Rapid 32 Boiler - Pressure Gauge Broken?

siross85 · 16 Aug 2019

Hi all,

We've just moved in to a new house and I'm trying my best to figure out the heating system and failing miserably. The boiler is an Intergas Rapid 32 with no thermometer in the house.

I've looked through the boiler manual and managed to get it to be either set by timer, temporarily on or continually on. Everything seemed to be OK yesterday, the hot water was fine and the radiators gave out a lot of heat.

Now the hot water is OK but the radiators aren't giving out a lot of heat at all. The TRVs on the radiators are set to maximum so it's not that. It doesn't feel hot in the room so it's not that the room is at he desired temperature.

Now the other issue I can see is that the boiler pressure is sat at 0. I've opened up the valves to increase the pressure but nothing happens to the gauge!

The hot water is working as it should. When the hot water is requested, the boiler kicks in to action and the pressure gauge flicks slightly but barely above 0. I'm extremely confused.

The system has a BoilerMag installed as well if that makes any difference?

mrStat · 16 Aug 2019

If you’ve just moved into the place, personally I’d advise you call a gasman in to give it a once over, make sure it’s safe (These are not covered by your survey), and get an idea of what condition it’s in and get them to walk you through (a) how to use it and (b) how the user controls can be improved.

siross85 · 16 Aug 2019

mrStat said:
If you’ve just moved into the place, personally I’d advise you call a gasman in to give it a once over, make sure it’s safe (These are not covered by your survey), and get an idea of what condition it’s in and get them to walk you through (a) how to use it and (b) how the user controls can be improved.

Thanks, probably a good idea, I'll look for a local gas man to come over.

Razor900 · 16 Aug 2019

What number is the boiler showing when you put the heating on?

And what number does it show after its run for a while?

siross85 · 17 Aug 2019

Razor900 said:
What number is the boiler showing when you put the heating on?

And what number does it show after its run for a while?

Hi, I tried to get the heating on this morning and the lights went from 3 (ventilate) to 4 (Ignite) and then 5 (CH mode) for a few seconds. Then back down to 4 and then 1 (Desired temperature reached.

I then went for a shower and the hot water worked fine, came out and noticed the heating was on, checked and the boiler was showing number 5.

It's back down to 1 again.

Now that would suggest that the heating is coming on fine and only heating when it's reaching it's desired temperature.

I'm confused as to how it's measuring this temperature as there is no external thermostat?

Razor900 · 17 Aug 2019

There’s no circulation. Could well be the pump

ianmcd · 17 Aug 2019

Agree sounds like the pump, could very well just be stuck if the house was empty for a while

siross85 · 17 Aug 2019

Razor900 said:
There’s no circulation. Could well be the pump

ianmcd said:
Agree sounds like the pump, could very well just be stuck if the house was empty for a while

Thanks guys, I've got someone round to give the boiler a service and gas safe check on Tuesday. Fingers crossed it stays warm until then.

The heating has been off for a long time as we've been having work done with no water in the house. Hopefully it's an easy fix

siross85 · 24 Aug 2019

Hi all, I had the boiler checked and the issue was a massive amount of air in the system, probably due to it being off for so long. The system was bled and the boiler serviced and refilled.

The system worked OK and the radiators heated up well. I noticed a bit more air in the system so bled the radiator upstairs and topped up the boiler.

However, since then the boiler has been losing pressure consistently. Sometimes it's quickly and yesterday it took the heating being on for nearly 2 hours for the pressure to drop from 1.5 bar to 1 bar.

The plumber is concerned that it's a leak. There is no leak in any of the radiators and there is no staining / discolouration anywhere. So if there were a leak it would be under the ground floor.

We've just had some work done which involved decommissioning 2 radiators and capping them (making 3 rooms in to one) and a new huge radiator fitting. The plumber who did this (different from heating engineer who serviced the boiler) has said that when he capped everything and fitted the new radiator he commissioned the system fully and came back later with no pressure drop. Which would suggest there was no leak at all?

I'm extremely confused and at my wits end. If there is a leak under the floor, it might mean that we have to take up a freshly tiled floor or take up the laminate floor which has just had all new skirting boards installed, I'm really hoping that's not the case!

dilalio · 24 Aug 2019

Fully pressurise the whole system and isolate the boiler from the primaries.
If it drops when like this it's within the boiler. If after a couple of days it drops when you open back up to the flow and return then the issue is elswhere on the system.

siross85 · 24 Aug 2019

dilalio said:
Fully pressurise the whole system and isolate the boiler from the primaries.
If it drops when like this it's within the boiler. If after a couple of days it drops when you open back up to the flow and return then the issue is elswhere on the system.

I've turned off the central heating pipes going in to the boiler as the plumber said exactly what you did. The pressure didn't drop very much, it dropped a bit after a day or so. As soon as I turned them back on the pressure shot to 0.

The plumber also said that the waste pipe (might not be called that, the pipe which collects waste water and sends it outside) shouldn't drip with the heating off. I took this out and put it in a bucket and quite a bit of water has gone in to the bucket, but the hot water is still on and we've been using it so it could be because of that?

I've also noticed the radiator in our spare room is making a random hissing noise and the radiator in the master bedroom is making gurgling noises. Seemed strange when I've turned the CH pipes off going in to the boiler.

Just for clarity, the boiler is on and in continuous mode, no heating is being requested as we have Hive installed and it's set to off.

ianmcd · 24 Aug 2019

Can you post a pic of what you are calling a waste pipe please

Razor900 · 24 Aug 2019

The Rapid makes loads of condensate so you will get dripping from the pipe if the hot water is running.

If it held pressure when the boiler was isolated then dropped when you opened the valves the leak is on the system side not the boiler

siross85 · 24 Aug 2019

ianmcd said:
Can you post a pic of what you are calling a waste pipe please

Here you go pal

This is the amount of water from the pipe in the past day:

Razor900 said:
The Rapid makes loads of condensate so you will get dripping from the pipe if the hot water is running.

If it held pressure when the boiler was isolated then dropped when you opened the valves the leak is on the system side not the boiler

This is my fear and the only likely conclusion at the minute. I'm really hoping a leak sealer will sort it out, otherwise it means breaking up a newly tiled floor and sawing through freshly laid plywood sub floor!

I really don't know how the plumber has commissioned the system after capping 2 radiators and fitting a new radiator and there wasn't a problem then! It seems crazy.

dilalio · 25 Aug 2019

siross85 said:
I really don't know how the plumber has commissioned the system after capping 2 radiators and fitting a new radiator and there wasn't a problem then! It seems crazy.

It could be a "Hot" leak rather than a "Cold" leak... Sometimes happens

Before diving in and ripping your floor to bits, I would get yourself some coloured paper towel (blue roll or the green wipes from petrol station forecourt dispensers, or even the brown serviettes from Costa coffee etc) and use these to check around every CH joint that you can get to, including rad valves and entry points... And air vents.
Do this while the CH is on. The coloured paper shows up wet spots better than anything else.

You can also wrap a piece around every rad tail as it disappears into the floor, in case water is travelling down the back of a pipe.

Its worth a shot!

Edited: typos

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

Rapid 32 Boiler - Pressure Gauge Broken?

Similar threads