help desperately needed

[paula calder]

Hi please forgive my ignorance ( Im a nurse not a plumber or DIY expert)
about ten days ago my boiler was condemmed and replaced with a bosch boiler (4000) and the system was chemically flushed
for the first two days everything was fine -except the radiator in the attic bedroom wasnt getting warm when the heating was on
then the boiler started needing topping up every day as the pressure kept dropping - at the same time the boiler status kept saying air purge mode -the central heating and water were not working when the pressure was low which I presume is a safety feature to protect the boiler
I have had an engineer out but the problem continues
I have bled the radiators and there are no obvious leaks although I havent pulled up floor boards
I have lost faith - Ive had various plumbers / engineers in my house the last 2 weeks and I still dont have a correctly functioning system
please help

 

[ShaunCorbs]

What boiler did you have before?

 

[snowhead]

Did the whole system work O.K with the old boiler, while that was working?
Did it need regular topping up?
And was there ever any issue with the attic room radiator not getting hot.?

 

[paula calder]

What boiler did you have before?

it was also a bosch

 

[paula calder]

What boiler did you have before?

it was also a bosch

 

[paula calder]

Did the whole system work O.K with the old boiler, while that was working?
Did it need regular topping up?
And was there ever any issue with the attic room radiator not getting hot.?

the old boiler was approx 15 yrs old + a bosch - never had a problem until a month ago - when it kept losing pressure - bled radiators/no leaks- engineer came out + condemmed boiler - said it had multiple probems and had no choice
the attic radiator has only ever become luke warm when heating on

 

[SimonG]

So it sounds like new boiler wasnt required and you do have a leak.

 

[SJB060685]

As Simon above says this does sound like a leak somewhere.
Out of curiosity what’s the quality of the new boiler install like and did he give you a written breakdown of all these so called multiple faults with the old boiler? There is a massive difference between an engineer (someone who understands the science behind our work and can rectify problems) and an installer who only knows enough to chuck a boiler on the wall and pipe it up. More often than not the latter just pushes new boilers for quick cash rather than address what could be a simple fix, which unfortunately sounds like your situation.

 

[Roy_66]

Silly question: Was the old system pressurised probably with a gauge, or gravity fed from a header tank? (Of course they may have just left the tank . . . )

I'm an amateur but assume they should do a pressure test before walking away, and if it looks good also pop back at the end of the day to check it's still ok, or at least agree a plan with you not to leave you stranded.

It is key to have a good professional outfit to look after your system. Ask around your friends for good local recommendation, or on here if you are stuck.

Best of luck,

Roy (amateur, and not a heating engineer)

 

[Chuck]

If it's not too late, hold back payment for a proportion of the bill until the system is working correctly.

I think that your first port of call will be to contact the installer, report the symptoms accurately, and get them to investigate. I would expect them to start by isolating the boiler and monitoring the pressure both halves of the system (boiler and radiators) to reduce the search area for the leak.

If you don't have a leak, it may be your pipework is 'difficult to bleed' due to an inverted-U section, etc. somewhere. The non-functioning radiator in the attic may be connected to this.

 

[king of pipes]

You need to identify where the problem is you may have lost faith in your recent tradesmen, but the original Installer should be the one to sort this out after all you paid for a new boiler and a fully working system once completed. Kop

 

[paula calder]

So it sounds like new boiler wasnt required and you do have a leak.

Ive pulled up all the floorboards that I can (but the kitchen and bathroom are tiled) - no obvious leaks

 

[paula calder]

As Simon above says this does sound like a leak somewhere.
Out of curiosity what’s the quality of the new boiler install like and did he give you a written breakdown of all these so called multiple faults with the old boiler? There is a massive difference between an engineer (someone who understands the science behind our work and can rectify problems) and an installer who only knows enough to chuck a boiler on the wall and pipe it up. More often than not the latter just pushes new boilers for quick cash rather than address what could be a simple fix, which unfortunately sounds like your situation.

