System venting water

[Hot&Cold]

But it's an old system, and surely hasn't been pumping over for the last thirty years. All the rads would have rusted away by now.

good comment but from the configuration photos which is all we have to go by there would be an opportunity of spew over during different operating situations.again from the photos there are photos of poor upgrade in many aspects which would not help with any insurance claim.
Sorry its a poor install.Buy a combi/joule system

 

[fixitflav]

Are you for real...exposed mains terminals and that's acceptable?

I accept flameport's pic looks neater, but exposed to whom? Nobody lives in the airing cupboard, and it would be hard to touch a live wire if you tried.

Pipework supported on bits of floorboard, nasty ball pump valves (that always leak and seize up), etc.
We come across plenty of systems that have run for decades then begin to play up...often because the original design was marginal.

I had the problem of connecting to an existing system, and that was my best shot at getting the pump, cold fill, vent and 3-port valve in a restricted space. They're not bits of floorboard, they're minimum 50mm thick, and it's all quite rigid. The pump valves still work OK, used on recent pump change. Everybody else might well have done it differently and I could probably have found fault with their way!

Blocked pipework is not unusual...as mentioned get yourself a magnet.

Several posters have suggested a magnet, but I seem to remember reading somewhere, maybe on this forum, that using a magnet is a no-no, as it can magnetise the sludge, which then clumps together and turns a potential blockage into an actual one. I don't know who's right.

Thanks for everybody's comments.

 

[Gasguru]

There's no convincing you so I'm out, no point in helping the ignorant..

 

[stem]

That wiring is wrong and extremely dangerous on several levels. Exposed terminals, no cable grips, or mechanical protection

My gran lived in a first floor flat and the guy downstairs had some wiring like that in his airing cupboard (albeit for an immersion heater) we aren't sure what happened exactly but this is what we believed occurred. A shirt that was hanging on a metal coat hanger fell on to the terminals, and the metal hook touched the screws, shorted them out and started a fire. The airing cupboard was under my grans wooden stairs, which were her only means of exit. Fortunately the downstairs neighbour was home and raised the alarm quickly enough for her to make an escape....but if he hadn't been....

Guess what was the first thing he said? "It's been like that for years and worked perfectly well" Wiring safety can be a bit like vehicle safety with things such as airbags and seat belts. The car will work perfectly well with out any fitted, it's only if something goes wrong and accident occurs that you would suffer because of their absence.

 

[JohnD]

Several posters have suggested a magnet, but I seem to remember reading somewhere, maybe on this forum, that using a magnet is a no-no, as it can magnetise the sludge, which then clumps together and turns a potential blockage into an actual one.

Nope.

The magnet will only detect a clump of magnetite which is already a total or partial blockage.

Start cleaning.

A "wiring centre" can be bought for ten pounds or so, and is safe and neat. You could put your existing block in a double socket box if you are a skinflint. Your airing cupboardupboard is full of earthed copper pipes which the victim is pretty sure to be touching. A few drops of water leaking in there, or somebody reaching in, and you have a death trap.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/69197/i.html?_from=R40&_nkw=wiring+centre&_sop=15&LH_PrefLoc=1

Get one with cord grips