When we moved into our house there was an old Potterton Neatheat 10/16 boiler which eventually gave up on us and an Ideal Class installed in it's place (that done professionally), this was about 8 years ago.
One thing we are suffering with right now is the constant need to bleed the radiators despite my having flushed them prior to putting in fresh inhibitor last month. I read on this site about checking to see if your vent pipe into the F&E tank is sucking in air, so I did a test and found that what mine did was initially blow bubbles into the jar of water, then it sucked a small amount of the water back out - only an ounce or so.
On digging out the boiler instructions I not that the diagram for the open vent system states that the height between the water level in the F&E tanks and the top of the bend on the vent/expansion pipe should be at least 450mm (18") on checking mine it is only 16" and I can't take it any higher because the slope on the roof is too close to the pipe as it is now!
Questions:
1. what are the implications of the vent pipe not being high enough over the water level - could this be my problem?
2. Can I extend the height of this pipe by installing a longer necked piece that has a bend in it sufficiently to follow the slope of the roof, thus making it higher?
3. The boiler manual suggests for 'low head' installation, a surge arrester be incorporated into the vent - I'm not sure what one is but can't find a reference to one in any plumbers merchants on-line stores, are they still available is (2) if not acceptable?
One thing we are suffering with right now is the constant need to bleed the radiators despite my having flushed them prior to putting in fresh inhibitor last month. I read on this site about checking to see if your vent pipe into the F&E tank is sucking in air, so I did a test and found that what mine did was initially blow bubbles into the jar of water, then it sucked a small amount of the water back out - only an ounce or so.
On digging out the boiler instructions I not that the diagram for the open vent system states that the height between the water level in the F&E tanks and the top of the bend on the vent/expansion pipe should be at least 450mm (18") on checking mine it is only 16" and I can't take it any higher because the slope on the roof is too close to the pipe as it is now!
Questions:
1. what are the implications of the vent pipe not being high enough over the water level - could this be my problem?
2. Can I extend the height of this pipe by installing a longer necked piece that has a bend in it sufficiently to follow the slope of the roof, thus making it higher?
3. The boiler manual suggests for 'low head' installation, a surge arrester be incorporated into the vent - I'm not sure what one is but can't find a reference to one in any plumbers merchants on-line stores, are they still available is (2) if not acceptable?
