Worcester 24cdi Hot Water Gradual Fail

[fordfocus2003]

Haha, slightly concerned about the outcome when I re-fill now! Fingers crossed. Thanks for the replies.

Managed to get the bypass tube in. No matter how hard i pushed from the top down, and shook the pipe when in situ I couldn't get it in, so undid the four screws again on the plastic manifold and dislodged the diverter again. With the LHS pulled out slightly, and a bit of firm wiggling the pipe popped down enough for the clip to be pushed across. I then had to firmly apply some pressure to the diverter from the left to the right to get it back in, as the connected bypass valve had pushed the whole assembly to the left, so the circular part of the plastic manifold overlapped a mm or so with the casing where it pushes into the casing.

Back in now, just struggling to line up the LHS union connection on the heat exchanger, it's obviously not quite square, so having fun keeping the washer in-line and trying to get the nut to take at the same time!

I have used a 3/4 inch fibre washer from B&Q as the one supplied had snapped, which seems slightly smaller, it's certainly narrower, so hoping that's going to be ok.

Untitled

• fordfocus2003
• 17 May 2014
• 1

Untitled

• fordfocus2003
• 17 May 2014
• 1

 

[fordfocus2003]

Just to thank everyone for their advice and tips. I finished the job yesterday afternoon (before leaving the house immediately to celebrate!) and happy to report that all works fine and no drips anywhere.

Annoyingly it was pressure tested to 4 bar, as once I'd turned off the water fill approaching 1 bar (lesson learned) the pressure continued to rise, but I ran to the bathroom to bleed the radiator to take it back down to a stable 1 bar. Still no drips, so guess I was lucky.

I also had to go back and re-do half of the job originally as I stupidly accidentally replaced the large o-ring on the heat exchanger with a fibre washer so the second I started filling it, it leaked. GOOD TIP, check the outgoing washers / o-rings carefully, as it had been in there a while, and was limescale'y and flattened I mistook it for a washer, and the perfectly sized washer came supplied with the new diaphragm which actually wasn't needed on my type of Heat exchanger in my 24cdi RSF, which helped me make the mistake freely!

The 3/4 B&Q washer on the heat exchanger union connection seems fine too, but I had to pay particular care to line it up properly given it being so narrow, and keep pressure between the joint as I tightened the nut to ensure it didn't slip.

Heck of a job though, just to agree with everyone who has said the same thing, and my hands need a good while to rest with all the scratches / pushing and pulling, but with due diligence and care, it's achievable. And that's speaking from a first time perspective - now I've done it all once (or twice!) it would be a little bit less of a deal.

Good luck to any first timers attempting the same job!

 

[mogget]

Well done!