Old Remeha Calenta 40L - no heating

Hello and apologies for writing in English, my Dutch is too far from enough for describing the situation.

I have a supposedly very old Calenta 40L (CW6) Combi Comfort Systeem met iSense. Apart from having to add some water since August when I moved in, there had been no issue until yesterday night, when my shower suddenly became cold (heating was off by then as I set it to lower values for the night). Unplugging the boiler didn’t help, although heating seemed to work. In the morning it was vice versa – hot water was okay, but heating wasn’t working for about an hour, then everything was normal – both heating and hot water were okay for some 4-5 hours. Then we noticed that the radiators were cold, and the room temperature was 1 degree lower than it was supposed to be.

I’ve spent most of my Saturday trying to understand what’s wrong and here’s what I noticed. When the boiler is switched off and back on, the outgoing pipe becomes very-very hot very quickly, even the radiator incoming pipes feel very warm, but it lasts for some 20-30 seconds and then everything gets cold again. During startup (which is very long, feels like 1,5-2 minutes) I can hear the pump turn on (and a “play” icon appears on the display) for 2-3 seconds and then off (“play” icon disappears), there are maybe 10 or more pump starts and stops like these before the display changes from “17 1,9 bar” to normal.

The info mode shows St:8 Su:0, which seems to translate to Regelstop, Wacht op branderstart (I also saw St:5 Su:41 once, which I believe is Branderstop, Naventileren). There’s also something I don’t quite understand (but I know almost nothing on the subject): t1 and t2 are always the same around 78 degrees, while from reading the manual I got the impression t1 is for the water going from the boiler (Aanvoertemperatuur) and t2 is for what’s being returned (Retourtemperatuur).

I’ve read some posts on this forum, and could blame the 3-way valve, but the fact that at startup it does get hot very quickly and the heat does reach radiators, plus this t1=t2 status make me doubt. I did add some water to the system (it had been 1,6 bar with the pump off and 1,3 with the pump on, now it’s 1,9 and 1,6 respectively) and bleed 3 of the radiators that were the easiest to get access to.

I’d appreciate any idea on what it can be, what else I can try myself and how much a repair should cost, because I literally have no idea. If it's indeed the 3-way valve, is there a way to at least check or perhaps even replace it myself?

There’s also a maintenance sticker from April, would you recommend contacting this company or doesn’t it matter at all (because according to their website they are in Schiedam, and I’m in Scheveningen)?

Thanks in advance,
George
 
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  • An update (that doesn't make it less strange for me): I disabled hot water (decreasing the tap temperature until it's "Off"), and heating started immediately. 4x burners, t1 growing fast, t2 growing slower, all radiators are warm (will need to pay attention to 1-2 that get warmer slower).

    After it reached the set temperature, I turned the hot water back on, the boiler switched on for some time (warming the water in the tank supposedly?) and went to St:8 Su:0 again.
     
    I don't know, time wil tell
    Time was quick. Not getting hot water anymore, although the boiler fires up every couple of minutes, as if trying to do something, even with the heating is set to off, st:8 su:0 changes to st:4 su:37 and st:5 su:41, but after some 10-20 seconds goes back to st:8 su:0 (t3 is 14⁰, not sure if it matters).

    Is the pump this one on the picture? Any chance I can change it myself? Or any advice on looking for a reliable company to do the work in Den Haag?

    Thanks



    PXL_20241211_211536500.jpg
     
    And is there a way to make sure the pump is dead? Ideally before removing it, but at least afterwards. I don't think it could get stuck if it just happened in the middle of taking a shower, so there's no use in removing the central cover and trying to rotate it with a screwdriver, is there? Check the resistance with a multimeter when disconnected? Supplying 220v directly perhaps, or is it not that straightforward?
     
