Ideal isar HE30 water leaking! Any help appreciated.....

[prp52]

Came home from work last night and put heating on then heard what sounded like a water drip somewhere....
The (inherited) isar HE30 boiler in the bathroom - fitted 09/2005 - had water drips coming out underneath it!
Opened up the bottom and saw water drips but no idea where they coming from so took off front cover and still no idea(L).....
Took the boiler sealing panel off to see if there was anything to be gleaned in there!
Indeed there was - water leaking into the area from somewhere - where?
and looks as if it has been doing so for a while!
I have looked at this forum and there don't seem to be many or any very kind remarks about Ideal boilers BUT I am unable to change it at the moment or perhaps I should??
Could and would any of you folks on here give me some guidance as to where the "fault" or "problem" may be please?
I am an engineer (but not a plumbing engineer) so I am fairly adept at looking into things and repairing - I also have a plumber (CORGI too) who is very good and local and very able so perhaps between he and I - with help from the collective experience on here - we may be able to fix or perhaps if that is too too expensive then perhaps replace.
So my questions -
1. any ideas what the fault/problem may be?
2. how to go about rectifying?
3. if too expensive to repair what is recognised as a good/great replacement?

Sorry for the long posting question and I do appreciate the answers people here may give - BTW the knock when switching from CH to DHW is loud on this boiler too - is this the changeover valve?

Regards
Phil

 

[daden]

plate heat exchanger leak take a t20 star bit and tighen up u get to it under boilet just 2 little screw

 

[gas4you]

With the sealing case off look behind the flue off the right side of the he. Behind this you will see the auto air vent.

These are very prone to leaking on these boilers and can take out other electrical components in the process.

Unfortunately thanks to Ideals brilliant design team moving these to this back position from the front on the original M series you will struggle to swap it, as the flue has to be removed internally to access this.

 

[prp52]

plate heat exchanger leak take a t20 star bit and tighen up u get to it under boilet just 2 little screw

Thank you for that good bit of info.....

I have those tools and will give that a go when I get home tonight...
The location of this part is on a shelf above the control unit and the front panel unit - am I correct in that? Will I need to get all the electronics out of the way to get at this plate heat exchanger as the water that is in place in the area where the heat exchanger unit lives is on a flat plate looking bit and doesn't appear to hang below the boiler do the water appears to dribble down the RHS (looking from front) of the casing near the back.................. I will have a look at it when I am sat in front of it as I am poor at describing the thing with just a manual in my hand.

 

[prp52]

gas4you
thanks too - these seem like great info as I said in just posted note I can't see any water leaking it's just turning up and is more prominent when on CH mode - does that make sense - not that any of this seems to make sense!!
I had a Worcester/Bosch boiler at my house in the Isle of Wight a little while ago and apart from the service guy looking at it and saying things like "hmmm that's very good and clean" I never had ANY problems with it in 10 years! Maybe if this persists in being a big problem Worcester/Bosch will gain another sale!!
I hope I can solve the problem though - as any engineer knows it's easier to replace than fix but so much less rewarding!
Phil

 

[gas4you]

Any leaks will be worse when ch is on due to the system pressure increasing as the water heats up, hence the pressure gauge under bottom left showing a higher reading when rads hot.

 

[prp52]

AHHH that would be sensible then - didn't take that into consideration - so I shall go for the easiest option first - tighten the Torx 20's on the DHW plate heat exchanger and then look at the auto air vent.
I have been looking at the manual and have the exploded diagram in front of me - you're not kidding when you say that bit is difficult to get to are you!!!
There was 1 little washer loose in the top cabinet when I opened it to check last night and I wonder if this has been done before (probably!!) as it doesn't look as if this is just a recent problem.......

 

[gas4you]

Also check the condensing trap and connections to it with a torch.

Has it been regularly serviced? If not the trap could be blocked and it is back filling with condensate.

Worst one of these I went to was one I had fitted 3 1/2 years previously.

Customer had ignored each annual reminder that I sent out for a service, trap had blocked, very common on these due to poor ali HE, condensate had backed up into bottom of he and being slightly acidic had eaten through the main HE.

She thought she was saving £60/year on a service

 

[prp52]

Regular service has not been done - I only moved in a short (less than 1 yr) time ago and looking now at the manual see that it was installe 09/2005 and no note of any services.
I see the condesate outlet is fed through the wall into free space - ie it empties out onto the alleyway between mine and my neighbours back doorways - and it says in manual to empty into the waste water someplace - acidic is how the watery area looks in the top of the boiler as if it has been rusting with some white deposit as well as some brownish deposit - maybe acidic corrosion?
Will certainly check that out and clean it up too

 

[gas4you]

Condensate outlet should terminate into a drain of some sort or a purpose fitted soakaway, not just onto the alleyway floor.

The acidity is about the same as tomato juice, rather than sulphuric or hydrochloric