gets lost in translation and you get the best result.

It will cost them more in expensive time to retro repair than it would to do it correctly at the first pass. I'm glad they've stepped up properly and hopefully you'll get the powerflush complete before the system runs.

[Stinsy]

The difference between a HeatGeek plumber and a normal one is that the normal ones don’t have a clue about heatloss, pipe sizes, or rad sizes (as astonishing and that sounds). The benefit of a HG plumber is primarily at system design stage.

It sounds very much as if your system suffers from poor execution (we haven’t gotten far enough to know if the design is any good). The fitters were too lazy/incompetent to bother doing the job correctly. I guess it was their first HP.

If the HP has been connected to a legacy CH system with no power flush, no magnetic filter, no strainers, it’ll be fooked. I’d be expecting a new HP to be supplied and the installation to be done again by someone competent. But I guess they’ll want to at least have a go at power flushing the HP, make sure they use chemicals recommended by the manufacturer.

[Yuff]

I’ve had my quote to replace our poorly installed system and including the grant it’s £4.5k.
I’m replacing two 8.5kw ashp for a 14kw ashp. All Mitsubishi.
I know stinsy says I should just get the current system made more efficient but I hope that it won’t cost too much more going down this route.
I have considered getting other quotes but even someone with as much knowledge as Ronski is having issues.
I have found it difficult to get knowledgeable engineers where I am and thus engineer came recommended direct from a contact at Mitsubishi.
He knew all about importing/exporting etc and gets the whole efficiency drive with panels and batteries so I’m going to stick with him.
It’s all booked in for June 2nd and I hope to sell the 2 heat pumps which are both under warranty.
He is also sorting out the thermostats in the house and getting it all to work together, taking out the boiler and re-jigging the buffer tank etc
His first comment was how poor the insulation for the pipework everywhere was and how inefficient the system would be…….