Potterton Puma 80E - Pressure Drop

[edthedog]

I have a dreaded Puma 80E, which has started losing pressure over the course of a couple of days so that the Low Pressure trip stops it from working. So I refill and the same happens again.

There are no leaks around the case or the pipes in the house.

The heat exchanger is looking 2nd hand, and some of the fins are corroded, but it seems dry.

Could the heat exchanger be leaking while hot, and this be the fault? It has been too wet to see if the PRV is chucking water out of the pipe. It isn't continual if it is.

What next? I know most folks will say REPLACE but is there something I can do before it gets to that point?

 

[ChrisR]

Years in a puma yet. Clean the corrosion off. It should stop, unless there's a leak.
Put a plastic bag over the prv pipe to see if it drips. Put the pressure up just over 2 - it'll be more obvious!

 

[edthedog]

Picked a nice dry day and refilled the system. The outflow was widdling out at less than 2 bar.

I'll try a new PRV, and take it from there.