Jump to content

Gas boilers - maintenance & repair


Recommended Posts

1 hour ago, BairneyStinson said:

 

I removed the boiler casing and there is black scorch marks around the inside.

I noticed a bit of that casing insulation has melted and it looks like 2 red wires (checked the manual and it says these are ignition electrode and flame sense electrode) that go into the top of the heat exchanger seem to be fouling against the inside of the casing because their plastic sheaf is protruding out too much which I guess might be causing the smell. These wires felt quite hot to touch  would that be normal?

Any ideas on the way forward?

^^^

5.gif

Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 hours ago, Flybhoy said:

 

This, by removing the outer casing you are technically breaching gas safety regulations as you are opening up access to the combustion chamber and air intake via the outer flue, can't stress strongly enough that you need to have someone with a Gas Safe Registration look at it now.

I went on Zen Archer suggestion that removing casing is fine within gas safe regs.

Boiler switched off and calling engineer in the morning.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

15 hours ago, BairneyStinson said:

I went on Zen Archer suggestion that removing casing is fine within gas safe regs.

Boiler switched off and calling engineer in the morning.

Was he a  chubby guy with a receding hairline, ponytail and a cr smith era celtic top?

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 07/02/2020 at 13:42, BairneyStinson said:

 

I removed the boiler casing and there is black scorch marks around the inside.

I noticed a bit of that casing insulation has melted and it looks like 2 red wires (checked the manual and it says these are ignition electrode and flame sense electrode) that go into the top of the heat exchanger seem to be fouling against the inside of the casing because their plastic sheaf is protruding out too much which I guess might be causing the smell. These wires felt quite hot to touch  would that be normal?

Any ideas on the way forward?

Strip off the plastic sheaf and you're good to go.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 07/02/2020 at 23:50, BairneyStinson said:

I went on Zen Archer suggestion that removing casing is fine within gas safe regs.

Boiler switched off and calling engineer in the morning.

How did this pan out?

What was the issue out of curiosity  was it a thermostat/overheating problem or a POC* spillage scenario?

 

 

*Products of combustion 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Flame sense electrode had broken off and was charred and replaced the ignition electrodes as they were overheating which was causing the internal casing foam to melt and thus the smell. Lose electrical connection to one of the ignition electrodes too so changed the wiring harness for that too.

How did this pan out?
What was the issue out of curiosity  was it a thermostat/overheating problem or a POC* spillage scenario?
 
 
*Products of combustion 
Link to comment
Share on other sites

51 minutes ago, BairneyStinson said:

Flame sense electrode had broken off and was charred and replaced the ignition electrodes as they were overheating which was causing the internal casing foam to melt and thus the smell. Lose electrical connection to one of the ignition electrodes too so changed the wiring harness for that too.

"One hundred and seventy two guineas, please..." 😎

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...

This seems as good a place as any to ask this question.  As I'm currently working from home and my office in the house also happens to be where the water tank and boiler is situated, I noticed this morning that when my wife was upstairs having a shower that a valve thing that comes from the Relief Valve on the hot water tank had water dripping through it.  It stopped once the hot water stopped being drawn upstairs.  The thing that's dripping looks like it is doing what it is designed to do.  My question is, is this something I should be worried about, or is it working properly and I've just never noticed it before?

 

20200421_125328.jpg

20200421_125334.jpg

Edited by KnightswoodBear
Link to comment
Share on other sites

24 minutes ago, KnightswoodBear said:

This seems as good a place as any to ask this question.  As I'm currently working from home and my office in the house also happens to be where the water tank and boiler is situated, I noticed this morning that when my wife was upstairs having a shower that a valve thing that comes from the Relief Valve on the hot water tank had water dripping through it.  It stopped once the hot water stopped being drawn upstairs.  The thing that's dripping looks like it is doing what it is designed to do.  My question is, is this something I should be worried about, or is it working properly and I've just never noticed it before?

 

20200421_125328.jpg

20200421_125334.jpg

This shouldn't be happening.

