Boiler/piping woes
Discussion
andySC said:
Mopey said:
Okay photos.
This is the one on the right hand side.
You can see that it wants me to turn it clockwise to switch it on. When off the valve only goes anti clockwise. There is zero way of putting the plastic on and turning anti clockwise. Which is why I’m a bit stumped.
Photo of all the taps for wider view.
So is it safe to say half turn anti clockwise and the logic would be that is then off... as it’s been heating the house when there is water in the system the problem is the pressure dropping.
These valves turn 90 degrees. As they are shown in the pictures they’re in an open position (on). Turn them clockwise so that the black handle is “sideways” on as you look at it from the front. This is the closed position (off). Both valves will turn on/off in the same direction. This is the one on the right hand side.
You can see that it wants me to turn it clockwise to switch it on. When off the valve only goes anti clockwise. There is zero way of putting the plastic on and turning anti clockwise. Which is why I’m a bit stumped.
Photo of all the taps for wider view.
So is it safe to say half turn anti clockwise and the logic would be that is then off... as it’s been heating the house when there is water in the system the problem is the pressure dropping.
It looks like it should turn anti clockwise but it won’t go that way. However when the plastic is off the valve does turn the other way?
Edited by Mopey on Tuesday 23 February 14:17
andySC said:
Mopey said:
Okay photos.
This is the one on the right hand side.
You can see that it wants me to turn it clockwise to switch it on. When off the valve only goes anti clockwise. There is zero way of putting the plastic on and turning anti clockwise. Which is why I’m a bit stumped.
Photo of all the taps for wider view.
So is it safe to say half turn anti clockwise and the logic would be that is then off... as it’s been heating the house when there is water in the system the problem is the pressure dropping.
These valves turn 90 degrees. As they are shown in the pictures they’re in an open position (on). Turn them clockwise so that the black handle is “sideways” on as you look at it from the front. This is the closed position (off). Both valves will turn on/off in the same direction. This is the one on the right hand side.
You can see that it wants me to turn it clockwise to switch it on. When off the valve only goes anti clockwise. There is zero way of putting the plastic on and turning anti clockwise. Which is why I’m a bit stumped.
Photo of all the taps for wider view.
So is it safe to say half turn anti clockwise and the logic would be that is then off... as it’s been heating the house when there is water in the system the problem is the pressure dropping.
Turn the power off on the boiler overnight with the switch on the left side of the control panel.
Think I’ve confused myself.
The valve wants me to turn it to the right so anti clockwise.
Yet it won’t go. (Il try again with pliers)
Yet when you take the plastic off the valve itself will turn clockwise. Right right to left on the picture. Is that going to put it into an off position no matter which way it turns as long as it’s 90degrees.
The valve wants me to turn it to the right so anti clockwise.
Yet it won’t go. (Il try again with pliers)
Yet when you take the plastic off the valve itself will turn clockwise. Right right to left on the picture. Is that going to put it into an off position no matter which way it turns as long as it’s 90degrees.
Mopey said:
Think I’ve confused myself.
The valve wants me to turn it to the right so anti clockwise.
Yet it won’t go. (Il try again with pliers)
Yet when you take the plastic off the valve itself will turn clockwise. Right right to left on the picture. Is that going to put it into an off position no matter which way it turns as long as it’s 90degrees.
Yes. Often there's a ball valve inside so it will just rotate round & round without a handle so the handle tells you when it's open & when it's closed.The valve wants me to turn it to the right so anti clockwise.
Yet it won’t go. (Il try again with pliers)
Yet when you take the plastic off the valve itself will turn clockwise. Right right to left on the picture. Is that going to put it into an off position no matter which way it turns as long as it’s 90degrees.
Mopey said:
Think I’ve confused myself.
The valve wants me to turn it to the right so anti clockwise.
Yet it won’t go. (Il try again with pliers)
Yet when you take the plastic off the valve itself will turn clockwise. Right right to left on the picture. Is that going to put it into an off position no matter which way it turns as long as it’s 90degrees.
Anticlockwise indeed...yep, turn to right to close the valve. Ensure system is pressurised before you do it. 90 degrees in either orientation from where it is now will close the valve. Power off at the LHS selector & see where you are in the morning. The valve wants me to turn it to the right so anti clockwise.
