Hot Water Tank Dripping

[spiidey]

Our Hot Water Tank appears to be dripping, as you'll see from atatched video (first link) and pictures (below).

http://img821.imageshack.us/img821/9326/ezvnbemnzwppjnkclauohq.mp4

A few queries:-

From the Technical Details label on the tank (picture 3), it states under point 5 that if

"Hot Water issues from the discharge pipe, switch off the heat source and consult the instructions (fault finding chart). If in doubt, switch off the heat source and contact a competent installer or an authorised Heatrae Sadia Service Engineer or Agent"

1. With regard to this, is the water that is dripping in the video actually in the "discharge pipe"?
2. If so, what are the implications of this?
3. Could this be what is causing a loss of pressure in our boiler (we had this serviced recently and engineer noticed boiler pressure was low, we told him the pressure often dropped below 1 bar every month or so.



The fourth picture below shows a switch for the tank, that is off and always has been off since we moved in.

4. What does this switch do and should it always remain off?



Two images below are pictures of tank.

photo upload


temp img uploader

Next image is picture of technical details of tank

upload pictures

Next image is picture of switch for tank

photo upload

 

[45yearsagasman]

Try this first (recharging the air bubble)
The switch will probably be for the fitted immersion heater
http://www.heatraesadia.com/499.htm
You don't say what boiler you have. The boiler losing pressure needs to be addressed also.

 

[spiidey]

Try this first (recharging the air bubble)
The switch will probably be for the fitted immersion heater
http://www.heatraesadia.com/499.htm
You don't say what boiler you have. The boiler losing pressure needs to be addressed also.

Thanks for the reply.

Am I following the step "How do I regenerate the airgap on my Megaflo" in the link you sent me?

Its a Potterton boiler. The boiler man who serviced it said the expansion vessel was flat so pumped that back up. That's certainly helped things, i.e. the boiler doesn't lose pressure as fast as it did before.

However, it still does lose pressure. The boiler man suggested checking all the radiators to see if anything, even the tiniest of drips, was coming from those, which could be the cause of the lost pressure in the central heating/hot water circuit. We've done that and not located anything.

The boiler man also suggested the lost pressure could be coming from a small drip somewhere in the central heating/hot water circuit that is behind our walls - which would mean a costly strip back of all walls to locate it which more than likely wouldn't be worth it.

Finally, what does the immersion heater do - would this heat the water in the event that the boiler broke down (and that's the only time I should switch the immersion on)?

 

[45yearsagasman]

The immersion is exactly that, a backup in case of boiler failure.
If the exp vessel loses charge it can cause a loss of system pressure, as can a small leak. I would say a leak is not that likely and would investigate the boiler, exp vessel, and pressure relief valve first before diving in and looking for leaks.

 

[spiidey]

The immersion is exactly that, a backup in case of boiler failure.
If the exp vessel loses charge it can cause a loss of system pressure, as can a small leak. I would say a leak is not that likely and would investigate the boiler, exp vessel, and pressure relief valve first before diving in and looking for leaks.

Thank you!

Have followed all the steps in the link you attached and have regenerated (hopefully) the air gap on the Megaflo.

Already, there appears to be a noticeable increase in the initial pressure of the water from the taps when they are turned on, I presume this is something to do with the regeneration of the airgap or at least I hope it is!

Many thanks for all your help so far and I'll report back on how successful this has been in a month or so's time (or earlier if things go pear shaped!).