Worcester junior 28i flue freezing up

[fuzzy]

Last year my worcester junior 28i froze up. The condense line is only 2 foot long run outside and it froze up, ive now lagged it (know i should have done it before but im lazy!) The flue had a frozen iceicle 3m long!

It blew up the circuit board only it showed a fan fault???? I couldnt suss it myself and paid BG £150 to fix it (I knew it needed one or the other new parts so knew id be on a winner) They swapped a circuit boards, 2 fans and the gas valve before they realised the original circuit board they installed was also faulty! So put another new one in and hey presto it worked!

Now the bad weather is back how do i stop it happening again? The boiler is in the loft so is pretty exposed, ive turned off the eco heat pre warmer which kept turning the boiler on and therefore condensing some more as this will only add to the possibility of the condense backing up. Ive left the loft hatch slightly ajar to allow it to heat up slightly and reduce the risk of freezing inside too, any other ideas?

Thanks

 

[tamz]

You should upgrade the condensate to 1 1/14" or 1 1/2" and bring it through the wall before reducing to the 3/4" condensate.
Check the backward slope on the flue is enough to stop dripping from the end. It was probably the drips freezing that created the icicle.

Apart from that there is not much more you can do. It was probably the frozen condensate pipe that caused the water to get to the board.
I had one last year where the rainwater conductor had blocked and the water backed up and filled the boiler and was running out the bottom. Dried it of with a hair drier switched it on and away it went.

 

[fuzzy]

yeh the flue is a bit of a sore point. my brother in law 'learnt' plumbing some years back, he said hed give me a lift when i fitted the boiler but in true fashoin turned up fro an hour, made his excuses and left. the only job he did was to drill the flue, i told him quite clearly before he drilled it abouty the fall, only to find it almost level, maybe a slight fall, thats the second time he let me donw and the last as i never ask him again

though id get away with the condense with it only be 2 foot long and did for 4 years!!!

 

[tamz]

The global warming crusade and all these condensing boiler have brought the winter weather back to how it was 20 or 30 years ago

You could hire a core drill and run it through a bit steeper angle or take a hammer and chisel to it from outside.

Relations are fine until you need something. The only ones i do anything for is my mother and the weans. Everybody else pays but i usually tell them i'm too busy and to get someone else. Saves the arguments.

 

[Reg Man]

As I said in another thread, I have a totaly compliant condensate drain on my roof space boiler install and it still froze. Next steps, fit a heat trace with frost stat.

 

[tamz]

Dont think about a temporary bucket as you will forget until it runs through the ceiling again

 

[Reg Man]

You make me laugh. Iv been collecting it in a glass and telling the misses its spring water. She say its great but her teeth are dissolving now.

 

[REDSAW]

drain the boiler, slap a small rad/towel rad under it, box of the front of the rad leaving top exposed for the heat to rise surrounding the boiler.

or is this a bad idea?.

 

[Reg Man]

Yer bad idea. its only the condensate drain. Dont need to heat the roof, boiler has frost stat so she's OK. Just the bxxxdy drain. Heat trace is a good idea, but may be i could fit a urinal cistern with auto siphon LoL.

 

[tamz]

You make me laugh. Iv been collecting it in a glass and telling the misses its spring water. She say its great but her teeth are dissolving now.

it's like the cobblers weans

 

[fuzzy]

As I said in another thread, I have a totaly compliant condensate drain on my roof space boiler install and it still froze. Next steps, fit a heat trace with frost stat.

glad its not just me, trace heatings a bit extreem, i saw a condensate drain around 20m long the other day, un lagged in 22mm, bet they are having fun!!!
I may disconnect if weather gets worse and putt a bucket under it. access is dificult with it being in the loft (from outside)

 

[fuzzy]

FROZEN AGAIN!!EVEN THOUGH IVE LAGGED IT, GEE, WILL HAVE TO UPSIZE

FOR NOW IVE DISCONNECTED AND PUT IT INTO A BUCKET opps just noticed the caps

 

[fuzzy]

about 1 litre of water when i emptied this morning