Alpha CD32C Boiler leaking from drain point

[RifRaf]

Hi all

New to the forum and having problems with my Alpha CD32C. On Sunday evening we had the heating on and I had to change the timer back an hour and noticed a puddle on the floor, cleared it up and checked all the pipework and no sign of a leak. Put a bucket underneath the boiler and later we heard it dripping and noticed the water was dripping from the drain point underneath the boiler. Only way I could stop the water dripping was to close the cold water inlet to the boiler and turn of the heating and go without hot water. Over the last few days I have been trying to find out what triggers it, so far I have tried:

Monday night
Heating on and no leak until we turned on the hot tap. Turned off the heating and closed the cold water inlet before going to bed.

Tuesday night
No heating and used the hot water boiler leaking. Closed the cold water inlet before going to bed.

Wednesday night
Only heating and not using any hot water, resulting in no leak. Left the heating on timer to come on the following morning and boiler started leaking during the night, fortunately all captured in the bucket.

EOn replaced the diverter valve about 4 weeks back, created a leak that they sent a plumber to fix, he then had to rebook a boiler engineer and he had to come on another 2 occasions to stop it leaking. After waiting 7 weeks for them to repair the original fault and my contract expiring I decided against renewing and sods law the boiler develops another fault and EOn say any repair is only covered by warranty if I'm a customer and I cannot prove the issue I now have was caused by any of their engineers.

Anyone provide any advice on possible issue ?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Alpha man]

Are you sure the leak is coming from the Drain Tap? and is it done up tight? Ive seen and worked on 1000's Alphas and that is the only part that doesnt leak!! LOL

More likely than not, it will be either a seal leaking from the Divertor valve/heat exchanger area or the auto air vent, which drip down to the Drain tap area

 

[RifRaf]

Thanks for the reply Alpha Man. Just tried to take a picture of the underneath of the boiler and it does look like it is coming from the drain point on first glance but it would appear it running along the outside of the drain point and then gathering around the bottom and then running off into the bucket. Going to be really annoyed if I have to pay for a repair that has been caused by the EOn engineer.

 

[RifRaf]

Engineer has just attended and confirmed the leak is coming from the recently fitted diverter valve by Eon engineer. As he hasn't got any (O rings ???) on his van he is reluctant to touch the diverter valve and said I should contact Eon and give them the oppurtunity to repair the fault or at least make a contribution to him repairing the fault as they caused it.

Spoke with Eon and their response was you are no longer a customer so there is no warranty on the repair and as far as we are concerned it was working when we left so now it's your problem. They don't seem to appreciate the boiler is only leaking because their engineer has cocked up when installing the part. The engineer who has just looked cannot understand how he has managed to get it wrong, just hoping now the fact he hasn't installed it correctly hasn't done any damage to the diverter valve or anything else.

 

[Alpha man]

Whoever you get to do the repair, and if the divertor valve comes out - make sure they replace ALL the o rings and seals!!

 

[RifRaf]

Will do Alpha man, he did say he would have to order the rings but said he had no idea on cost but would let me know on Monday.

Am I safe to assume that if the Eon engineer has jus not installed it correctly my new engineer will just be able to take it out and put it back in correctly ? Just hoping there is no damage to the part as I could really do without a really expensive repair at the minute, saying that cold showers aren't very appealing either, so either way I'm going to have to pay whatever it costs.

Thanks again for the reply.

 

[RifRaf]

Alphaman, wish you covered the West Midlands as I'm still having issues.

No longer have a leak, finally got E-On to admit that as they replaced a part and created a leak it WAS their responsibility to correct the fault, (customer or not). A different engineer, who appeared to know his stuff, took out the diverter valve and replaced the o-rings and a seal kit and then the valve. He then tested the boiler and ensured there were no leaks and that the boiler was working and I had hot water, I happily signed his forms after we had left it running for 30 minutes.

As it's been cold we've had the heating on each morning and night, which has worked fine and we had a constant supply of hot water, as it's been mild for a few days we have turned the heating off and then we lose hot water.

Heating on for 10-15 minutes before we want a hot shower, constant supply of hot water.

Heating on just before we want a shower results in hot water for about a minute and then cold for 2-3 minutes and then it starts to warm up again and then goes cold. I've watched the boiler and the orange light (c) illuminates and stays on for a minute and then goes off which results in us losing hot water.

No heating on, results in no hot water.

Frustrating as we've had nothing but problems with this boiler, so to start this year with a temperamental boiler and a washing machine that's decided it’s had enough is not the start to 2012 I was hoping for.

Any ideas ?

Thanks is advance.

 

[Alpha man]

It could be either the DHW flow switch or the diaphragm in the divertor valve, sometimes its best to replace both at the same time.

 

[RifRaf]

Thanks for the swift reponse Alphaman. I've priced up those parts, £44 plus vat and delivery.

Guess I shouldn't be messing so I'll make a call for an engineer to come out on Tuesday.

Thanks again.

 

[Alpha man]

No problem, and good luck!!