Boiler leaking clay balls?

Tiglet

I recently had a combi boiler installed and my tenant was not hapy with the work. She initialy told me there was a problem with insects (silverfish?) getting in through some gaps in the brickwork. I filled these gaps and thought the problem was cured.

But then a couple of days ago, she sent me a photo showing some small (smaller than peas) balls on the worktop directly under the boiler. Thinking this was still the insect problem, I sent the picture to Rentokil. They decided it looks like clay balls, and they suggested they might be used in the boiler.

I called the manufacturer (Vaillant) but, although my call is important to them, they didn't actually pick up the phone.

I'm just trying to find out what the clay balls might be, whether they are actually coming from the boiler, and how serious a problem this is likely to be.

rtho782

Could this be polystyrene balls used as cavity wall insulation from where a hole was cut for the flue or similar?

Tiglet

Could be. The boiler had been installed for at least a couple of weeks before they appeared, though. The flue passes through a hole that previously had an old extractor fan, so there shouldn't have been any need to make a new hole in the wall.

FreeBear

Tiglet wrote: »

I sent the picture to Rentokil. They decided it looks like clay balls, and they suggested they might be used in the boiler.

Lightweight expanded clay (or foamed clay) is sometimes used as an insulation material - Whether Vaillant use this material in their boilers, I don't know. An email to their tech dept may reveal an answer either way.