Central Heating System and Boiler Service

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Manchester
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Hello and thanks for looking at this thread and I would much appreciate if you could help me with a boiler dilemma.

I have recently purchased a repossessed property so I can’t possibly know whether or not the combi boiler in the property is working/serviced. I can see I have a gas supply at the property through a conventional post paid meter (however the supply is not registered with any supplier yet and the main valve is turned off, I haven’t made any effort to turn it on just in case something explodes. lol).

I called a gas company today to come and service and possibly repair the boiler but they said they can’t do until I told them whether or not my central heating system is drained out and I also need to tell them whether the boiler is working or not because they can’t carry out repairs.

So after the initial googling of how to find if my system is drained out, I have been bamboozled by so many different things that I don’t even know.

First: I definitely have a combi boiler (5 pipes under the boiler), and there is no water tank in the loft and no expansion tank anywhere in the house. Does it mean I have a sealed central heating system as opposed to open-vented system?

Second: How do I find if my CH system is drained out? And if it is, how do I refill it?

Third: Assuming the system was drained out and I have now successfully refilled it, can I test the boiler to see if its working? How do I do this? Open the main gas valve and turn the boiler control on?

Please let me know if I have missed any info which may aid you to help me out.

Thanks.
 
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To get things started take a look at the pressure gauge on the front of the boiler (it may be below or under a flap). This should show a reading of just over 1bar is all is well. If there is either a slow leak in the heating system or it has been drained, this will be displaying a much lower pressure.

If it's low you'll have to go in search of the filling loop which when connected is used to supply cold water to refill and re-pressurise the system.

This video isn't too good for closeups but you'll get the general idea,,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rr6k8eBqoOg

You'll then have to go round alternately bleeding the radiators and repeating the filling process to check there's no air left in the system. If it has actually been emptied (unlikely IMO) this may take some time.
 
Who did you call ? Perhaps a local independent would be more helpful, it would be hard to be less. If your unsure as to the condition of the boiler, it would be sensible to have a qualified person asses it before you turn it on. I certainly wouldn't insist a customer knew the status of the boiler before I attended, and if this gas company can't do repairs what on earth are they going to do if they service it and it needs a repair ?
 
Who did you call ? Perhaps a local independent would be more helpful, it would be hard to be less. If your unsure as to the condition of the boiler, it would be sensible to have a qualified person asses it before you turn it on. I certainly wouldn't insist a customer knew the status of the boiler before I attended, and if this gas company can't do repairs what on earth are they going to do if they service it and it needs a repair ?

I know pal. It was gas-elec.co.uk who said they can't do repairs but can do service if its working. She didn't tell me any reason why they can't do the repairs. Anyway I called a local chap to come in and refill the system for £40 but it turns out my expansion vessel was gone too as the pressure was rising to 3 bar and the water was being dumped outside the property from the relief pipe.

Bought the new vessel for £85 and paid another £50 to get it fixed from the same chap. Big companies like British Gas and others were charging me £80 quid just to fix the new vessel.

Dont know if I got the right price for fix.

Thanks anyway.
 
Sponsored Links
To get things started take a look at the pressure gauge on the front of the boiler (it may be below or under a flap). This should show a reading of just over 1bar is all is well. If there is either a slow leak in the heating system or it has been drained, this will be displaying a much lower pressure.

If it's low you'll have to go in search of the filling loop which when connected is used to supply cold water to refill and re-pressurise the system.

This video isn't too good for closeups but you'll get the general idea,,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rr6k8eBqoOg

You'll then have to go round alternately bleeding the radiators and repeating the filling process to check there's no air left in the system. If it has actually been emptied (unlikely IMO) this may take some time.

Thank you sir. The video was helpful and now I am thinking perhaps I was a bit over cautious as it turned out to be a very simple job.
 

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