Re-Siting a Filling Loop

[bigzed]

Hi. I've been helping a mate with his new house and we've come across a problem that I believe isn't insurmountable but I want to be sure before I begin. The existing filling loop is above the boiler, in the bathroom behind the bath !!!! Needless to say, he wants it moved to a better position and I suggested below the boiler where I have seen most of them placed.

Now replacing the filling loop is something I'm not too concerned about but the draining and refilling is what I want to check as I've never had to do this on a sealed system before. My home system is an older design with an F&E tank in the loft.

I was going to leave the old loop in place and just fit another one but I wondered if this was a good idea as if the old valves leak, this would cause pressure instability etc ??

Any assistance on the draining and refilling procedure would be gratefully received.

TIA - Bigzed

 

[darren17]

the filling loop is not meant to be permanent connection on a sealed system
as for moving it by all means do that but blank off the original loop
as for draining
close off filling loop and then drain as normal
for filling
connect filling loop and turn water on allow the pressure guage to reach approx 1.5 bar bleed all rads
check that your e/v is charged to about .8 of a bar

 

[dextrous]

delete

 

[bigzed]

Thanks for the reply Darren. When you say the filling loop is not supposed to be a permanent connection, do you mean that it's supposed to be like a "flying pipe" that you connect as and when required ? The reason I ask is that the ones I have seen are usually a length of flexible pipe with two valves, one at either end ( I presume one of them is a check valve ? ) permanently plumbed-in between the Mains Feed and the Radiator Feed Pipes. Is this not strictly correct ?

Can the e/v be re-pressurised DIY or is this a job for a pro ? I do have a manometer that reads up to 3 bar so I can check for the correct pressure.

Thanks again.

Bigzed

 

[darren17]

yes have the flexi disconnected only reconnect when you are refilling
and yes you would normally have check valves fitted for ease of connection and filling
current water regs require that the filling loop is only made as tempory connection
the e/v has a schrader valve like a car tyre all you have to do is check the pressure is set to approx .8 of a bar and a normal foot pump will fill it to that .8 of a bar.
once you have refilled the system make sure to presserise it to approx 1.5 bar and then disconnect the flexijavascript:emoticon('')

 

[bigzed]

Thanks for that darren. Won't be too bad a job then. Not that I'll tell my mate that of course I need to get my free pints somewhere