Yet it won’t go. (Il try again with pliers)
Yet when you take the plastic off the valve itself will turn clockwise. Right right to left on the picture. Is that going to put it into an off position no matter which way it turns as long as it’s 90degrees.
andySC said:
Mopey said:
Think I’ve confused myself.
The valve wants me to turn it to the right so anti clockwise.
Yet it won’t go. (Il try again with pliers)
Yet when you take the plastic off the valve itself will turn clockwise. Right right to left on the picture. Is that going to put it into an off position no matter which way it turns as long as it’s 90degrees.
Anticlockwise indeed...yep, turn to right to close the valve. Ensure system is pressurised before you do it. 90 degrees in either orientation from where it is now will close the valve. Power off at the LHS selector & see where you are in the morning. The valve wants me to turn it to the right so anti clockwise.
Yet it won’t go. (Il try again with pliers)
Yet when you take the plastic off the valve itself will turn clockwise. Right right to left on the picture. Is that going to put it into an off position no matter which way it turns as long as it’s 90degrees.
Mopey said:
Thankyou both for your advice- I will report back in the morning! Not sure either Is a cheap solution but the problem being the boiler is less messy than tearing up floorboards.
Just to recap; if the pressure guage drops overnight - it's the boiler. If it drops when you open the valves in the morning - it's in the piping somewhere. Hopefully it's the boiler.Okay have closed the valves. Couldn’t turn it anti clockwise on the right hand valve so had to go clockwise 90 degrees. Have then reattached the plastic so I can see it’s closed.
Will keep an eye on the pressure even before bed as it’s been dropping fairly quickly.
Where will the water leak too? Through the condensate pipe? Will that happen even with the boiler off?
All switched off.
Will keep an eye on the pressure even before bed as it’s been dropping fairly quickly.
Where will the water leak too? Through the condensate pipe? Will that happen even with the boiler off?
All switched off.
Mopey said:
Okay have closed the valves. Couldn’t turn it anti clockwise on the right hand valve so had to go clockwise 90 degrees. Have then reattached the plastic so I can see it’s closed.
Will keep an eye on the pressure even before bed as it’s been dropping fairly quickly.
Where will the water leak too? Through the condensate pipe? Will that happen even with the boiler off?
All switched off.
If the heat exchanger has failed there will be water dripping constantly from the condensate pipe with the boiler off/isolated. Gauge will also drop. Baxi offer a fixed price repair service so if the heat-ex is the culprit this would be worth looking at. It’d be the cheapest option as the part would be more than Baxi would charge for the complete repair. Will keep an eye on the pressure even before bed as it’s been dropping fairly quickly.
Where will the water leak too? Through the condensate pipe? Will that happen even with the boiler off?
All switched off.
andySC said:
Mopey said:
Okay have closed the valves. Couldn’t turn it anti clockwise on the right hand valve so had to go clockwise 90 degrees. Have then reattached the plastic so I can see it’s closed.
Will keep an eye on the pressure even before bed as it’s been dropping fairly quickly.
Where will the water leak too? Through the condensate pipe? Will that happen even with the boiler off?
All switched off.
If the heat exchanger has failed there will be water dripping constantly from the condensate pipe with the boiler off/isolated. Gauge will also drop. Baxi offer a fixed price repair service so if the heat-ex is the culprit this would be worth looking at. It’d be the cheapest option as the part would be more than Baxi would charge for the complete repair. Will keep an eye on the pressure even before bed as it’s been dropping fairly quickly.
Where will the water leak too? Through the condensate pipe? Will that happen even with the boiler off?
All switched off.
We’ve got two of those damn Baxi Duo-Tecs! They’ve been nothing but trouble over the last 10 years.
Have you noticed what the pressure gauge is doing once you’ve topped it up and got it running again? I had it recently where I’d pressurise to 1.5 bar, turn it on and it would slowly increase pressure up to 3.0 bar and then s
t itself back down to 0.5 bar. The timeframe between failures got shorter and shorter over a couple of weeks, finally down to about half an hour! It was a while before I realised it was over pressuring.
Anyway, I was ready to call a plumber and get a new boiler but thought I’d try pumping up the red expansion vessel. Turns out it had no air in it and putting it back to 1 bar fixed the problem. It’s not depressurised now in two months.
