Cant locate airlock - boiler kettling since refill.

[wydths]

Hi Footprints,

my apologies - i just realised I never posted the actual link to the photos so here is it

http://www.flickr.com/photos/59008699@N07/sets/72157632134867163/

Have heard from the plumber and it looks like he can come on Monday.

Meantime what would you thoughts be on a partial drain down - so the F&E tank and immediate pipework is empty and then try pouring boiling water down the pipe - would this have any effect on the hard stuff?

Many thanks for sticking with me on this one

Duncan
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[footprints]

Hi Duncan,

Good photos.

Looks like an Aerjec separator used to be branded Myson as I recall looks like a 22mm one.
I don't think boiling water will make any difference. Good news is there is plenty of room for your plumber to cut out and replace it not a long job for him. You could try to source one before he comes to save a bit of time.

BES stock them but they are internet only so not quick enough, try taking your photo into your local plumbers merchant in the morning fair chance they will have one.

Regards,
footprints

 

[wydths]

Hi footprints,

Thanks for that info regarding the brand. Myson would have been right enough as this is a Barratt house and it had a Myson pump (now replaced) and Myson TRVs.

I'll go and try and source one in town. There are a few places to try which is handy.

Will let you know how I get on!

Many Thanks,
Duncan

 

[wydths]

Latest update.

Still waiting on plumber (lots of bad weather up here so lots of broken down boilers to look at) and wondering if I would actually be able to fit this new Aerjec myself.

If so, could compression fittings be used instead of Soldering?

I know it will need at least a partial drain down to get the water level below where the work needs to be done. I can easily do this though.

Thoughts?

Thanks
Duncan

 

[Nige F]

- poor guy is flat out) but there seems to be a strong suspicioun that the air seperator may be blocked/restricted with sludge.

, it seems that warm water is trying to get up towards the pump Duncan

That pump should be pumping downwards - away from the airjec

 

[footprints]

Sorry to hear you are still waiting for a repair, I had hoped today would bring good news.

Compression fittings would be fine if I was planning on clearing out the old unit, cuting in a few inches away from the existing soldered ones. I would use them for choice as on a system that has had problems as the chance is it may happen again, so comp fitting make it easy to remove the unit later.

However I an not sure about you using them directly on the aerjec, apart from the possibility of damaging the unit when tightning as they are quite filmsy, the nuts on the fittings where the flow / return go in might clash. Are there any instructions with the unit regarding connections? I assume you don't have a blowlamp then.

I have always chipped out black magntite because time is always important when on a call, you might get away with soaking the old unit for a while in something like descaler to clear it.

The trouble with using comp fittings is unless you unsolder the existing (not always as easy as it seems) and wipe them clean of excess solder with a rag while hot (almost guaranteed to burn yourself!) you will need to cut the pipes and insert a short peice of pipe so each leg will need two fittings anyway and comp do come up bulky.

Lets hope after all this that a blockage there is the problem. I guess that if the system is completly useless at the moment cutting out the unit and running tap water through it will at least confirm the problem and reconnecting with some compression sockets should be quite simple to reinstate the system.

All the best,
footprints

 

[Agile]

Cut the tube a few cm away from the airjec and then you can use the compression fittings at that point without worry.

I have not followed the thread fully but the blockage may well not be inside the unit but in the feed pipework.

Tony

 

[wydths]

Hi Footprints,

Apologies for not posting a reply sooner. Was fairly flat out with work last week and was still hoping the plumber would be able to come and help me out.

Anyway on Saturday after having spent some more time researching and watching some videos on youtube to get some hints I decided that I was going to attempt to replace this aerjec myself.

I borrowed a blowtorch from a friend at work and went to the hardware shop with the orange letters above the door [ ] to get some bits and pieces.

I practicticed with the blow torch first outside on some old pipework to get a feel for it then fully kitted out in PPE, I set about trying to desolder the aerjec.

It seemed a bit odd that I wasn't making any progress as my friend at work told me that once I saw the solder boiling I should have been able to twist the pipes and give it a wiggle to get it to come loose. I tried 3 of the 4 joints and wasnt making any headway.

I also tried using a 22mm pipe cutter but the space was too tight. So even though I know its a last resource I took a hacksaw to the connecting pieces as I thought this would be the qucikest way to remove the old aerjec but at the same time I wanted to leave as much as the original pipework untouched to aid a smooth installation of the new unit.

