Call-out · S-Plan · Y-Plan · Combi
Everything dead: no heating, no hot water, the controls dark
“Nothing works. No heating, no hot water, and the controls are dead.”
In short
The whole system is dead - no supply is reaching the controls. Confirm it for yourself, then follow the demand with the meter: the fault lies between the last point with 230 V and the first without.
What the customer says
- “Nothing works. No heating, no hot water, and the controls are dead.”
- “The whole lot's dead - the timer's not even lit.”
The customer’s words are where you start, not what you trust. Confirm the complaint for yourself before you pick up the meter: set one demand at a time and watch what each part does.
What it already proves
Nothing at all works, so start at the very beginning: the supply, then the supply INTO the controls. Do not look at stats or valves yet.
The method
If this is your home: this page is written for heating engineers. Mains wiring and gas appliances are not DIY jobs; call a Gas Safe registered engineer. If you smell gas, leave the building and call the National Gas Emergency Service on 0800 111 999.
In the simulator the meter is safe. On site: isolate and prove dead before you touch a terminal, and make live tests only if you are trained and equipped for them. The steps below are the method as practised in the simulator, in its own words, for competent persons and for learners under the supervision of one.
- 01
CONFIRM the complaint yourself: spur ON, run the simulation. Ask for one thing at a time: the heating, then the hot water if it has its own control. Watch what each part does.
- 02
Start at the supply: is the fused spur ON? Meter L-N on its outgoing terminals.
- 03
Then L-N where the supply lands, and L-N on the programmer's own backplate.
- 04
No output from a switched-on spur: on site, meter its INCOMING side first - no supply in is not the fuse - then test the fuse itself, isolated.
- 05
The fault lies between the LAST point with 230 V and the FIRST without.
- 06
ISOLATE before you touch anything: the fused spur OFF, locked off, proved dead with a proved tester. Then stop the simulation: the simulator only erases when stopped. Continuity only on a dead circuit.
- 07
Click Report Fault, then the wire or part you have PROVEN faulty.
Where to probe
- The black probe stays on a neutral for the whole trace. The red probe follows the live from point to point, in the order the demand travels.
- Between two points, one with 230 V and the next without, there is only a wire, a screw or a part.
- Prove a part with two readings before you condemn it. A motor needs a live and a neutral: measure across it, to its own neutral.
- Continuity and resistance only on a circuit that is isolated and proved dead.
Follow the path on the diagram
The parts on the path, and where to practise
Parts on the path
Practise it
- Fault Vault jobs: S-Plan
Everything dead
- Fault Vault jobs: Y-Plan
Everything dead
- Random Fault
One hidden fault at a time, Easy, Medium or Hard
Other call-outs
- No heating
“Hot water's fine but the radiators are stone cold, whatever I do with the thermostat.”
- No hot water
“Heating's lovely and warm but there's no hot water - the cylinder's cold.”
- Boiler not firing
“The programmer's on and I can hear things whirring, but the boiler never fires - no heating and no hot water.”
- Radiators hot with everything off
“The radiators get warm when nothing's asking for heat - it's all off at the timer and they're still hot.”
Back to every call-out.
Practise it in the simulator.
Runs in the browser on a laptop or desktop. Cancel any time.