Hi I need your help to identify the type of Boiler

[truthfinder]

Mine a 4 bed-room house.
The boiler is situated in the car garage.
We have a hot water cylinder in our airing cupboard fed from water cistern in the loft. Also in the loft another small cistern - I suspect expansion cistern. Timer and thermostat in the kitchen for the water heating & central heating. I hear a pump noise when the boiler is in action.
The boiler in the garage has ID: Potterton Prima F 80.

Can sombody tell me
1.What is the type of my boiler? [Fully pumped open vent boiler or Gravity fed boiler?]

2. What is the equivalent boiler to the above I could find in the present market to replace my existing Potterton Prima f80?

 

[ianmcd]

if you have a small feed and expansion tank in your loft it sounds as though you have an open vented system, your boiler is a system boiler but apart from that , from the information you have posted, I cant tell you much else, there are lots of boilers that you could replace your current one with

 

[Agile]

Heat only boiler described by both your descriptions.

Most boilers are now fitted to a sealed system.

Only a few heat only boiler s now can use an OV system.

Why is your gas registered installer not advising you?

Tony

 

[truthfinder]

if you have a small feed and expansion tank in your loft it sounds as though you have an open vented system, your boiler is a system boiler but apart from that , from the information you have posted, I cant tell you much else, there are lots of boilers that you could replace your current one with

Thank you ianmcd.
If I could qualify my question further-I do not want a Combi boiler.
What is the equivalent to my exisiting boiler that will fit in witout any need for replacing my existing timer,thermostat,and the radioter connections,cistern connections/
Would you be able to suggest any boiler names that I can start researching?
Regards

 

[truthfinder]

Heat only boiler described by both your descriptions.

Most boilers are now fitted to a sealed system.

Only a few heat only boiler s now can use an OV system.

Why is your gas registered installer not advising you?

Tony

Thank you Tony.
I am keen to keep my exisiting plumbing inplace. Will the feeder and the Expansion cistern become obsolete in a sealed system?
Can I stay with Open Vent Boiler under present legislation?

Sorry to ask too many questions.

I am awaiting for my Corgi registered installer to spek to me tonight and I am gathering information to know what I am told.!!

 

[D_Hailsham]

The existing boiler is 80,000 BThU output, but that does not mean you have to replace it with one with the same output. There are two reasons for this:

1. The boiler may have been oversized - this was frequently done when gas was cheap.

2. The house may now be better insulated.

Use Whole House Boiler Size Calculator to find out what size boiler you really need.

There are many boilers available but I doubt if you will find one which can just drop in, in place of the Prima. The pipe work will have to be altered as some make connections at the top and others at the bottom. The flow can be on left and return on right, or vice versa.

System boilers dispense with the expansion tank in the loft but, as the system runs at a higher pressure, there is a danger it may spring a leak, particularly if it is old.

 

[CBF]

if he's still corgi reg i'd be worried as it's been Gas Safe for nearly 4 yrs

 

[ianmcd]

I would recommend you switch to a sealed system this doesnt mean fitting a combi,you can have a sealed system and still keep yout existing HW tank etc. if you do this you will have a much larger range of boilers to choose from but as previous poster correctly advised it may result in small leaks at first as your system will be at a higher pressure but will work a lot more efficiently and you wont have another tank in the loft to worry about,if you still want to keep it as an open vented system the Worcester Ri is as good as anything elso on the market that will work on open vented

 

[truthfinder]

I would recommend you switch to a sealed system this doesnt mean fitting a combi,you can have a sealed system and still keep yout existing HW tank etc. if you do this you will have a much larger range of boilers to choose from but as previous poster correctly advised it may result in small leaks at first as your system will be at a higher pressure but will work a lot more efficiently and you wont have another tank in the loft to worry about,if you still want to keep it as an open vented system the Worcester Ri is as good as anything elso on the market that will work on open vented

Thank you D_Hailsham & ianmcd.

My Feed cistern in the loft has an over-flow pipe and help avoid a leak in the loft.
Have I understood correctly in that, if I go for sealed system due to pressure raise initially, I may encounter leak? if that is so where should I expect the leak from?

 

[ianmcd]

usually just very small leaks from radiator valves, the problem is that as you have an open vented system it automatically replaces any water that is currently being lost and if you go to a sealed system then you have to manually top the system up, so with the new system also running at a higher pressure, it is also possible that you already have a small leak but have never noticed, but you will notice if you switch to a sealed system , would still recommend it though, and it might not leak just some older systems do so we are just advising that it is a possibility most are fine to be honest

 

[scoobydo123]

What's wrong with the current boiler? Or perhaps the question is why are you thinking you need to change it? Perhaps you think you are going to save hundreds by having a new boiler? You will definitely save by insulating your house and keeping your current reliable boiler. Some savings may also come from changing your cylinder to a modern one with larger coil and better insulation (this depends on if you already have a foam lagged cylinder) this can be re-used if your old boiler becomes uneconomical to repair (unlikely).

 

[truthfinder]

What's wrong with the current boiler? Or perhaps the question is why are you thinking you need to change it?.

The boiler playing up!!. I also find on the top metal covering of Potterton Prima has corroded and a small hole on the fascia.
Awaiting for the Gas Safe installer to take look at it.

 

[scoobydo123]

Oh dear you may need to prepare yourself to have the boiler switched off as immediately dangerous. Take it the corrosion on the top of the boiler is from a leaking joint or something leaking above this could mean a new casing which is new boiler time. Small hole on the fascia is this just the plastic under carriage this isn't a problem