i think the quality is ok but I'm no expert.
the guy who condemned the boiler said the flu was allowing gases to escape and there was a leak within the boiler he decided this in five minutes of looking at the boiler which consisted of him shining a light on the internal parts and bringing out his wet fingers when he touched it. Now whilst not a plumber, I am nurse and I know I cant measure somebody's oxygen levels just by looking at them ,I need a machine to do that but before I could question this he turned off the gas to the boiler and put a danger warning label on it and gave me a notice that the boiler was condemned, charged me £50 and tried to interest me in a baxi boiler but I opted for a second opinion .A second guy came out but had faulty equipment promised to come back the next day never to be seen again .So I went with heatable as I thought going with a national company might be the better option . I have had one of their engineers out but all he said was to keep a eye on the pressure and if it kept dropping I had a leak and left
Going to go back to heatable but have a feeling that they will say its not a boiler issue so not their problem

 

[paula calder]

Silly question: Was the old system pressurised probably with a gauge, or gravity fed from a header tank? (Of course they may have just left the tank . . . )

I'm an amateur but assume they should do a pressure test before walking away, and if it looks good also pop back at the end of the day to check it's still ok, or at least agree a plan with you not to leave you stranded.

It is key to have a good professional outfit to look after your system. Ask around your friends for good local recommendation, or on here if you are stuck.

Best of luck,

Roy (amateur, and not a heating engineer)

the only thing in the system that was changed was the boiler itself - a newer bosch model fitted
I assume he did the checks necessary as no problems were identified
I went with heatable - a national company as my dealings with local tradesman left me feeling disillusioned

 

[SimonG]

Pressure up the system and make a note of exact pressure. Boiler needs isolating on the flow and return under the boiler with it turned off overnight.
If no pressure drop on boiler overnight then re open isolation valves underneath and check pressure again.

 

[kevintrot]

i think you need a boiler engineer.

 

[Chuck]

i think you need a boiler engineer.

I wouldn't trust or use a company that magically gets 50 positive reviews within a couple of days of listing itself:

Directory

Find Plumbing Resources and Plumbers Downloads. Central Heating Systems Downloads. PDFs, Word .doc and other files. Along with Central Heating Systems Guides and Instructional items.

www.plumbersforums.net

in the UKPF directory, all from users registered on the same day all worded in a similar manner.

 

[SimonG]

I wouldn't trust or use a company that magically gets 50 positive reviews within a couple of days of listing itself:

Directory

Find Plumbing Resources and Plumbers Downloads. Central Heating Systems Downloads. PDFs, Word .doc and other files. Along with Central Heating Systems Guides and Instructional items.

www.plumbersforums.net

in the UKPF directory, all from users registered on the same day all worded in a similar manner.

And the reviewers all seem to be gsr! Go figure.

 

[Last Plumber]

If your old boiler was losing pressure, then water is escaping somewhere. It is easy to identify whether that is from the system or boiler as Simon said.

If the loss was on the system (sounds likely) then it needs finding and sorting. That should be a straight forward (not always easy) task for a good Plumber/Heating Engineer.

The sale of a new boiler does sound a bit suspect going off your explanation of it but it was 15 and past its life expectancy so I wouldn't lose much sleep over that, it would be due anyway. He should have discussed it with you before turning it off though as he needs your permission to do that.

Find an experienced, recommended heating engineer and tell them the system is losing pressure.

 

[Roy_66]

Ive pulled up all the floorboards that I can (but the kitchen and bathroom are tiled) - no obvious leaks

Definately get somebody in to investigate that rad that's not working as Chuck explains above. Have a look round the loft for any vents to let the air out (as well as the one on the cold rad). Air rises so if there is an inverted U in the pipe somewhere (and it doesn't need to rise much) the air will get stuck at the top of the hill and form a blockage. Do you need a vent point there. The filling loop needs to be connected while you vent the air out, so water replaces the air. An expert might be able to suggest a mod to stop it happening again.

For tiled bath floor then ceiling below could be removed, but cheaper to pay an expert with experience?

Fault prob not under kitchen floor - are there heating pipes there?

Cheers,

Roy