air in system

[plumbinguser]

Hi

I have had my old system replaced with a condensing boiler so no more tanks in the loft.

When installed there was a lot of air in the system and the new radiators still need continual bleeding (old ones still seem ok). The installer said that this was due to the size of the system and eventually it would settle down as all air was removed.

Initially this seemed the case as the new downstairs radiator seemed to stop need bleeding but the top ones still required it. Now the bottom one needed bleeding again.

The system is over three weeks old and I would have thought that all air would be out now after having to bleed raditors every couple of days. I also cannot see why when I bleed them that they need bleeding a few days later.

Is the installer correct in that it is just air working out of the system (and if so why do the old radiators not suffer from it) or is there likely to be some other problem.

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

 

[newbie1]

firstly what boiler as many of them have auto air vents you leave open this then bleeds the air
secondly the fiter should be getting the majority of air out did he flush the system before or after fitting the boiler because he should have

 

[WHPES]

A condensing boiler does not necessarily mean no more tanks in the loft. Has the system defnintely be converted to a sealed system or is it a combi boiler?

If it is a sealed system there will be a filling loop which you will need to use to top up the pressure when you bleed radiators.

 

[plumbinguser]

firstly what boiler as many of them have auto air vents you leave open this then bleeds the air
secondly the fiter should be getting the majority of air out did he flush the system before or after fitting the boiler because he should have

I do not believe that there are any auto air vents - I will have to ask them about it. I believe all they did was bleed all the raditors but since then I have had to be continually bleed them every few days. Is it easy to have an auto air vent fitted as in forums seem to occur with something called and F&E and not sure whether I have one of these

A condensing boiler does not necessarily mean no more tanks in the loft. Has the system defnintely be converted to a sealed system or is it a combi boiler?

If it is a sealed system there will be a filling loop which you will need to use to top up the pressure when you bleed radiators.

It is now definitely a sealed system, the filling loop is on the Vaillant boiler. I keep the pressure approx 1 bar cold which rises to approx 1.5 bar when heating

 

[newbie1]

on the vaillant pump there is an auto air vent(like a bicycle valve)this needs to be left open to allow air to vent as it circulates(if its the ecotec 824/831 anyway)
you shouldnt still have excessive air in the system
1/did he flush the system
2/was he a regisstered gsr engineer or doing a on the side job as i am dubious about his credentials
very strange to still have excessive air after 3 weeks unless you have a leak somewhere

 

[plumbinguser]

It is an EcoTec Plus 637 that was fitted by a building firm (they have their own plumber and also use an external Gas Safe man for the gas side). The system also has solar (done by another company that specialises in Solar) and a big cylinder (the solar side has an air vent that has been left open and is due to be manually closed early Jnauary)

I am not sure that it has been flushed recently (I had it done 2-3 years ago) but they have fitted a Magna Clean unit.

Not sure where the air vent is in the boiler but after reading this and other forums mention was made of automatic air valves and them being fitted at the highest point (boiler is on ground floor).

I do not think there are any leaks (or none that I can see) but as I have had to be bleeding and refilling I have no real base line bar reading to be certain.

Would fitting an automatic air valve at/near the highest radiator be of any use and if so should it be on the leg nearest the boiler or furthest away?

Many thanks

 

[Bernie2]

Hi! pluminguser

Is the big cylinder a thermal store by any chance? If so what sort?

 

[plumbinguser]

Hi Bernie2

I am not sure

It is a big cylinder (6 foot high) and is meant to be thermally efficent. It says JCL EX305 on it.

There is a heat exchanger at the bottom for the solar side, one above it for the hot water heat exchanger.

 

[GSX600FMAN]

I have similar problem. My system is Rayotek solar tubes on the roof, a new (1 month) Baxi Solo HE (15) boiler. Since the fitting of the solar panels about a year ago I have had to bleed my highest radiator a little every month. But since the installation of the new boiler a month ago, I have to do it daily or else the radiators upstairs get cold at the tops. Today after the radiators were hot at say 0900 by 1000 they were freezing cold. The water has apparently disappeared from the rads and the boiler pipe work. No leaks spotted anywhere and there it mains pressure at the JCL thermal store (255 as opposed to matey above's 315 version) cylinder in the loft. I see no way how to fill the new boiler. I have the manual both paper and downloaded from Baxi. We have both hot and cold water flowing at normal mains pressure in this unvented system. With it being Sunday I've been unable to contact installer. Can anyone shed some light. Out of the 3 LED's on the boiler solid red, flashing green, flashing green (even after reset). This, according to the manual, indicates dry-fire = no water in my case. I keep looking at the ceiling expecting to see water seeping. By the way I had to have the installer back on Friday as the new sink drain was leaking as it all froze and ice backed up to U bend, condensate drains intop this pipe too. Just in case that's relevant

 

[GSX600FMAN]

Well a plumber came this afternoon and got it all going again. But..... unfortunately I was out so I don't know what he or they did. But there was a lot of water by the F&E vessel and it's pressure is 1½ bar as opposed to 0 bar previously. I need to find out why or how the vessel is emptied of water or air pressure for the future. I was left no manual for this after installation. Is it the sort of device that need maintenance? As it's been installed less than a year. Hopefully now the radiators will not need bleeding all the time. They seem very much hotter now too, but that could be because we were so cold yesterday and today, to about 1500.