Glo-Worm Hot Water Express 80 pressurisation

[martyp]

Please can someone advise on this...
A couple of years ago the water old the hot tap ran cold so I turned the knob to increase the pressure in the boiler so that it was up to about 1 bar.
I now check the pressure every couple of weeks and usually have to top it up, sometimes (like today) the needle was right at the bottom of the gauge.
The boiler makes a lot of gurgling noises when it comes on with the central heating but the heating and hot water are still ok.
Today when I turned the knob to increase the pressure it was going up really slowly, much slower than normal. The central heating had been put on shortly before but I switched it off and turned the boiler to off to increase the pressure.
With the central heating on again it's back down to 0.6 bar. Outside there is a copper pipe facing down near the ground and that's dripping (about 1 drip every couple of seconds).

I'm hoping someone can advise on this? Would really appreciate it. I'm out of work at the moment so I'm really worried it could be something costly...

 

[swidders]

Am guessing here but sounds like the pipe sticking out near the ground may be part of the central heating drain off.

If you can trace this back then it could be as simple as the drain-off valve needs tweaking a bit tighter. This may explain the ongoing pressure drops you have been experiencing.

You shouldn't need to top up the pressure so often.

 

[martyp]

Many thanks swidders. I really hope it's a simple fix. I'll do as you say and try and trace it back. It goes in under the sink in a gap between the side of the cupboard and the wall (I can just about reach the knob to increase the pressure).

Thanks again.