Any heating engineers on here? EDIT: SORTED

[Graham Orm]

We have a Worcester Bosch boiler which was losing pressure last winter to the point where we would have to top it up once a week. We have just fired it up again and from full it takes less than an hour for the pressure to drop to zero. We've done this 3 times and I've no idea where the water is going. There are no leaks evident the vents which are visible on the outside and have nothing coming from them. I recently removed an old rad and replaced it with two smaller ones. None of my plumbing is leaking and the system works fine including the 2 new rads.

Gimme a clue??? :?

 

[kostello]

My boiler would lose pressure all the time with no apparent leaks anywhere I'm the system.....

Turns out there was a tiny leak in the heat exchanger and the water was dribbling away down the condensate drain.............

I finally tracked the leak down to the boiler by fitting isolating valves to the flow and return, turning them off one night and topping up the pressure.

The leak was so tiny that we only saw if when the coil was out and pressure tested with air in a bucket of water........


Of course your issue maybe nothing to do with this!!..........

If you have a hot water tank there may be a tiny hole in the coil?

 

[Graham Orm]

No hot tank, it's a combi. There's something awry in the boiler itself, but the water has to go somewhere and nothing is showing from the condensate drain or the vent pipe....very queer

 

[Graham Orm]

Found it! I left the water feed on so that the pressure went right up to the red line to see if any water showed and a lovely little fountain appeared behind the sofa. We have solid floors and the pipes are buried at this point so the water must have been escaping below the slab. On with that in the morning! Happy Ormy

 

[kostello]

Oh joy..........


Copper and cement don't mix.

The pipes probably aren't wrapped under the floor.....

 

[joethedrummer]

Hi Grayorm,,too right copper and concrete don"t mix,,I buried my central heating pipes under the floor "cos I did not want exposed pipework and our plumber told me in no uncertain terms to lag the pipes with a waxy, sticky, slimy band of stuff which I cannot remember the name of before I back filled the trenches I had buried the pipes in.
It is now possibly too late to give this advice to you but let others be warned,,,,

,,,,joe,,,,

 

[mjcann]

The sticky tape is called denso.

Martin

 

[joethedrummer]

The sticky tape is called denso.

Martin

Martin,,,,you got it right!!!,,,,and oh boy is it sticky!!!

,,,,joe,,,

 

[Graham Orm]

I carry Denso tape on my van, great stuff for all sorts. I'll probably find zero protection on the pipes in the morning...the question then is whether to dig more up and replace or wait for the next burst. The water has been escaping into the foundations for a year that I am aware of and probably prior to that, so not a good scenario.

 

[Baldhead]

I have heard stories of plumbers rapping denzo tape around copper pipe where it enters and exits concrete floors but nothing on the pipe that is actually under the concrete!

BH

 

[MIGNAL]

Denso tape! Remember it well. Whoever invented it (probably Mr. Denso) was obviously short of a wife or girlfriend!

 

[MIGNAL]

I carry Denso tape on my van, great stuff for all sorts. I'll probably find zero protection on the pipes in the morning...the question then is whether to dig more up and replace or wait for the next burst. The water has been escaping into the foundations for a year that I am aware of and probably prior to that, so not a good scenario.

You've probably diluted the system water so much that it needs the inhibitor putting back in - if you haven't done so already.

 

[Graham Orm]

I carry Denso tape on my van, great stuff for all sorts. I'll probably find zero protection on the pipes in the morning...the question then is whether to dig more up and replace or wait for the next burst. The water has been escaping into the foundations for a year that I am aware of and probably prior to that, so not a good scenario.

You've probably diluted the system water so much that it needs the inhibitor putting back in - if you haven't done so already.

How do you put into a closed system? Leak now fixed, carpet gripper nail that had been there since before we moved in nearly 2 years ago.

 

[RogerS]

I carry Denso tape on my van, great stuff for all sorts. I'll probably find zero protection on the pipes in the morning...the question then is whether to dig more up and replace or wait for the next burst. The water has been escaping into the foundations for a year that I am aware of and probably prior to that, so not a good scenario.

You've probably diluted the system water so much that it needs the inhibitor putting back in - if you haven't done so already.

How do you put into a closed system? Leak now fixed, carpet gripper nail that had been there since before we moved in nearly 2 years ago.

I think you remove a bleed valve from a radiator and so it that way but I'm no expert.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Is there any way of bypassing the piece under the floor? That would be your best option.

 

[Graham Orm]

Is there any way of bypassing the piece under the floor? That would be your best option.

Thanks Phil, I've sorted it. It was a nail from the carpet gripper. Been there some time. Cut it out and fitted a repair fitting. Pressure now constant. Happy days.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Yes, but I was just thinking that if the floor had been wet for a time , there might be corrosion somewhere else which could come back to bite you.

 

[Graham Orm]

Its a solid floor so the water has been getting away under the slab. Not practical to start diverting the pipes. The pressure has stayed up since I did the repair so it doesn't look like there's any more leaks. the pipe was in good nick and buried in the screed beneath the asphalt not in concrete so corrosion shouldn't be a worry.
Thanks Phil for your ideas.