New boiler, problems with radiators

[CJC]

I have recently had a new boiler installed, a GlowWorm 30 Hxi. The old boiler was located in the living room and this new boiler has been installed in the kitchen. The house has 4 radiators upstairs and 4 downstairs. The pipe work seems to be a combination of copper and plastic. A previous owner added 3 downstairs radiators off a T from upstairs. I think the fourth downstairs radiator comes off the end of the upstairs loop on plastic pipes? The hot water tank is upstairs and there is a feed & expansion tank in the loft. The loft space is very shallow, perhaps 1 metre at the apex.

Since having the boiler installed we seem to have had numerous problems with radiators being intermittently on and off. The engineers have tried numerous things over the weeks since we had the boiler fitted. Changing TRV’s, flushing the downstairs loop with water to remove air, banging & shaking various pipes……

All the radiators now seem to be working however the upstairs radiators heat in about 10 minutes while the downstairs radiators don’t seem to start to get hot until about an hour after the boiler goes on. When I turned the upstairs TRV’s half down this morning the downstairs radiators seemed to hear in about 40 minutes. I also seem to be suffering from quite a lot of air in the system as I can bleed air out every day.

I’ve had the engineers back again today and they are telling me that the air in the system is because the vent pipe is not long enough (shallow roof) and that the downstairs radiators are slow because of air locks in the system (apparently plastic pipes are worse for this?). Their proposed solution is to cap/remove the vent pipe, add an expansion vessel in the airing cupboard and create a sealed system.

This all sounds plausible to someone who has next to no knowledge of plumbing/heating however I am reluctant to spend more money without a second opinion. I’d be grateful for any advice. Apologies for the essay but thought it would be best to give as much info as possible.

 

[Rob]

If they are prepared to do it fairly cheap as they should be responsible for leaving your system working for the original price then go for it.

Sounds as though the system also needs to be balanced properly using the lockshield valves on your rads not the TRVS

 

[gas4you]

You must have 8 really big radiators to warrant a 30HXi

It sounds as though the system is sucking in air. Should have been installed correctly at the start

According to MI's you should have a minimum height of 1m from top of boiler to base of expansion tank, and the vent pipe should be 450mm minimum above the expansion tank. If you have got these distances it should work and fault will lie elsewhere.

Changing to pressurised system should cure it but is it necessary

 

[corgiman]

and are they going to fit a filling loop, pressure guage and a pressure relief valve as well as the expansion vessel

as has been said they should really have sussed this out when they were quoting

My guv'nor doesnt expect anyone to pay for our mistakes (not that there are any ever )

 

[CJC]

Thanks for your help.

Assuming the expansion tank & vent pipe have the correct distances, what are the likely causes of air getting in the system?

 

[gas4you]

Incorrect piping arrangement of vent and cold fill or pump in wrong position or both

 

[Agile]

CJC you can email gas4u from his profile as you are both in the same town.

You can tell him which of the Norwich cowboys was responsible.

If you paid for the new boiler then you should expect it to work and NOT to have to pay additional costs to make it work.

If you really dont get anywhere then you could get Dave or I to come and sort it out and then you sue the installers for the costs!!!

Some other gas engineers dont like me very much because I believe that people should get a good deal and any installers mistakes should be put right by the installer AT THEIR COST !

Tony

 

[sooey]

sorry tony just can't resist this:-

Some other gas engineers dont like me very much because I believe that people should get a good deal and any installers mistakes should be put right by the installer AT THEIR COST !

some other gas engineers don't like you very much because you're such an uppity c*nt who can never resist an opportunity to talk down to people.

 

[gas4you]

sorry tony just can't resist this:-

Some other gas engineers dont like me very much because I believe that people should get a good deal and any installers mistakes should be put right by the installer AT THEIR COST !

some other gas engineers don't like you very much because you're such an uppity c*nt who can never resist an opportunity to talk down to people.

 

[namsag]

Now thats what you call a cracking one liner.. He will be accusing you of being ex BG with language like that.

 

[corgiman]

sorry tony just can't resist this:-

Some other gas engineers dont like me very much because I believe that people should get a good deal and any installers mistakes should be put right by the installer AT THEIR COST !

some other gas engineers don't like you very much because you're such an uppity c*nt who can never resist an opportunity to talk down to people.

ROFLMAO

Oh mercy

I am weeping and me sides hurt

Brilliant sorry tony but this did tickle me