Another boiler problem - ours is leaking

wayne71

Rather than start a new thread I hope you don't me tagging my problem onto this, I have a worcester greenstar 28i jnr fitted about 4 years ago.

2 days ago I noticed my pressure was low on the boiler so topped it up to 1.5 bar, at the same time I noticed it making a a 'gurgling' noise, not sure how long its been like this as its located in the garage, however the boiler was still working and the blue light was not flashing.

I did some googling and found that the cause was a frozen condensate pipe (its located outside and only 22mm with no lagging), anyway I defrosted it and insulated it which stopped the gurgling noise and on the face of it the boiler appears to be working.

However I noticed that a constant drip now appears to be coming from the condensate pipe so before leaving for work at 0600 today I placed a jug under the pipe, I've just got home and found almost a pint of water has been lost although the pressure on the boiler remains at around 1.5 bar.

I emailed worcester and they suggested it could be a faulty heat exchanger but then went onto say it shouldnt fail on a 4 year old boiler?

Any ideas?

Thanks

macman

The condensate pipe is supposed to drip-that's what it's there for -to discharge the condensate.
However if you are still losing pressure, then that is another matter which may require investigation.

wayne71

Thanks, I'll keep an eye on the pressure, didnt realise how much water was lost via the condensate pipe when the bolier was in use (its litres per day I'm told).

Peckedhen

How much condensate comes out of the boiler overnight in this cold snap? Would a plastic dustbin, placed under the flexible condensate pipe, just below the boiler, be large enough to hold a nights liquid? If so, undoing the plastic pipe and letting the flexible pipe drip into a bin might be the answer??

Peckedhen

wayne71 wrote: »

Thanks, I'll keep an eye on the pressure, didnt realise how much water was lost via the condensate pipe when the bolier was in use (its litres per day I'm told).

When the presure drops again, locate your highest radiator and see if the top is cool, if so, you might have a slow leak somewhere in the system.

macman

Peckedhen wrote: »

How much condensate comes out of the boiler overnight in this cold snap? Would a plastic dustbin, placed under the flexible condensate pipe, just below the boiler, be large enough to hold a nights liquid? If so, undoing the plastic pipe and letting the flexible pipe drip into a bin might be the answer??

More than adequate. The handbook says a maximum of 2 litres an hour.