Size of Gas Pipe

[colin5705]

I have been having serious problems with my boiler over the last three winters. It goes into Ignition Lockout and after weeks of poor service and umteen new parts it settles down and will run fine for most of the year.
We decided that we could not face another winter like that so have been pricing replacement boilers.
One of the suppliers surveyed the house and said the length of pipe, 22mm, from meter to boiler was too long and would struggle to deliver the volume of gas needed.
I checked the charts published and he is correct, the size and length is right at the minimum needed for the boiler alone, nevermind the hob.
So, are modern boilers (9 years old) that sensitive to a small drop in gas pressure?
If they are, then changing the pipe would be quick solution and a lot cheaper han a new boiler.

Regards,
Colin.

 

[Terry lambert]

If you want to investigate what is going on fully, you would need an engineer to check the working pressure at the boiler and meter with the boiler at max rate and at least three rings on the hob

 

[Terry lambert]

You might only need to upgrade the first couple of lengths to 28mm etc

You don't say if you have a combi/ heat only

A quick indication test would be to turn three rings on the hob, then call for heat and hot water, or run a hot tap on a combi and look at the flame on the hob

Does the burner dip flame on the hob?

Not very scientific but it does give you an indication.

As to whether low pressure affects the boiler, it would depend on how severe it was.

If it runs fine most of the year, I suspect it may not be the only issue

 

[colin5705]

Thank you for the very quick reply.

It is a Baxi 100HE Plus system boiler.

I will try the hob test at the weekend and measure the gas pressure. But as the boiler is running ok at the moment, unless the gas pressure at the boiler is right at the bottom of the manufacturers range, then I might not learn much.
Still better to get as much information as possible before making a decision to replace or not.

Regards,
Colin.

 

[Terry lambert]

By the sounds of it it's having issues in winter from what you say above.

Is there a common theme when the engineer comes to repair it? Have they told you what the issues have been?

You need a gas engineer to correctly measure the working pressure at the boiler.

If it's correct now then it is likely to be fine all year round, unless you have low pressure in your area at peak times in winter, a local gas engineer would know this, or a sticking regulator, but then I would expect issues year round

Do you have it regularly serviced? I would be looking at how the condense was run amongst other things

 

[Agile]

This is a modern condensing boiler.

Because many gas installers are struggling for enough work they will be happy to give you a quote.

What most will not tell you is that it is totally repairable boiler!

All you need is a competent boiler engineer to come to identify the problem and fix it for you.

Tony