Vaillant pressure and Salus control problems

[PollyW]

New Vaillant Ecotec pro 30 boiler installed in August, worked OK for two months then the pressure suddenly dropped. Tried to raise it but it shot right up and made a very loud constant noise that we could only stop by turning water completely off. So no heating or water at all for a few days.

Have had huge problems with the company (am resisting temptation to name them!) who installed it, but they eventually came and got it working, but noticed no inhibitor had been put in, and a short pipe had been fitted poorly, so these had to be ordered. It took several weeks (and many frustrating phone calls) for the installation people to come back to fix it. Meanwhile our house was often cold as the Salus IT500 control was not working, nor the app, and we could not control the heating at all.

The man came on Thursday and got it working, but the next morning no heating nor hot water. We raised the pressure again. Two days later, today, yet again the pressure had sunk, and we had to fix it again.

We are losing confidence in the installation company, and do not expect to even be able to have a phone conversation with anyone this week or that anyone will actually come. Have a horrid feeling there might be no hot water again tomorrow morning.

What might the problem be with the pressure?
We had our last boiler for about 15 years and only had to fix the pressure every six months or so. Strangely the heated towel rail in the bathroom (upstairs) works best, whereas our lounge radiators rarely come on at all.
Can we change the Salus for a wireless thermostat with manual controls? Have read such bad reviews about the Salus I would rather get rid of it.

We might have to give up with the installation company and pay someone else to fix it. But feel we should not have to do this having spent so much on the new boiler just a few months ago.

Thanks for any advice and sorry for such a long post.

 

[CBW]

Yes the Salus can be changed for a wireless thermostat, not sure what you mean by manual controls? The pressure loss - any work done recently? Has water been escaping from the safety discharge pipe outside? How much water are you putting in/pressurising to?

 

[terryplumb]

So your main problem is the system losing pressure. That could be a leak on the systems radiators /pipework.
Or it could be being lost from the boiler itself ,most commonly via its PRV. The PRV Pipework goes externally ,in copper pipe, see if water has been exiting from this pipe.

 

[PollyW]

Thanks to you both for your replies.

Manual controls were not really the right words to use! I just meant without needing internet nor any connection to our router to try and control the heating. I liked our wall-mounted wireless thermostat we had before; my husband likes the idea of the app, even though it never works!

Re the pressure loss and any work done recently - a few weeks ago someone supposedly fixed the issue when the pressure shot right up, even though it plummeted again a few days later. The boiler is only a few months old. It seems to plummet overnight when the boiler goes off. So we wake to a freezing house with no hot water - not helpful as I have to leave early for work.

I don't know if water is coming out the safety discharge pipe - I can look tomorrow. But when we had the incident with the pressure shooting right up (when my husband tried to raise it for the first time), we noticed the next day that the path by the discharge pipe was very brown as if something had come out of the pipe. It seemed as if something had been burning - when the boiler was making such a noise and it seemed as if it might explode, we were bleeding 3 radiators to try and lower the pressure but when the noise would not stop, we just had to turn off the water completely. So maybe that did some damage to the boiler that was not spotted when the man came to fix it.

What do you mean by how much water are we putting in? The pressure goes down to .1. We get it back up to about 4.

Thanks for your help and sorry I do not know the proper words to use to explain what is happening. What is the PRV? The pressure drops suddenly overnight.

 

[terryplumb]

Are you raising the pressure to 4 BAR ??
If so you are creating your own problems.

 

[PollyW]

Why is that a problem? It might not be exactly that. We are raising the pressure to just below the top dotted line.
Please see attached photo to show what it is right now.
Thank you.

 

[terryplumb]

Ok ,that's nowhere near 4 bar ,it's showing 1.7 bar ,which is fine if the system is hot ,when central heating is off and system cools ,the pressure will naturally drop to around 1 bar. As the water heats it expands and pressure increases ,contracts when cool and pressure drops.
The pressure ,when cold ,only needs to be at the lower dotted line. The system pressure should never get to the upper dotted line ,if it does there is a problem ,likely with the expansion vessel.

 

[PollyW]

Thanks Terry.
Next time we raise the pressure I will see what the number actually is when it is near the top line.
When it does its sudden drop, it goes right below the lower dotted line, and is on .1
When we get someone to look at it, I will mention the expansion vessel. Is this something that could have been damaged by the pressure going above the top dotted line?
The boiler is just a few months old.

Thank you

 

[CBW]

Brown water/staining would indicate dirty water in my opinion. A lack of inhibitor will not help it, nor would not flushing through water in the first place. Did they carry out any flushing on the system? Could still be an expansion issue as well.

Re the controls: yes can be changed for any wireless one (as far as I know).

 

[ianmcd]

The boiler is just a few months old.

Well it is still under warranty so get Vaillant out to it

 

[CBW]

Well it is still under warranty so get Vaillant out to it

Trouble is,if it’s dirty system, would they then bill them?