Ask a plumber/heating ‘engineer’ anything

[1TWS]

Saw the electrician one and I’m abit bored today so go ahead, other plumbers join in

[CharlesdeGaulle]

I have to top up the water in my heating system from time to time, so where has the water gone? No sign of any leaks anywhere.

[1TWS]

CharlesdeGaulle said:

I have to top up the water in my heating system from time to time, so where has the water gone? No sign of any leaks anywhere.

How often ? And what boiler is it?
It could be a faulty/undersized expansion vessel causing the pressure to rise and the pressure relief valve opening.
The boiler heat exchanger leaking and the water running down the condense.
A small leak which evaporates away and you not seeing it, look for staining one pipes/joints too.
Radiator valves are most common for leaks causing pressure loss, check trv valve bodies after taking the head off, Drayton trv4 valves leak a lot !
. Water doesn’t compress much, so depending on the size on the system to go from 0.1 bar to 1 bar doesn’t actually take much extra water.

Edited by 1TWS on Saturday 24th September 15:55

[CharlesdeGaulle]

Thanks for the answer. I do it every couple of months I guess. I'll go and have a look for staining. It'll be needed very soon, it's beginning to get chilly over here.

[Aprisa]

We have a non vented hot water system and gas fired central heating.
Recently despite both water and heating being set to Off in Nest the boiler fires up and the radiators get hot for a short period?
The times seem to be random.
Why would it be doing that?

[cavey76]

I have a 3k sq ft Victorian detached, 4 public rooms, a kitchen, 6 bedroom with a shower off the gas. We have a 35kw Combi today.

A couple of mates have similar sized houses, one is a builder and swears by the fact I am stretching a combi too much. He has just completely refitted his gaff and has went for what, I think, is a system boiler, tank looks about 5ft tall? The other mate has something similar which is supported by a solar system.

My combi is coming to end of life, are my mates wallopers(likely) or for a big ass old Victorian with 7 people in it should I look elsewhere for heating tech?

[cavey76]

Oh and to continue with the non serious theme of these threads:

Have you ever serviced any randy/lonely housewives?

[scoey1001]

How many pairs of knickers have you sniffed?

[Monkeylegend]

Do you know the secret masonic handshake and if so can you tell us what it is?

[Nickbrapp]

What does condensating mean on my boiler and why does that make it more efficient

What pressure should my boiler be at? Logic 35, 3 bed new build

[g7jtk]

Why is it that people think Plumbers get payed a lot?

[db10]

ive removed 2 radiators from our combi boiler system and have no heat to any of the radiators and when i try and bleed the upstairs rads i get no air and no water......... boiler pressure is 2.5 bar. do you reckon its an airlock and if so whats the best way of removing it given bleeding the rads is having no effect?

thanks

[g7jtk]

db10 said:

ive removed 2 radiators from our combi boiler system and have no heat to any of the radiators and when i try and bleed the upstairs rads i get no air and no water......... boiler pressure is 2.5 bar. do you reckon its an airlock and if so whats the best way of removing it given bleeding the rads is having no effect?

thanks

Have you opened the radiator valves?

[LocoBlade]

Nickbrapp said:

What does condensating mean on my boiler and why does that make it more efficient

What pressure should my boiler be at? Logic 35, 3 bed new build

Not a plumber but I'll chip in on this one
A link explaining condensing boiler efficiency
https://www.heatgeek.com/condensing-boilers-effici...
TLDR the boiler is able to recover heat from condensing water vapour in the exhaust gases, but that only happens when running below a certain flow/return temperature.

Most system/combi boilers need to be pressurised to about 1 - 1.5 bar when cold

[db10]

g7jtk said:

Have you opened the radiator valves?

Yes they were never closed. The system got drained completely when the rads were removed (by accident as the water pissed into the downstairs basement flat 😂)

[jason61c]

what's an engineer compared to a 'fitter' When it comes to plumbing?

[sociopath]

Why do plumbers have 13 grannies, permanently sick children, and unreliable vans that get broken into and break down all at the same time, so they can't manage to make appointments.

Oh and why is the supplier always out of stock of that generic item, and the replacement can only be picked up from a different supplier 50 miles away in a week?

[shambolic]

Aprisa said:

We have a non vented hot water system and gas fired central heating.
Recently despite both water and heating being set to Off in Nest the boiler fires up and the radiators get hot for a short period?
The times seem to be random.
Why would it be doing that?

Zone valve end switches stuck on?

[shambolic]

Nickbrapp said:

What does condensating mean on my boiler and why does that make it more efficient

What pressure should my boiler be at? Logic 35, 3 bed new build

Google it ffs but basically it uses the latent heat of condensation at 50-55 degrees to reheat the water in the heat exchanger. That’s why there is a drain pipe (condense) to remove the excess water.
Pressure should be 1 bar cold.

[shambolic]

jason61c said:

what's an engineer compared to a 'fitter' When it comes to plumbing?

No heating engineer or a plumber is an actual engineer unless they have a degree in engineering tbh.
I have mechanical engineering as I did it separate but I have a City and guilds in gas st about 33yrs ago then all the other st. But I never call myself a gas engineer.
I have an engineering degree but not in gas as that was my own thing.
Does that make sense?
I class myself as a boiler technician working for a manufacturer carrying out warranty repairs