Leaky brand new Drayton TRVs??

JustAnotherSaver

briefly...

* New TRVs bought: http://www.screwfix.com/p/drayton-trv4-white-chrome-trv-15mm-angled-l-s/34362?_requestid=30154
* Plumber fitted yesterday - new rad with one of these TRVs & then to the 2 rads that are currently off he replaced existing TRVs with these Drayton ones (though he initially put some sort of blank on i think as it wasn't the actual TRV - said it was for decorating) & was coming back midweek to fit the rads on to the walls for these.

* the TRV end (where the blanking thing was) in the hall was leaking as i pressured up the boiler which he said shouldn't happen so switched this for the actual TRV. Seemed to stop it.
* Tested under pressure with heating on - no problem.

* Some hours later as i'm out, my wife says the hall one was leaking with a constant small flow & she thought the living room one may be leaking as it was a bit wet.
* Calls plumber. One of the things he said was faulty valves, replace in time for him coming midweek.

* I get home, boiler pressure is 0. I repressure to 1.50 - no leak.
* Wake up this morning - leak. Boiler pressure 1.0. Only a small amount of water has been collected though.
* Leak from where the TRV end connects in to the radiator, both on the hall TRV & living room TRV, although mainly hall.



Chances of them both being faulty would surely be extremely slim?

Also there is no blanking cap put on where the TRV would connect in to the rad. Should there be one there or even without a blanking cap should it not leak?

I can buy in new TRVs but i can't help thinking this isn't the solution.

southcoastrgi

I assume you have water coming out where it would normally be connected into the rad ?
They don't have a positive shut off & only go down to frost protection which is why if you want to turn them off you remove the head & fit the decorators cap & screw down tight

JustAnotherSaver

That's the thing - initially he had a cap fitted (i assume the decorators cap?) & it was leaking the moment i started to repressure the system. So he fitted the TRV which at the time stopped it.

Le_Kirk

From where are the leaking? If it is the body of the TRV, then it is a faulty valve, if it is where the valve fits to the radiator pipe, that is down to the joint or the person who fitted the TRV to the joint.

JustAnotherSaver

Hi

It was leaking from where the TRV connects to the rad.

What I did yesterday was put brass caps with rubber bungs on there & this appeared to fix up the leak.

Ran the heating, had showers & such - no leak. Catch trays bone dry as were TRVs.

Check boiler before bed - 1.2bar.

Wake up & check TRVs & catch trays - all trays dry & TRVs largely dry except for a bit of condensation on the surface.

Check boiler - 0.75bar.

Any idea?

Oh & the boiler is only about 2-3 year old & was serviced a month or two ago.

JustAnotherSaver

Right well I cleared all the air out of the system (heating was on while I did it if this makes a difference) & the bar on the boiler said about 1.4-1.5ish.

Get up this morning - again no signs of leaks. Check boiler & it's about 1.2.

Was services a few month ago. Why may it be dropping pressure when there's no water collecting in the catch trays (which are snug around the pipework on the TRV - those plumb tub things)?

It also seems to happen only through the night. Not through the day in case that makes a difference.

Ruski

Hot water in heating contracts when cooling down overnight and pressure drops.

hth

Russ

JustAnotherSaver

Thanks Russ.

I'll keep my eye on it today. Or rather I'll get my wife to since she's at home. See how it changes if at all & then see again in the morning.

Hopefully with the air out it at the very least shouldn't drop below the 1.2 it currently sits at right?




Also there is no inhibitor in the system after it was drained down on Saturday. The plumber is coming back Thursday morning to fit 3 rads to the walls & connect them up.

Is it ok without inhibitor for just these few days? I would've thought yes but figure I best ask.


Finally, while I'm asking questions - what colour would you expect your central heating water to be? Mine comes out like pee colour - a medium to dark straw yellow.

Ruski

Should be a stable level - 'normal' practice is 1 bar cold.

Fine without inhib for a few days.

Wee colour suggests a fresh fill, if it were old it would be brown/black. But that's all relative is it's being drained and refilled anyway.

Do you have a magnet fitted? If not it can't hurt and will only improve the system in general.

Russ

JustAnotherSaver

Yeah I added the inhibitor earlier in the year & it hadn't been drained since then so when it came out it was the yellow colour I mentioned.

As for magnet - I have no idea. So I would guess probably not. I know what a magnet is of course but not in the context of a central heating system.

Ruski

My apologies - have a look here for the central heating magnetic cleaners - these trap all the iron oxide (sludge) floating around in the circulating water.

My personal favourite is the TF1. Others brands are available

HTH

Russ