Air Separator clogged and nearby pipes are magnetic

kiltedcamel · 20 Jun 2014

Hi,

My heating / hot water system keeps pumping over.
The hot water goes up the open vent pipe and into the small tank above my hot water cylinder.

It seems that the problem is around the air separator, it gurgles and makes a lot of noise before sending the water straight up the vent pipe.
I have also noticed that the pipe leading from the air separator to the pump is a bit magnetic.
Please see the picture below;

View media item 78769
The water comes in, gurgles, then goes up the vent (blue arrows and circle).

The red outline shows the area where the pipe is magnetic.

Just below the red area is where the cold feed enters, could I undo the elbow on this pipe and use a coat hanger to try and free up the pipe?
(assuming it is clogged up)

Heat does make it through to the radiators/cylinder but its very noisy and takes a long time.

What is the best thing to do here?

Terry7556 · 20 Jun 2014

if you are not comfortable/experienced with it, get someone in
or cut ir out and replace with new pipework or another air seperator
cutting it out will allow you access to see how bad the extent of the blockage
is and you may consider replacing a section of the pipework at the same time
toolstation sell the air seperators item 75473 £14

ALCPlumbing · 20 Jun 2014

It definitely needs to be unblocked and you can do this however you feel a easiest. But be aware that it will only settle somewhere else in the system. It may be more beneficial to clear the blockage then add a litre of good quality cleaner like sentinel for every ten radiators on your system. Leave for a week or two to circulate at the boilers maximum setting. Heat helps. Then drain the entire system. Repeat a couple of times as you're doing it yourself and it's inexpensive to clear as much sludge etc. out of the system. Add inhibitor when you finally fill it up again.

If you're still having problems after this you should consider a proper powerflush. You're system will be very inefficient if you only clear the blockage.

kiltedcamel · 21 Jun 2014

The 22mm pipe between the air separator and pump is about 60cm long.
If I get a new section of pipe and a new air separator, how much should I be charged to replace these parts?
I can also drain down the system before the plumber arrives to save time.

simond · 21 Jun 2014

The air separators usually get blocked with limescale and this is almost impossible to remove. Cutting out and replacing it all is the only viable option.

Asking how much a third party will charge is pointless on a forum unless you intend to engage that same person to do the work.

When your actual tradesman arrives, he won't be impressed if you tell him the figure a bunch of chancers on the internet would do the job for.

kiltedcamel · 21 Jun 2014

simond said:
When your actual tradesman arrives, he won't be impressed if you tell him the figure a bunch of chancers on the internet would do the job for.

Hi,
I wouldn't quote the price to a tradesman. Just wanted a ball park figure to give me an idea. Would it take more than one hour?
We plan on moving in a year or 2 so just want to keep it running for now.

doitall · 21 Jun 2014

As suggested above, the first task is to identify the system fault and rectify that.

Clearly the system has been installed wrong or modified.

kiltedcamel · 21 Jun 2014

The system is from the early nineties, over 20 years old, so I think it's age more than anything.
Also at some point it had a cardboard lid on the tank, which ended up in the system, I cleared it out last year wth fernox but now the above problems here.

Terry7556 · 21 Jun 2014

why not phone some local lads, desrcibe the problem and ask for a quote/visit
you would then have a much better idea.the longer you leave it the worse it will get, so needs sorting out bud but pay attention to whats been advised especially acl plumbing
cutting out and replacing in that area is only a small aspect of the overall problem, dirt /sludge in your system
good luck with it anyway

scotthud · 7 Apr 2024

bringing this back up as i seem to have same issue, (moved in house in 1996 new build) can you put the new flexible pipe on if you cut the copper one to get to the air separator? as in my case it looks like 3 pipes would need to be cut and its very limited access to that areas, its just behined the immersion cylinder and next to the wall.

diynot

If you need to find a tradesperson to get your job done, please try our local search below, or if you are doing it yourself you can find suppliers local to you.

Select the supplier or trade you require, enter your location to begin your search.

Are you a trade or supplier? You can create your listing free at DIYnot Local

Air Separator clogged and nearby pipes are magnetic

Similar threads