Where you see the water dripping is the tundish, the valve above is the Pressure Relief Valve and above that is the Pressure Reducing Valve, the valve on the tank looks like it should be the Thermal Relief valve.

Identifying which valve is passing should be simple, replicate the situation and check if the water dripping at the tundish is hot or cold, this will identify the 'faulty' valve, is that is passing , either or both will need replacing, but it needs to be established why.

If it's cold water passing it may actually be the Pressure relief valve that is faulty(*), if hot water passing the Thermal relief valve could be faulty or, the stored water temperature is too high. 

(*) Another cause could be and more likely is the (red) expansion vessel is goosed.

The bottom line is you need to employ someone who is qualified to work on unvented water systems to have the problem safely repaired.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, Zen Archer Esq. said:

This shouldn't be happening.

Where you see the water dripping is the tundish, the valve above is the Pressure Relief Valve and above that is the Pressure Reducing Valve, the valve on the tank looks like it should be the Thermal Relief valve.

Identifying which valve is passing should be simple, replicate the situation and check if the water dripping at the tundish is hot or cold, this will identify the 'faulty' valve, is that is passing , either or both will need replacing, but it needs to be established why.

If it's cold water passing it may actually be the Pressure relief valve that is faulty(*), if hot water passing the Thermal relief valve could be faulty or, the stored water temperature is too high. 

(*) Another cause could be and more likely is the (red) expansion vessel is goosed.

The bottom line is you need to employ someone who is qualified to work on unvented water systems to have the problem safely repaired.

I very scientifically put my finger under it when it was happening and the water was cold.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, KnightswoodBear said:

I very scientifically put my finger under it when it was happening and the water was cold.

There you go, that's it narrowed down a fair bit.

Quote

The bottom line is you need to employ someone who is qualified to work on unvented water systems to have the problem safely repaired.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just now, Zen Archer Esq. said:

There you go, that's it narrowed down a fair bit.

 

Cheers.  I'm going to try and replicate it later.  It was a fairly slow drip of water that dried up as soon as the hot water for the shower stopped being drawn upstairs.

Is this something that I need looked at as a matter of urgency, is my house going to blow up?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, KnightswoodBear said:

Is this something that I need looked at as a matter of urgency, is my house going to blow up?

I would get it looked at quite soon as it won't get any better.

Regarding the second part, look out for folk abandoning vans full of fertiliser in your driveway.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Unvented hot water cylinder, likely cause will be the water overheating (is it scalding hot?) if it gets too hot it opens the temperature relief valve and drips away via the tundish to take the excess heat from the cylinder or, it could be the pressure relief valve is passing or, as another poster commented an issue with the expansion vessel, in my experience with unvented hot water systems the first diagnosis I mentioned is the most common but, either way not something you should even consider having a tinker with yourself, get an expert in. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 21/04/2020 at 23:16, Flybhoy said:

Unvented hot water cylinder, likely cause will be the water overheating (is it scalding hot?) if it gets too hot it opens the temperature relief valve and drips away via the tundish to take the excess heat from the cylinder or, it could be the pressure relief valve is passing or, as another poster commented an issue with the expansion vessel,

Very good.

Alternatively, just regurgitate what I've said.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 21/04/2020 at 13:53, Zen Archer Esq. said:

I would get it looked at quite soon as it won't get any better.

Regarding the second part, look out for folk abandoning vans full of fertiliser in your driveway.

 

On 21/04/2020 at 23:16, Flybhoy said:

Unvented hot water cylinder, likely cause will be the water overheating (is it scalding hot?) if it gets too hot it opens the temperature relief valve and drips away via the tundish to take the excess heat from the cylinder or, it could be the pressure relief valve is passing or, as another poster commented an issue with the expansion vessel, in my experience with unvented hot water systems the first diagnosis I mentioned is the most common but, either way not something you should even consider having a tinker with yourself, get an expert in. 

I'll be fucked if I can replicate the problem.  It's bone dry now.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...