Prize Plumb

[ALR]

Hi folks,

Any advice on this? Had to replace immersion element upstairs on my cylinder. Its a gas boiler old style for central heating with header tank and expansion tank in loft. The cylinder has a coil running through it to heat the water when the immersion is not in use. I was going to do it myself but got the "professionals in" in case I cracked the cylinder and flooded it as I know some of the shut offs didn't close properly. I advised them to put a bung in the feed from header tank. One of them split the weld when removing element. Ok- this happens. He then left and sais it was ok to run the heating. He left the hold open and capped off the feed in.He said he was coming back Monday to finish off. Fair enough?

However on Monday two hours before he comes round I get leaking through my ceiling downstairs- the in laws are running about with buckets when I get a call at work?

He sais there must have been a pin hole in the heating element running through the coil and so not his fault. I reckon that somehow some water fed back up into the open cylinder and so his fault. Does anyone know if this can happen. If it had come from heating it would have been as black as all of the gunk I get when I drain it down. It was clear water. Any ideas people? You lot seem to know a lot.

Cheers.

[g7jtk]

ALR said:

Hi folks,

Any advice on this? Had to replace immersion element upstairs on my cylinder. Its a gas boiler old style for central heating with header tank and expansion tank in loft. The cylinder has a coil running through it to heat the water when the immersion is not in use. I was going to do it myself but got the "professionals in" in case I cracked the cylinder and flooded it as I know some of the shut offs didn't close properly. I advised them to put a bung in the feed from header tank. One of them split the weld when removing element. Ok- this happens. He then left and sais it was ok to run the heating. He left the hold open and capped off the feed in.He said he was coming back Monday to finish off. Fair enough?

However on Monday two hours before he comes round I get leaking through my ceiling downstairs- the in laws are running about with buckets when I get a call at work?

He sais there must have been a pin hole in the heating element running through the coil and so not his fault. I reckon that somehow some water fed back up into the open cylinder and so his fault. Does anyone know if this can happen. If it had come from heating it would have been as black as all of the gunk I get when I drain it down. It was clear water. Any ideas people? You lot seem to know a lot.

Cheers.

It can happen but you can prove it by tieing up the float on the ball tap on the domestic tank and draining the rest of the water from that tank. You could go as far as to drain the cylinder and remove the immersion heater to look inside at the coil.

The heating header tank would also continue to run in through its ball tap.

[LookAtMyCat]

Have you got a mixer tap/shower anywhere in the house? Likely the tap back-fed the cold into the hot pipe and eventually it filled up into the cylinder.

I'd never leave an open hot anywhere for this reason.