My ECO TEC Plus 624 boiler is leaking.

[BML]

I recently had an ECO TEC Plus 624 boiler fitted and the fitter did say that it might just leak if there were any weak spots in the piping as it was a high pressure system.
Bearing in mind that the previous boiler had never leaked I thought there should be no problem.
However, just as the cold snap started the boiler started to lose pressure and the safety cut in and the fitter returned and started to talk about carpets and floor boards coming up.
Surely, the manufacturer would not create a boiler that is so high pressure it has a reputation for creating leaks?
I would welcome any comments or advice.

 

[Agile]

I have some reservations about your installer!

You don't say which model boiler was fitted before. Was it pressurized or open vented?

All boilers have a normal working pressure range of up to about 2.0 bar. That is not a very high pressure!

Normal heating systems are well able to withstand that pressure if properly installed and in good condition.

Tony

 

[oldbuffer]

The 624 is a combination boiler and installed to a sealed system, which would normally be at a pressure of about 1.5bar.
If you old boiler was an open vented (small feed and expansion (F&E) tank in loft) it would be operating at a pressure of about 0.5 bar (two storeys at 2.5metres each). This means the new system operates at a pressure 3 times that of the old.

Copper or plastic pipework properly designed and installed will take a pressure of at least 10 bar (cold). The normal operating pressure of your new boiler is well below this pressure. However, existing weaknesses which might not show at a pressure of 0.5 bar may well show at 1.5 bar. In addition, whereas an open vented system keeps the system water topped up from the F&E tank so that water loss is never noticed, a sealed system will lose pressure through leaks until the boiler says "not enough pressure".

It sounds to me as if your installer did the right thing. He advised you of the possibility of leaks showing up once the additional pressure was applied. It's actually fairly rare for this to happen, but you appear to have been unlucky and it has happened to you.

It will be necessary for the leak(s) to be found and corrected, and this may well require the lifting of carpets, floorboards and other floor coverings. This work will almost certainly be charged as an addition to the installation cost of the boiler.

 

[picasso]

The 624 is a system boiler, the installer should not have put a pressurised boiler on an old system if he suspected the pipework could not take the pressure, there are plenty of other ways of doing this, I should add if he warned you before hand then you will have to cover the extra cost.

 

[BML]

Firstly I have to say that I'm impressed with all of your knowledge on boilers. This reminds me of a small bore system pressurised system I had twenty years ago. It warmed the house in no time at all but we had nothing but trouble with that. Thanks all.

 

[MeldrewsMate]

There may be some other explanations for the loss of pressure.
How large a system is the boiler connected to? How many radiators, and what size of house?
You will have a pressure gauge on the boiler. What is the pressure when the system is cold? (cold rads, boiler off)
What is the pressure when the system is up to temperature? (hot rads, but boiler OFF for the purpose of reading the pressure)
If there is a large swing in pressure between cold and hot then it could be that the boiler's built in expansion vessel is too small, and a larger supplementary one is required.
Post the pressure readings to enable that scenario to be explored or eliminated.

Do you know the location of the pressure relief discharge outlet? It's usually near to the boiler, but poking out of an external wall, ie you'll see it from the outside. Put your finger across the end of the pipe (when the weather is dry!) does your finger get wet, indicating that it has discharged water recently?

Finally, if it does turn out to be an internal leak, under ground floor floorboards....REJOICE. On your old open vented system the leak would have gone unnoticed and the system would have been automatically topped-up. The consequences are dilution and loss of corrosion protection chemicals and rapid sludging and scaling of the system components, as well as damp/rot under the house. The sealed (pressurised) system encourages you to look after the long term health of both your heating system and your pocket by finding and curing any leaks. It's just a pity you couldn't have considered the long term health of the country and bought a British made boiler.

MM

 

[AGAS]

British made boiler.

what would that be ?

 

[MeldrewsMate]

what would that be ?

Why that'd be one made in Britain.

 

[AGAS]

Why that'd be one made in Britain.

just interested in what british boiler you would go with thats all

 

[MeldrewsMate]

Oh, that's a relief. Usually that question precedes some kind of sneer along the lines of 'a-ha, but it's not British made because the copper in the wires comes from (insert name of country here).'

Please bear in mind that every £ that leaves these shores makes us all a bit poorer, and our children pay for that debt with jobs. Consequently the best we can do for our kids (and for yours too) is to allow as little money as possible to go to Abroadland. We can best do this by buying stuff made here. Unfortunately there is a disturbing trend towards 'slagging off' the British in favour of the foreign. We see this all too often in pubs where a British MADE/BREWED lager (derived from the Geeerman, I know) is absent.

At the moment I prefer to fit the Ideal Logic plus and Vogue boilers, made (assembled) in 'Ull, though (putting my BBC hat on) other British made boilers are available.

A little off topic, but I do hope this has answered your question.

MM

 

[Agile]

At the moment I prefer to fit the Ideal Logic plus and Vogue boilers, made (assembled) in 'Ull, though (putting my BBC hat on) other British made boilers are available.

MM

Which country is "Ull" ?

 

[MeldrewsMate]

Tony, I think you're far too far darn sarf to know even which continent 'Ull is in, besides I have to question my own judgement (I don't BELIEVE it!) in being on this site this late at night reading your thread.
I'm off to bed.

Nighty night all