Glow worm 30CXi pressure problem

[wig]

I have been bleeding the upstairs rads too much, first of all with the bleed valve open nothing came out until the CH was switched on, then some air and water came out. But it had to be done again the next day.

someone else said there is a leak (possibly pressure relief valve), well there is no internal leak, not that I can see. And today I opened the bleed valves and noticed the air was being sucked into the radiator... because the water level in the system had gone down so there was negative pressure in the rad.

Again I looked at the boiler and the pressure display shows 1.5 bar it always always shows 1.5, so knowing the rads were 'empty' I opened the filling loop(?) to let water in, the 1.5 did not change, I did not want to over fill so I stopped. Went upstairs and now the air came out and eventually water. Still showing 1.5

I turned the heating on briefly, and water coming out of the white condensate pipe outside...I suspect this is normal. I turned the heating off and not wanting it too pressurised I opened the Safety Discharge Valve (the 3 bar one) water came out outside through the copper overflow pipe.

I suspect I have 2 problems

1. Why is the pressure always showing 1.5 bar, possibly sensor or PCB

2. Where is all the water going? I only saw water at the condensate pipe I have not yet witnessed the water coming out the copper pipe, purely from the leak, and now that I have opened the SDV that copper pipe is now wet from what I did.

I thought I would take out and clean/replace the sensor first see what happens.

By the way I get no F9 fault, no fault code at all.

 

[AGAS]

I turned the heating off and not wanting it too pressurised I opened the Safety Discharge Valve (the 3 bar one) water came out outside through the copper overflow pipe.

now you probably have another problem now after doing that ?

Why is the pressure always showing 1.5 bar, possibly sensor or PCB

the pressure sensor is faulty or tube blocked , if you have a pink pressure sensor change it and while your at it change the pressure release valve after you've discharged it because it won't probably stop leaking now

now that I have opened the SDV that copper pipe is now wet from what I did.

thats normal , stop fiddling if you don't know what your doing as your probably causing more work for yourself

 

[wig]

I do have a pink one,

Yeah I just read on another thread here about opening the PRV, nevermind, it might have been leaking anyway, still don't know where the leak is coming from, but the boiler is out of use for another day, I will get a draining pipe for tomorrow and check out the sensor and the flow return filter.

I am considering taking the PRV off and washing it out, it can't hurt to try. It would be grit and dirt that cause them to continually leak. EDIT: Mind you I just looked at the cost of a new one about £18 (or £8 delivered on ebay) so it's not going to break the bank to get a new one... I thought it was going to cost much more than that.

I'll update when I have cleaned and or changed the sensor.

Oh and while I am doing this... is it better to use some central heating cleaner and protector? I just saw one online ADEY MC1 & MC3 and how do you do it please? Or is it all snake oil?

Thanks

 

[wig]

I have replaced the pressure sensor, got a bargain for £15.90 delivered on ebay.

It has immediately fixed the pressure indicator display.

First of all the pressure was set to 1.4 and the CH put on. As the water got hot the pressure rose to 1.9, and tonight it went up to 2.8

There was no bleeding to be done straight away, and no bleeding to be done 24 hours later. But the boiler was switched off over night and came on for an hour in the morning. The pressure after switching off at 9am was now 1.2, and when home from work 7pm the pressure was 0.9.

I can see a bit of water at the base of the pump, very little water and no evidence of a drip. At the top of the CH return filter there is a bit of brass and a small (8mm) white plastic round thing, this is not wet now but it shows signs of a previous leak, crusty deposits.

There is virtually no evidence of a leak on the copper pipe outside.

It is still early days and I will keep an eye on what it is doing both inside and outside the house.

I also forgot the take out and clean the return central heating flow pipe filter...which I will do soon.

Does anyone know how to get hold of new o-rings for the boiler and to be sure that they are the right size?


I am also concerned now of having sludge in system and radiators - some are cold in the middle bottom. And concerned that the idiot who built this system has used copper 8mm pipes which block up easily with sludge. and i would like any advice on cleaning out the whole system.... all downstairs rads have drains in the valve ends.

Also concerned that the plate heat exchanger in the boiler could be blocked up with sludge on the CH circuit side...surely that would be one of the first things to block up beyond repair?...i.e. new heat exchanger required....but I would not want to replace until I know the rest of the system is clean.

 

[AGAS]

instead of buying more shyte from eBay try pumping up the expansion vessel first