Leaky Boiler..

JonathanAnon

In addition to my leaky pipe which I fixed with help from here , post freeze, it seems there is a leak in my boiler.

I noticed a spot on the carpet which was getting wetter and wetter, pulled up the carpet.. couldnt find anything. Open open the door where the boiler tank is and there are two drips coming from it.. I have a large pot underneath it that fills up every twelve hours or so....

How can I a) find exactly on the boiler where the leak is and b) fix it?

slavetothegrind

What sort of boiler?
Can you post picture?

JonathanAnon

Yep was just in the process of doing it.. I've moved to GIMP for editing, and I'm so runing at about 10% of normal image editing speed..

C Eng

Are the drips where the water is coming out of the tank or is that its running down the side from somewhere higher up

slavetothegrind

Can you check the pipe connections on the tank, outlet at very top, coil inlet and outlet on the side and water inlet at bottom for leaks, the immersion element flange on to also.

That bad you should shut off the water in and drain it down if it,s a seam on the tank, drain cock will be at the water inlet on the bottem

JonathanAnon

C Eng wrote: »

Are the drips where the water is coming out of the tank or is that its running down the side from somewhere higher up

That's my first problem, I have looked around the tank and I cant find where the actual leak is.. it could be at the bottom, but that seems a bit too easy.. is there any method for identifying where the leak is. ?

slavetothegrind

That photo could be misleading me but it does look like there is a crack on the welded seam in the photo?

Use bog roll to dry off and check for leaks

Buford T Justice

I think a crack in the seam would have a considerably larger leak than that tho.

Stove Fan

Are you sure it definately a leak and not condensation? The cylinder is uninsulated and may be in a cold cupboard. Does all of the cylinder feel wet/sweaty everywhere or is it just where the drips are? Thoroughly dry the cylinder and then go back and check. If it only feels wet in one area it looks like a leak:(. Stove Fan:)

Buford T Justice

That timber is saturated. It would take a considerable amount of condensation for that to be the cause, so I'd doubt it.

Sparkpea

tanks leak at the bottom all the time around the dome, a pic from underneath would actually be handy. if theres green about it then its likely leaking (dont rub the green u might make it worse)

JonathanAnon

okay, I got a 27 litre plastic containers to catch the water... I can see where one of the leaks is coming from.. but as it's fixed in position, it's hard to get in at the other ones.. I

JonathanAnon

Hi lads, still working on this.. I got a torch and I've worked out there are three separate leaks on it..



If I turn the red valve on the top left, this should cut off the water to the boiler, right? When I get all the water out of it.. is there any sealer that I can use to fill the gaps.. (like a no more gaps for boilers )

thanks again to all who help..

slavetothegrind

no sealer, new tank for you.
at least the new one will be fully insulated and the plumber can sort out the less than ideal plumbing in that picture,
it will save you money in the long run.
Post up where you are ( roughly, not exactly!;)) and you may get offers by pm if some of our regulars are near you.

yeah top left valve isolates tank from feed from what i can tell.

Buford T Justice

Check the end of that pipe on the left and see if there's a draincock at the bottom of it to drain the tank easier.

JonathanAnon

okay, I've shut the valve off, and letting the rest of the water come out through the cracks.. I appreciate what you are saying about the draincock, but I'm just gonna let it come out naturally rather than go messing with some of the other bits...

JonathanAnon

okay lads, I've taken a better picture of it and marked the bits on it.. At this stage I just need to shut off the water to the boiler without affecting anything else.. if this is possible



I have shut off the valve at A but the water is still coming in to the boiler and leaking out ... (from where I collect it and use it) .. can anybody tell me which of the four pipes carry water TO the boiler?

Any further help much appreciated..

Sparkpea

a) is the shut off valve to stop water going into the tank at #1
#2 is the outlet feeding bath, showers, taps etc. for hot water
#3 is the flow pipe from the heating to the top of the coil
#4 is the return pipe for the heating to the bottom of the coil
b) is a balancing valve and under normal circumstances should be set and not touched.

turn off (A) clockwise as tight as you can, then open the hot tap in bath and kitchen sink etc. the water should stop. If it doesn't then this valve isn't holding correctly. Once this valve is off the tank is still full of water from pipe 2 to pipe 1 which is why it will still drip for a long time but you shouldn't be getting water from your tank.

if you are turning (A) off for a long period I would then also advise turning (B) off clockwise also. This stops the heating boiling what water is left in the tank and basically wasting energy/oil/gas.

Stove Fan

Don't forget if you are refitting a new cylinder yourself as it's an indirect cylinder with coil inside for heating with boiler you will also need to drain the heating system water so as to undue the connections. There should be a drain off valve near a rad(s) If you just turn off the top gatevalve on the top of the heating coil you would flood the house with water coming from the return pipe.

You will need to drain the cylinder and heating system water and then remove cylinder remake all cylinder connections and replumb and fill and vent rads.

If not confident I would call a plumber.

Good luck stove Fan.

JonathanAnon

Not having much joy with this... The valve at A (in the picture above) is shown below ... what way should I be turning it to shut to stop the flow of water in..

heinbloed

You have no chance there.

The plastic compression fitting at the copper pipe will never seal.

Hard to believe what cowboys get away with.

The entire installation as shown on the pictures is shoddy to it's extreme.

Buford T Justice

Yeah, the compression fittings on that gate valve should be replaced, if not the whole thing.

Anyway op, to answer you're question, clockwise as you look at the tap, that'll turn it off. (Or it should, provided it hasn't failed internally.)

JonathanAnon

k thanks guys..

Yeah the job would have been done by the landlord himself.. He used to be a fitter.. There's a lot of what I come to affectionately call "bespoke" fittings in different parts of the house..

Gonna put this valve as far clockwise as it will go and then take it from there.

jj build

The cylinder base supports could be a lot better its not bearing the cylinder fully, cant of help the life of the cylinder to much.

JonathanAnon

Okay tightened Valve A as tight as I possibly could, and the leaking has been reduced by about 80% (by my pretty ad hoc judging of how many buckets I'm taking out a day)... I also noticed, like was said above, when I turn valve A the taps in the bathroom stop working (not a problem for me, tbh)..

So I'm making progress.. But I take it that if 20% of the supply is still coming through, then valve A is not holding properly ... would that be right?.. A few of you suggested above that it wasnt a good connection..

Buford T Justice

Not necessarily no. If the water to the taps has stopped flowing then its a safe to assume that the flow has stopped.

Not likely to stop the dripping though, as the cylinder is still full of water, and so will keep dripping until its empty.

Is there a draincock at the bottom of pipe A to drain off all the water?

JonathanAnon

Just to update again.. Having shut off the valve a while ago, the water worked it's way out of the tank eventually... and I'm now leak free... Thanks to everybody here.. ..

The people on the DIY forum...

"A great bunch of lads"

Buford T Justice

Did you actually replace the cylinder, or just turn the water off and leave it off?

JonathanAnon

I left it off Fingers.. I wont be replacing it as I'm only using the place for work really.. I dont stay here that often.. The main thing was just to stop it flooding the place.. And that's done..