Help! DS40 has turned my HW green or brown!

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well an update on the original problem:

it seemed eralier that the original prolem was resolved by the new pump and/or DS40 flushing byt thats not the case. the boiler is still tripping although that issue is 'manageable' by checking the overheat thingy every couple of hours and re-setting if need be.

the new boiler stat and the new overheat stat have arrived today and will get fitted this evening. assuming that this does indeed clear the original fault then my plumber pal will fit a new indirect cylinder and all should be well otherwise its prob a new boiler required.

so far this is the list of issues:

original problem was that boiler overheat was tripping

1) ran DS40 for too long? the water that came out due to the DS40 excercise was certainly very black and ran much cleaner after a couple of drain / refills etc but i was kind of expecting lumps of stuff to come out based on what I'd read.

2) replaced pump

3) removed all crap from the FE tank

4) HW turned brown- seemingly due to the indirect coil rotting through and the HW and heating water mixing

5) occasional overflow of one or both of the two tanks in the loft. an earlier post suggested this would happen depending upon their respective levels. i cant say which one is actually overflowing to outside as their overflow pipes disappear under lagging in the loft. its not massive and only occasionally but you can sometimes hear water flowing around in the loft even though there's no water usage at that time.

6) did some temp measurements with a digital thermocouple and the difference between supply and return was about 10 degrees C with the hot side = 77. i should have recorded the point in the warm up cycle that these figure were recorded but didnt - duh. if I understand the value of those figures, they tell us [at that point in time] that water was being circulated effectively and the heat input from the boiler was being reliably transfered to the water and then to the heating system / hot water (i.e. any sludge in the boiler was not affecting things)

so we will fit the new boiler parts parts later and see what happens. if they dont cure the the boiler overheat problem then is it just best to bin the whole lot and get a combi fitted?
 
well an update on the original problem:

5) occasional overflow of one or both of the two tanks in the loft. an earlier post suggested this would happen depending upon their respective levels. i cant say which one is actually overflowing to outside as their overflow pipes disappear under lagging in the loft. its not massive and only occasionally but you can sometimes hear water flowing around in the loft even though there's no water usage at that time.

I think this is the first time you have mentioned what we have pointed out to you that water will flow ( slowly ) from the higher tank to the lower one.

The way to check this is to note the level in each tank with the heating turned off and then leave it for many hours like overnight and then to recheck levels in the morning but BEFORE any taps are opened and with the heating off.

NORMALLY you would expect the water to flow from the higher water level to the lower level. With heating off then this is what will happen. BUT in a practical system that may not always occur because when the heating/hot water is on the additional pump pressure could cause the flow to be from the lower tank to the higher one.

In plumbing you have to keep an open mind and consider many different possibilities.

Tony
 
the original fault causing the overheat on the boiler was due to the boiler thermostat. not a fault with the stat itself but it's supposed to be clipped to the water outlet on the boiler but the clip had corroded through so the stat was no longer held against the pipe, it was just hanging there about an inch away.
 
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Very good but what about the leaking into the hot water?

Also a DIYer should not be opening the combustion chamber where the clip on end of the thermostat is fitted.

Its part of the room sealed design of the boiler which makes it safe until disturbed.

That particular boiler is more potentially dangerous that others and needs careful tests to establish its safety.

Tony
 
Very good but what about the leaking into the hot water?

Also a DIYer should not be opening the combustion chamber where the clip on end of the thermostat is fitted.

Its part of the room sealed design of the boiler which makes it safe until disturbed.

That particular boiler is more potentially dangerous that others and needs careful tests to establish its safety.

Tony


since the boiler could be repaired its going to carry on so my plumber pal is fitting a new cylinder early next week £430 fitted inc a special flange for the supply to the shower pump.

currently, it intermittently overflows from one of the loft tanks. in the silence during the night one can sometimes hear what appears to be large quantities of water swilling around !
 
You should ask him to check the integrity of the case seals on your positive pressure boiler!
 
currently, it intermittently overflows from one of the loft tanks. in the silence during the night one can sometimes hear what appears to be large quantities of water swilling around !

If this persists following cylinder replacement check ball valves in tanks to make sure the floats are properly shutting each one off.
 
To recap it seems that you have caused yourself much more hassle and expense by trying to save money from getting a professional in to check your boiler.

This fault would have been identified within 30mins of working on the appliance as fairly common occurrence.

The forum is good for advice but no substitute for an on-site visit from a trained professional.
 

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