Heating system losing water

Maglight

I put in a new heating system last year. It's been losing water and today stopped working. The plumber said that's quite normal with new systems and I just need to top it up whenever the water level drops. In addition, the overflow pipe drips water daily, although he says this has nothing to do with the heating and is probably a problem with the overflow tank. Also, there are damp patches on the upstairs and downstairs ceiling. His explanation for this is a leaking shower tray and possibly a problem with the flashing on the roof. He says that's it's a pressurised system and if there was a leak the water would be gushing out.

It all sounds plausible. But on the basis that he put the system in, can I believe him?

ART6

The first rule of diagnostics is to ask who did what last? While it is of course possible, it's a bit of a coincidence that your shower tray and your roof flashing both decided to leak at the same time. Then, while I don't pretend to be an expert on pressurised heating systems, I do know quite a lot about pressurised pipework. It is entirely possible for a very high pressure pipework (hundreds of bar) to develop drips. It's the size of the hole that matters, not the pressure.

Then, I find it hard to believe that the system needs "topping up" regularly for a year. I thought modern pressurised systems topped themselves up. In summary, and without wishing to blame your contractor for anything, it sounds to me as if the system has leaks, and is also overflowing to the header tank for some reason, otherwise it wouldn't be spilling water out of the tank. Given that, at the moment the system will be getting regular refills of oxygenated water, and that will lead to radiator corrosion and severe leaks quite quickly. One way around this might be to tell the plumber (in writing) that you are unhappy, and that you intend to call in an independant to deal with the problem. If that independand finds that the original installation was faulty, you will send him the bill:mad:

Pressurised heating systems with auto fillers are a very backward way of filling a heating system and shouldn't be fitted, all systems will lose pressure over a year and it's not unusual to top up system pressure a couple of times a year, this isn't the same as having to refill every month or two, the best thing to do is keep a top up diary if it becomes a problem because this will give the best indication of the size of a leak, the heating circuit should have no impact on the tank in the loft, Gary.

Avns1s

gary71 wrote: »

Pressurised heating systems with auto fillers are a very backward way of filling a heating system and shouldn't be fitted, all

What's the non awkward way or did you intend to say "Pressurised heating systems without auto fillers "

Nope, auto fillers should not be fitted to pressurised heating systems, they aren't permitted by water regs or boiler manufactures instructions and tend only to fitted to hide a leak from a heating system, if you have gone to the trouble to have your heating system flushed and a inhibitor added to prevent sludge from accruing, you could lose all the inhibitor to a leak and have it diluted so it cannot do it's job, also if you have a auto filler fitted it's harder to spot when someone attach's a washing machine to a heating circuit. The right way is to have a filling loop fitted under the boiler or near a gauge so you can top up the system water and watch the gauge at the same time and then remove the flexible connector asper water regs(most leave flex in place), Gary.