Can copper piping be used for condensate drain pipe from combi boiler

[jonbo300]

Hi all,

This is first post and I'm afraid I'm not very technically minded.

I had a new Worcester Bosch 38CDI natural gas combi boiler installed about 5 months ago. Everything was fine until a week ago when the boiler started shutting down about 3 or 4 times a day, but would restart when the reset button pressed. The boiler was showing an error code EA. The installer believed that the plastic condensate drain pipe was probably bending slightly and trapping water somewhere in the piping and causing the boiler to shut down. He cleared any water from this pipe but the boiler would still shut down and show the same error code. The installer then replaced the pipe with copper piping thinking this should be more rigid with no water being trapped, but still the boiler was shutting down. The installer then thought the problem must be an electronic problem within the boiler itself and to contact Worcester Bosch. I did this and their engineer confirmed that it was an electronic problem with the boiler. However, the engineer from the manufacturer said that copper piping should not be used for the condensate drain pipe. Just wondering if anyone could perhaps explain a bit more and what I should now do regarding the copper piping.

Appreciate any comments. Thanks

 

[Alpha man]

No it can't.

 

[village idiot]

No chance.

Call him back and ask him to pls replace the copper with the right pipe.

 

[lame plumber]

replace it as it wont remain piping for very long!

 

[jonbo300]

Hi Alpha man,

Thanks for the quick reply. Just wondering what to do now. Will the replacement copper piping now have to be replaced by the original plastic piping?

Or is there any way of keeping the copper piping in situ??

 

[Deleted member 32524]

The water produced when the boiler condenses has an adverse effect on copper and the pipe will disintegrate over time. Plastic 21.5mm pipe and glue fittings is what you need with a constant down to suitable termination.

 

[Dotty]

No. Condense is acidic and reacts to copper.

Find a GSR who knows what they're doing.

 

[anz]

Where'd you get this first guy from?

Is he a registered gas safe engineer?

He should have known not to replace with copper.

 

[Killy Bing]

Whats that i hear? Oh

alarm bells

 

[TBServices]

Oh dear. It needs to be plastic, and CLIPPED.

 

[village idiot]

and falling

 

[anz]

and terminating to a drain

 

[Ermintrude]

And lagged and increased to 1 1/4" if external or just increased to 1 1/4 if over 3m in length.

 

[jonbo300]

Hi Everyone,

Just like to thank everyone for their contributions and advice. Really appreciated it all as I didn't realise the implications of using copper piping for the condensate pipe

 

[oily face]

no and I come across this all the time copper ends up getting very thin and starts leaking

 

[AWheating]

no plastic pipe should cause a problem if installed correctly. Get the engineer back, or get a better engineer in.

 

[P J F PLUMBING]

The EA code is nothing to do with the condencing pipe work

 

[e/bourneplumber]

A friend of mine smelt gas in his kitchen, turns out the condense connection at the boiler was dripping on to the copper gas pipe and had eaten through the copper causing the leak. Condense is acidic, that is why you have to use plastic.