Slight Problem with Immersion Heater - Overflow pipe leaking

[leecol]

Can anyone help?

Recently i have noticed the overflow pipe outside the property is damp and has bring dripping on a regular basis. We have economy 7 heater with an immersion heater. On checking the imersion heater the top tank with the ball cylinder seems ok, the water shuts off when the ball cylinder reaches a certain level.

The pipe only seems to overflow outside during or after the immersion heater comes on from midnight until 7 in the morning. I have turned the temperature down also but this does not seemed to have helped. - any sugggestions please???

 

[JohnD]

It might bve that teh ball valve is dripping a bit. you may not notice this during the day when you are running taps from tiem to time, but overnight when no water is used it could be slowly reaching the top of the cistern and dripping out.

There is a faint chance that the expansion of water when it gets hot will raise the level a little, but if your ballvalve is adjusted to a normal level a couple of inches below the overflow it would not happen.

Is the water heated only by the immersion, or do you have a boiler as well? If so, does the boiler have a "header tank" feed and expansion cistern and where is it (as there is also a possibility of cross-leakage from there)

 

[leecol]

Thanks for that John, No we haven't got a seperate boiler as we have no gas into property - its all electric.

whats the best way to adjust the ball valve??

 

[JohnD]

If the old one is NOT dripping, then you want to adjust the float so that it is lower in the water when it presses the nose of the pivoting arm into the valve. You will probably see a white plastic thread with a plastic nut on it.

If the arm is made of brass, you can bend it a little.

However, if the valve is dripping, the easiest thing is to fit a new one - it will only cost you a few pounds, and its adjusting screw will be free and easy to turn.

It is possible to fit a new washer to the valve, but I'd suggest fitting the new valve, then, later, taking the old one apart on your kitchen table, where you have plenty of time, plenty of light, and plenty of room, and fitting a new washer to it if it is generally good condition, then putting it in a polythene bag next to the tank so you can swap it back next time you get a drip.

If you found the old valve noisy, you might find that fitting a new one will make it quieter, or you could buy a smaller and much quieter valve, sold under the "Torbeck" name. It will fit into the same place on your tank. They cost a few pounds more.