    De messing schroef aan de voorzijde van de onderste pomp verwijderen, let op er kan water spuiten en je electronia zit er vlak onder. Een schroevendraaier in de pomp as steken, als de schroevendraaier niet afgestoten wordt, draait de pomp niet. Dit zie je heel snel
     
    De messing schroef aan de voorzijde van de onderste pomp verwijderen, let op er kan water spuiten en je electronia zit er vlak onder. Een schroevendraaier in de pomp as steken, als de schroevendraaier niet afgestoten wordt, draait de pomp niet. Dit zie je heel snel
    I can rotate it freely. At first it felt like the force to rotate it was not constant (I had the impression that it went a bit harder at times), but it might be just the wrong screwdriver size, I don't know. Now it seems to rotate well, definitely not stuck.

    Can you please advise on what else I can check?

    Thanks!
     
    I've checked the resistance on the two upper pins of the pump (with the plug disconnected) and it's 16,93 kΩ, but I can't find what it should be (at least it's not infinite). Or is it the lower right pin that matters here?

    Actually, I'm now getting the hot water right after turning the boiler on. I'll wait and see if both heating and water work in parallel, but there's a chance that the pump was stuck
     
    Laatst bewerkt:
    Als de pomp gewoon draait heb je een ander flow probleem. Is op deze manier moeilijk in te schatten wat de oorzaak is.
     
    Als de pomp gewoon draait heb je een ander flow probleem. Is op deze manier moeilijk in te schatten wat de oorzaak is.
    Before opening the motor plug and rotating it with a screwdriver, I wasn't getting hot water. After doing this, I've assembled it and plugged it, and got hot water within 10 seconds. And so far, I seem to be getting both hot water and heating in parallel without having to change boiler settings. Not sure how long it will last, but seems like the pump motor was stuck like you anticipated, but not stuck forever.

    Thanks a lot for your help! Although, I'm afraid, if (when?) it stops again, I'll come back to this post:)
     
    Als de pomp gewoon draait heb je een ander flow probleem. Is op deze manier moeilijk in te schatten wat de oorzaak is.
    Aaand we are back to where we started: at a certain point heating stops working, iSense shows the current temperature that's lower than the target, a radiator icon and no flame icon, radiators aren't hot, SU:0 changing to 37, 41 and then back to 0 once every couple of minutes. t1 = t2 = 77, t3 is currently 32, SP = 65, FL is 0 but when SU changes to non-zero, FL changes to 7-8 . Setting tap water temperature to OFF results in heating starting to work.

    Is there a way to check that the drinking water pump is working without switching the boiler off? This morning I switched it off, shut the water supply off, opened both cold and hot water taps to let the water run - in order to not get water out of the plug. But it may well be that the pump started working not because I rotated it manually, but because the boiler was switched off (or even the water went away). Or perhaps it has stopped now because the water was shut off again in the evening.

    Is it safe to open the middle plug on the pump when the boiler is on or are there other ways to understand it's running? I found a new pump for 100 Eur, supposedly with 1 year warranty, but it would be frustrating if I buy and install it, and nothing changes. Or is it the only option?
     
    Laatst bewerkt:
    Je kan het ook doen net de waterdruk erop, alleen wel even wat doeken in de buurt om te zorgen dat de elektronica niet nat wordt. In het aansluitstukje net boven de pomp zit een keerklep mogelijk blijft deze soms hangen.
     
    Je kan het ook doen net de waterdruk erop, alleen wel even wat doeken in de buurt om te zorgen dat de elektronica niet nat wordt. In het aansluitstukje net boven de pomp zit een keerklep mogelijk blijft deze soms hangen.
    Thanks. Got a small stream of water in my face, but the rotor is rotating in the same conditions: radiator icon without flame icon on iSense, temperature is lower than set on iSense. And now the water isn't hot at all, while yesterday when it started working - it was steaming hot 20 seconds after I switched the bolier back on.

    Does this rule the pump out? Are there any other possible causes that can result in such behaviour and go away for a few hours and then come back?
     
    Waarschijnlijk wel. Controleer de keerklep in bovenste aansluitstuk van de pomp, mogelijk blijft deze van tijd tot tijd hangen. Moet je wel de pomp voor verwijderen, als je dit nog nooit gedaan hebt is dit wel een link klusje, er kan 40 liter heet water uit de boiler stromen als hij lucht pakt. Beter aan een installateur over laten.
     

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