Low inlet gas pressure – Valiant EcoTec Plus

[ajcon]

I have purchased and had fitted a Valiant EcoTec Plus combi boiler. I am getting around 14.5mb of pressure at the boiler itself and have been told that this should be around 18. I have oak wooden floors in the flat which is in SW18 so access to the carcass is pretty much impossible (without pulling up the floors which I really don’t want to do. The boiler seems to be working ok although the water pressure very slightly drops over a period of a few months and I have to very occasionally top this back up. The boiler sometimes will start for a about a minute and then stop throughout the day when it is on timer and shouldn’t be coming on – is this normal?
How do I know where to start here? Are there any ways of increasing the gas pressure without having to replace the carcass? Many thanks for your advise in advance. Cheers. A

 

[ajcon]

It appears that 22mm piping is coming into the flat and running for 8m max. The flat is ground floor(1 other flat above). I’d say 15mm feeders are going off to run rads and cooker etc. There is 1 * 168cm rad in the lounge, 1 * 142cm rad in bedroom 1 (rarely used), *2 117cm rads in hallway, 1 * very small rad in bedroom 2 (never used or on), 1 towel rack in the bathroom and 1 * 95cm rad in the kitchen plus small (50cm) gas oven and hob. I am thinking of replacing gas oven with an electric one but keeping the gas hob. No idea if any of this info helps………… and I am making an assumption on the main artery is 22mm by looking at what is going from the gas meter into the flat. Cheers again

 

[mogget]

A registered engineer will be able to diagnose the problem and suggest possible solutions - you shouldn't DIY this.

The installer should have ensured that the gas supply was adequate.

In my opinion the installer should come back and sort out this problem.

 

[landyandy]

Hi A.

Who fitted the boiler?

Which model ecoTEC Plus is it?

How are you testing that you have 14.5mbar?

Who told you that it should be 18mbar?

Andy.

 

[ajcon]

Hey Andy,

Thanks for getting back.

Who fitted the boiler – well a kind of colleague who was doing the bathroom – he got a corgi registered engineer to assist him and flush through the system. It wasn’t certified because of the low pressure and that’s my concern. He’s pretty much gone awol and left it as my problem. Although it all seems to be working fine, I need it certed in order to sell the property – correct?

EcoTEC Plus 831

Not sure re the testing – he put some reader machine of the boiler to ascertain the pressure post installation. The boiler it replaced, although old was working fine. I was advised to replace it in order to get better pressure in my bathroom for the shower etc – made no difference post installation

The corgi registered bloke and the bathroom bloke said that the guildines specified it must be around this (might have been a little lower)

I am pretty blind to all this. I would never myself attempt DIY on something like this myself so apologies for misleading in my original post. I just don’t know where to start. I’ve read about governors, blocked pipes coming from the street etc … Totally fuc*’n lost to be honest

 

[landyandy]

Hi A.

You should really get a min of 17mbar.
It's possible that your pipework is undersized for this boiler.
I would imagine that this new boiler has a higher gas input compared to your old boiler.
So if the pipework wasn't sized correctly for this new boiler, then there is your problem.
It's also possible that when it was tested it was tested at a time of high demand.
It's also possible that the gas pipe to your property is partially blocked.
Either way the best advise, as previously stated, is to get a gas engineer out to have a look.

Andy.

 

[gas4you]

If the gas inlet pressure has been tested at the inlet on the gas valve, as I assume it has been, then you should be getting 17mBar at this point, as the Ecotec loses 3 mBar between the gas isolating valve under the boiler and the gas valve, so 17mBar = 20 mBar.

With 20 mBar here you should have a maximum of 21 mBar WP at the meter.

It seems to me that this is perhaps what could be looked at as an illegal install, since it could have been registered by anyone who actually was CORGI registered in his own right.

 

[Agile]

He said he is getting 14.5 mB at the boiler ! Thats about 2.5 mB low or worse.

This is the kind of problem which you get if you skimp on professional installation.

Presumably you have no completed Benchmark and the installation has not been notified to CORGI who inform the Building Control of yor local Council.

Therefore you might be in a bit of a mess.

Of course you could report this CORGI to the registration body and they will serve a Defects Notice on him ! CORGIs are required to ONLY fit compliant gas installations as required by law!

Tony

 

[plumbitright]

The commissioning instructions in the installer handbook will always tell you what the boilers minimum gas working pressure should be. The installer should have determined the pipe size requirement and fitted pipe to suite. If this was not possible, he should not have proceeded with the installation.
If you went for a cheap option by using a non qualified engineer, sorry, but there's no sympathy for you here.
You say the old boiler was working fine. Perhaps you should have left well alone until you'd saved enough pennies to pay a real gas fitter??

 

[sooey]

This post is over two years old.

 

[plumbitright]

So what's your point?

 

[sooey]

It'll be fixed by now.

The fact that he hasn't posted back since two and a half years ago is a clue.

 

[plumbitright]

Perhaps it is. Thanks for keeping an eye out.

 

[sooey]

Don't mention it.