Have you noticed what the pressure gauge is doing once you’ve topped it up and got it running again? I had it recently where I’d pressurise to 1.5 bar, turn it on and it would slowly increase pressure up to 3.0 bar and then s
t itself back down to 0.5 bar. The timeframe between failures got shorter and shorter over a couple of weeks, finally down to about half an hour! It was a while before I realised it was over pressuring. Anyway, I was ready to call a plumber and get a new boiler but thought I’d try pumping up the red expansion vessel. Turns out it had no air in it and putting it back to 1 bar fixed the problem. It’s not depressurised now in two months.
Morning, okay so the boiler had dropped from the top of 1 to about midway on 1 overnight. But no crashing right down as you would expect on previous days. Then this is what happened as I’m a bit confused as to what it means.
The valves were still closed and I turned the boiler on, as soon as I did this it dropped massively instantly before the return or the other were on. Didn’t drop to e119 but close to 0.
Then I turned the valves on re pressurised and within about a minute even on that the pressure had dropped mid way to 1. Here are some photos of the levels.
Photo 1- after all night being off. Some drop but not substantial.
Photo 2- with the boiler on but no valves changed.
So does this mean I 100% have a leak on the radiators and pipes somewhere?
Thanks
The valves were still closed and I turned the boiler on, as soon as I did this it dropped massively instantly before the return or the other were on. Didn’t drop to e119 but close to 0.
Then I turned the valves on re pressurised and within about a minute even on that the pressure had dropped mid way to 1. Here are some photos of the levels.
Photo 1- after all night being off. Some drop but not substantial.
Photo 2- with the boiler on but no valves changed.
So does this mean I 100% have a leak on the radiators and pipes somewhere?
Thanks
TCruise said:
Checked your Aldi bag?
Yeah it was wet so had some in there I think but not full of water or anything. So not sure it’s that. Edited to add. I took the bag off before firing the boiler on which may have been a mistake- as I don’t know where all that water dumped when it switched on. It was weird watching it suddenly drop as soon as it switched on.
Edited by Mopey on Wednesday 24th February 08:31
Edited by Mopey on Wednesday 24th February 11:22
Mopey said:
Totally stumped at the next step now. I have home insurance with trace and access- anyone done that kind of thing on insurance before.
It is a bit confusing but if the two valves were closed properly & working it does seem as if there is a problem with the boiler as it should have maintained pressure overnight. There is a bit more testing you can do but you'll have to drain down & it does rely on those two valves working properly to isolate the boiler. You can get pressure testing kits like this one from Amazon:https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B001XVETQ6
You say you have a radiator removed so drain the system & attach this to one of the radiator pipes & put a stop end on the other. Then you can pressurise the piping & radiator system using a footpump or similar & see if the pressure holds for a few hours. TBH it's the sort of thing a CH installer should be able to do but it's not too difficult if you can find a way of attaching the gauge.
Baxi do a repair service for £335 (or from that at least) so it might be one route to go.
Thanks pointy.
I think that’s probAbly beyond me.
If I try again overnight tonight and isolate the boiler and say keep the boiler on instead of turning off will that prove it’s the boiler?
I turned the valves albeit one went clockwise instead of anti clockwise.
It held relatively speaking but as soon as it went on it dropped but nothing was calling for heat or anything but from what was said earlier indicated it’s the pipes?
I think that’s probAbly beyond me.
If I try again overnight tonight and isolate the boiler and say keep the boiler on instead of turning off will that prove it’s the boiler?
I turned the valves albeit one went clockwise instead of anti clockwise.
It held relatively speaking but as soon as it went on it dropped but nothing was calling for heat or anything but from what was said earlier indicated it’s the pipes?
Mopey said:
Thanks pointy.
I think that’s probAbly beyond me.
If I try again overnight tonight and isolate the boiler and say keep the boiler on instead of turning off will that prove it’s the boiler?
I turned the valves albeit one went clockwise instead of anti clockwise.
It held relatively speaking but as soon as it went on it dropped but nothing was calling for heat or anything but from what was said earlier indicated it’s the pipes?
I thought you said the pressure dropped when the boiler was isolated?I think that’s probAbly beyond me.
If I try again overnight tonight and isolate the boiler and say keep the boiler on instead of turning off will that prove it’s the boiler?
I turned the valves albeit one went clockwise instead of anti clockwise.
It held relatively speaking but as soon as it went on it dropped but nothing was calling for heat or anything but from what was said earlier indicated it’s the pipes?
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