Hole in Hot Water Cylinder coil ?

[dontknowitall]

My turn to ask a question - I seem to spend most of my time trying to help others ...

This is for an elderly relative and has probably been going on for months ...

Old plumbing system. System boiler downstairs, hot water cylinder in airing cupboard, F&E tank in loft.

Some of the upstairs radiators need bleeding about once a week (possibly until a bath is run, but I'm not sure). No cylinder stat but hot water is scalding hot. Downstairs radiators are lovely and warm.

When I bleed some of the upstairs radiators water comes out of one of the overflow pipes. But some upstairs radiators don't need bleeding (some higher than others but no consistency on which ones need bleeding).

I don't want to change the cylinder if there's a chance of something else being wrong. There are no signs of leaks anywhere.

Are these the symptoms of a coil that has a hole in it?

Answers on a postcard ... and many thanks in advance.

 

[Centralheatking]

We did a house renovation many moons ago - it went well and the customer and his wife invited
myself and my wife out for a meal. Yours truly all scrubbed up in a nice cosy restaurant.

My mrs and I could smell what she called 'plumbing' on me during the evening I got told off. Next
day it dawned on me that it was not me but my customers wife ! whom I was sat next to. She
had had a bath that evening in Fernox inhibitor cause the coil had split in the cylinder. Told her hubby who confirmed that he had smelt something odd on her also. We were diplomatic never let on just put new cylinder in that day.

So run a bath but 1st hold up the valve in the cold water storage tank and see/listen if the the
ball valve drops in the f & e tank - or sniff your relative !

centralheatking

 

[moogwai]

I did a cylinder change a while back.....customer said he'd changed a ball valve in both his f & e and cws tanks and was still getting overflow problems,i changed his cylinder as i felt that there maybe a split in his coil and as it turns out it was the case...new cylinder no more overflow problem. I hope this of help to you.

 

[buffy27]

tie up cock on f and e ..drain off a few litres of water .....mark the depth .....do not run heating system and check again later after an hr .... some plumbers do it the other way around with marking the cold water storage tank but this way it may not show up because of the difference in head pressure !!!!!!

 

[dontknowitall]

Many thanks for the replies - sorry for belated response but I've been away (same house as this cylinder).

Very useful pointers to confirm my suspicions.

 

[Billy Bob Bob]

also as chk points out the dhw may smell/look cloudy

 

[dontknowitall]

I wondered this earlier today when running a hot tap below the cylinder.

As I suggested in my first post, we're getting by with bleeding at the moment as we're not sure how long the house will be occupied.