I got my first clue that I was about the hit the jackpot in terms of the root of the problem when I started cutting as I could see a pile of black dust appearing in on the floor of the cupboard I was working in.

After cutting out all 4 joints I inspected the aerjec and this is what I found.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/59008699@N07/8264578729/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/59008699@N07/8265648534/in/photostream/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/59008699@N07/8265649250/in/photostream/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/59008699@N07/8265644704/in/photostream/

So as you can see the first phot shows the feed in (left hand pipe) and output to the pump (right hand picture)

No wonder I had no heating or hot water when you see how restricted the pipe is.

However being a bit of a nosey guy, i wanted to look at the rest of the pipe which led to the pump. Even I wasn't prepared for the sight that awaited me.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/59008699@N07/8264577037/in/photostream/

This is the end of the pipe closest to the aerjec.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/59008699@N07/8264577825/in/photostream/

and this is the pipe that connected into the pump!!!!!

I also took the pump out and inspected it from both ends but it was fine with no blockage etc.

I then used a torch to look at the pipe which fed into the heating system from the circuit (not the cold water pipe from the F&E tank though) and thought it also looked a bit restricted. So I cut that out as well.

So with one hand I felt elated as I hoped I had finally found the source of the issue but on the other I was very apprehensive as I wondered if I had the skills to put it all back together properly.

I phoned another friend who although not a plumber to trade has done a fair amount of work in his own house and lots of others (sparky to trade) and he advised me to use the push on copper compression fittings instread of trying to solder all these connections.

So having already seen these push on connections in the orange lettered hardware store I went and bought some and a length of copper pipe and set about reassembling everything.

It was fairly straightforward after I had thought about the order in which to connect aerjec and pipes etc.

By the time I had finished this and drained down the reaminder of the downstairs radiators it was late and I felt that I was too tired to attempt to refill the system and deal with any potential issues.

So I slept on it, went to work yesterday and last night I commenced filling. Taking no chances I started downstairs after having isolated all the upstairs radiators at the lockshields and TRVS but making sure the zone valves were open.

The sound of the water rushing down the newly comissioned pipework was a joy and filling the downstairs radiators was completed in record time thanks to the water having an unhindered path into them.

After filling upstairs and bleeding the boiler, pump and bleed points on the hotwater tank I fired up the boiler to see what happened.

I decided that running it at the lowest setting was the safest option so I left it for about an hour but after only 10-15 minutes I could feel warmth at the radiators . After the hour was up I gradually turned the boiler up and let it run for another hour. Then as I could hear air in the pump, i shut everything down and rebled the pump and hot water bleed points - more air came out which I was pleased at.

I left everything running overnight and the house was roasting this morning so much so that my wife asked me to turn the heating down. My central room stat is set at 23 degs and I can honestly say that the heat from the radiators seems to be hotter than I ever remember, even when the house was brand new 11 years ago.

I have never had radiators so hot that I cant put my hands on them!

So right now the system is full of Fernox Restorer which I plan to leave in for a couple of weeks (Past Christmas anyway) as the water that was drained down at the weekend from pretty black from some rads.

I have another guy to call about doing this conversion work to a sealed system because I believe in the long term this is the best way to go to try and ensure that we dont have another repeat of this total blockage in years to come.

So just wanted to finish up by saying thanks for all your help, advise and virtual support which gave me the information and knowledge to feel confident to undertake this job myself.

Not bad for a guy whos day job is managing an IT Team eh?

Many Thanks again
Duncan

 

[footprints]

Well done Duncan, really glad to see you got it sorted ok. The way the weather has been it’s a wonder you don’t have frostbite by now, just be careful in the bathroom you don’t step back onto that too hot to touch radiator!

There are few things more satisfying than a good rushing gurgling sound as the system fills and clears the air out, perhaps followed by a nice satisfying tick tick tick noise as the pipes warm up.

It was certainly bad, it always amazes me that systems keep going as long as they do when you find something like that. Mind you after all those café fry ups I’ve had over the years I hope my arteries don’t look the same!

When you mentioned that you worked in IT, I was going to suggest that perhaps you should have switched it off and then turned it back on again but it looked like you had tried that quite a few times already!

Changing to a sealed system might well be a good idea assuming your boiler is suitable (some old boilers were not compatible or needed a special kit fitted to comply) the makers instructions should say and anyway as you said you would use an installer they will be able to advise you.

Thanks for letting me know how you got on, it‘s always nice to know the outcome, particularly when it’s a good one.

Wishing you a warm and merry Christmas / New Year.

footprints