Calling any plumbing guru's out there!

shellyb73

Hello,

Can anyone help here,

The pressure on my boiler keeps dropping to 0.6 bar therefore cutting out the system, I keep having to top up the system, had Bord Gais out a couple of times, they cleaned the pressure valve I think it was called, made no difference, they also advised that I have the system cleaned out, just womdering am I missing something or can anyone back up what they say before I shell out for this to be done,

Many thanks in advance for your replies..

Pete67

I think you will find that there is a leak somewhere in the heating system, often that can be from the pressure relief valve which is probably why BG had a look at it. Examine as much of the pipework as you can get to - pay particular attention to the radiator valves (on both sides of each radiator) and see if you can identify any sign of leaks. Any leaks found will have to be rectified.

If you cannot find any leaks, another possibility is that the expansion vessel has failed - this means that there is nowhere for expanding water to go when it is heated, so the pressure increases to the point where the relief valve opens and releases some water to drop the pressure. Eventually the pressure will drop below 0.6 bar and the boiler will not start.

You really need to get the problem sorted, continual topping up of the heating system leads to increased corrosion in steel radiators, and the resultant sludge can cause all sorts of problems in the boiler. Cleaning the system will not help sort the leak, but may be necessary after the reason for the loss of water is fixed depending on the condition of the system.

(The same as wot Pete wrote, but posted in away to sound different:D)

Cleaning the safety valve isn't always enough, it should be replaced to take the valve out of the equation, a new valve will be OK on a dirty system as long as nobody opens the valve, the dirt in a system stops the valve from closing fully if it opens, the leak may not be due to the safety valve and would have to be confirmed, it maybe your heating pipe work, try placing a plastic bottle over the end of the pipe from your safety valve, which should be outside on the same wall your boiler is on, this will give you a visual indication of any water passing through the valve. One way for the plumber to nail where the leak is would be to pressurize your boiler then turn off the isolation valves under the boiler, leave it off for a couple of days, if the pressure has dropped you know it's the boiler, if the pressure is the same but drops after the isolation valves have opened again then you know it's your heating circuit that losing the pressure.There is no point cleaning a heating system that is losing pressure until you have identified the reason for the leak and fix it, things can get dirty again if you keep refreshing your heating system water.

shellyb73

Hi Guys, Thanks for that, had a look like you said at the pipework, nothing apparent as far as a leak goes, I think I will give a plumber a call in morning to get sorted,

Thanks again for the advice