Manifold or not?

[Keep it simple]

I am seriously frustrated and want to know if this is worth pursuing….

we have a leak in our system that means our boiler loses pressure overnight when the pipes are cold.

we have a boiler and radiator policy with Scottish power so I called them out. The engineer they sent is 3rd party subcontractor who runs his own business. Says part that needs replaced is called automatic air release valve, but that it won’t be covered by our policy (not to worry tho he can fix it for £300 and gives me his company name phone number & email address).

I call Scottish power and they say part called underfloor heating manifold is not covered. The pipe work in question was installed for a large extension that has both radiators and UFH. The manifold (the thing that takes 1 pipe and splits it into about 20 for our UFH is actually under the floor accessible via a hatch. I just don’t understand why this isn’t covered as part of our heating system policy (boiler, pipes, zone valves, radiators all covered for £312 per year)

Would anyone else refer you this as an UFH manifold??? Is this worth pursuing or should I just get the engineer back to fix it and pay the £300.

Read more: https://www.diynot.com/diy/forums/plumbing/create-thread#ixzz7MTFzdB38

 

[oldbuffer]

The following assumes the leak is coming from the automatic air vent (AAV), the "bottle" shaped thing at the top of your picture with a red plastic cap like a tyre valve cap.
1. These always leak after a while.
2. Screwing down the cap may stop the leak.
3. Replacement valves cost less than £10 to buy, e.g. Screwfix 34359.
4. To fit one you would need to shut off the flow of water:
4a. There appears to be a valve on each pipe going into the right of the AAV. Shut both off, counting the number of 1/8 turns required to fully close, so that they can be re-opened to the same position when finished.
4b. Stopping the water to the left of the valve is more problematic. I'd freeze the pipe as the least disruptive way. You can get single use freeze sprays, otherwise get a plumber with an electric freezer to do it.
4c. Unscrew the old AAV and replace with a new one. Bit of PTFE tape round the threads wouldn't hurt.
5. You could replace it with a manual air vent e.g. BES 6793, which would require soldering.
6. If it were me I'd fit a decent isolation valve before the AAV, so that it could be changed more easily in future.
7. Incidentally, your labelling may be wrong. The pipe with the gate valve in it, to the left of the pump, looks like a bypass, which is why its important to know how far open / closed it is.