Fill/Expantion tank help please.

[steveorules]

Can anyone please tell me how much/often do you get anything out of the return to tank pipe ?

The reason I ask is I've just had/found a big leak in my loft.
The area under the loft tanks was flooded and the ceiling under it was on the verge of coming down !! The area of the ceiling affected is in the airing cupboard and I haven't noticed until now. It was probably leaking for a long time due to there being mould growth, and only now broken through the plaster board.
Now to the Fill/Expantion tank. In my haste/panic at 2am this morning on discovering the leak and trying to deal with it, I was removing tank lagging etc to try and spot a leak. (after water isolated)
I cannot seem to find a leak !! BUT the return pipe was not going back into the tank, it was in mid air over a very wet area. I cant be 100% sure i didnt do it, but earlier this year I had the loft re-insulated and it may well have been knocked out then as it comes out fairley easily. Thats why i ask how much/often do you get a return flow ??
I rekon there was about 1/2 of a washing up bowl of water in the flooded area.

Many thanks for any help/advice given,
Steve.

 

[Whitespirit66]

If you're talking about the vent pipes (the ones that curve over top of tanks), there shouldn't normally be anything coming out of them. Water discharging means a problem that needs to be rectified as soon as possible.

Which of the two tanks is affected, large or small?

 

[steveorules]

Thanks for getting back to me.

Its the small tank, heating fill and expantion.
Ive' been watching it and I think it spat a little bit out when the heating clicked off, that sound normal ??

 

[Whitespirit66]

No, not normal as will oxygenate your water leading to system corrosion.

Could be;

Pump too fast - what speed is it on, see if it helps turning down but make sure ch and hw still heat properly.

Wrong pipe layout - feed and vent pipes should join system just before pump and be max 150mm apart from each other - photos may help.

Vent pipe too low, how high is it over tank?

Blockage - maybe where feed pipe from tank joins system - try a magnet on the bottom of feed pipe where it tees into system near pump. When you start the heating, what happens to water level in tank?

What boiler is it? What motorised valves are fitted - a 3 port or couple of 2 ports?

 

[steveorules]

Thanks,
This is all excellent help, much appreciated mate.

Lots for me to check (i've had a gut full of it today lol) Will check it all out tomorrow and get back to you.

Cheers,
Steve.

 

[Rad1o]

Get rid of the tank.
Put an expansion vessel into the house. No more water worries with freezing pipes in the loft and overflowing tanks.

 

[mogget]

We do not know what boiler the OP has and whether it's suitable to convert to sealed system (with all the required extras beside the expansion vessel). Also converting to sealed system can cause problems with old rads and fittings.

That said, I do prefer sealed systems myself and if the existing setup is suitable for it, may be worthwhile.

 

[steveorules]

Cheers Guys, all sorted now. Im 100% sure it was the return pipe missing the tank that was causing the issue. Fully functional again now no leaks, just needs to dry out now.

Many thanks, much appreciated,

Merry christmas & a Happy New Year
Steve.

 

[Madrab]

Steve, glad to hear that there is no longer water on the ceiling in the loft etc but you still haven't addressed the fundamental problem, unless I missed something, that is water coming out of the expansion pipe into the tank. This needs to be fixed, as it is not correct. In normal operation, there shouldn't be water coming out of that pipe.

 

[steveorules]

Rob,

When the heating clicks off there is about half a cup of water coming back into the F&E tank. I suspect its been doing that for the 6 years that I've been in the house. So Im thinking its 'ok' now forget about it ?
I posted something about a problem that was and is still annoying me a while back. I never did get to the bottom of it, could it be connected ?

(old post)
"I have a conventional boiler/heating system which has what sounds like air rushing around the system. I've bled the rads, not much air in there, I believe it must be in the hot water side of the system.
I've tried the vent pipe by the side of the hot water tank, just water comes out. Any ideas how i can get rid of the air and stop the annoying rushing sound ???"

It seems to be hot water side, as it only happens when hot water on, some times the pump screams, some times it rattles and sounds as if its coming to a stop. When it does that I lower the tank stat to stop pump, raise it back up to re start pump and pump fires back up fine but still has the sound of air rushing around in a loop ??

Any ideas mate ??

Read more: //www.diynot.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=266948&start=0#ixzz2o8QYNYbr