Regular lockout on Range Powermax 155

[TGC]

Moved into my house a few weeks before xmas 2005 and the property has a Range Powermax 155 boiler.

Soon after moving in we discovered that the heating and hot water went off and the pressure gauge on the boiler was zero. After phoning someone about this they said to use the filling loop on the side to restore the pressure to 1bar. Everything was fine after doing this and we had heating and water again.

The problem is that the boiler does this on a regular basis, 2-3 times per week sometimes and after reading some of the posts on this forum I believe this is somewhat unusual and means there is a leak somewhere, although I haven't noticed any leaks!!

What I have noticed is that the drop off in pressure can be quite rapid rather than gradual. I'm at a loss at the moment as to why it would be doing this. The other problem I have is the previous owner didn't leave a manual.

Other than phoning a plumber, any advice would be gratefully received.

TGC

 

[Mikeyboy]

Potterton now have ownership of the Range Powermax products.Google search for :Baxi Potterton Parts Arena:.Download and print instructions.

 

[ollski]

Try emptying the system pressure down to zero and then put a footpump on the valve on the pressure guage on the expansion vessel (white, round on the wall?) and pump it up to 1 bar. If water comes out of the valve the vessel is shot.

 

[croydoncorgi]

If the system is drained and the expansion vessel is shot, then you will never get the pressure to 1 Bar!

Anyway, for a single floor installation, the EV preload should be 0.5 Bar.

The purpose of the vessel is to provide somewhere for the water in the system to expand to when it heats up. If the rubber diaphragm inside the vessel is holed, the whole thing will fill up with water, so no room for expansion. If you check the EV pressure with the system EMPTY, you should see approx 0.5 Bar. If less, try pumping it up with a tyre pump. If the pressure refuses to rise, it's holed. If it's significantly above 0.5 Bar already, release some air from the valve, to bring the pressure to 0.5 on the tyre gauge (NOT on the system pressure gauge which should stay at 0 while you're doing this).