Leaking radiators after new boiler

Dreamy_blue

Had a new boiler in the autumn, changing from vented to unvented system so also had new hot water cylinder. No powerflush as told not needed.
House 19 years old, we’ve been in it for 2.

Since new boiler, we’ve had to change 2 sets of leaking taps, and one leaking radiator.

Four more radiators now leaking at the valves. Waiting for the plumber to come and assess what needs doing.

We understand that wear and tear happens, and a higher pressure system will expose weak points.
However, we weren’t told that we could be faced with so many radiator problems.
Worried now about how the pipework in general will cope.

Happy with plumber’s work, a little annoyed at the communication.

I guess I’m asking whether we can expect leaks to keep happening (and can we do anything proactively), and if we should have a frank discussion with the plumber (and what will that achieve)?

alanobrien

There is always a risk of leaking valves and joints going from an unpressurised to pressurised system. When we did it the coil in the (indirect) hot water tank perforated meaning i had to fit a whole new tank.

You can reduce the system pressure to just above the minimum recommended to try and reduce the effect. Other than that its ongoing maintenance until the system settles down.

bris

If the radiators are leaking because of the change in system pressure then there is nothing the plumber could have done about it. It's a risk you take.


If you had a power flush, which you probably should have with a new boiler, then the problem would have been much worse.


After 19 years the system will be very dirty, the boiler manufacture will void a warranty if they find the system water in a bad way. This is why the benchmarks asks about cleaning the system.

nofoollikeold

1. Taps / Hot water system. What is actually leaking, the taps, the spouts or the connections between the hot water system and the taps?
2. Central heating: What is actually leaking. The radiators themselves, the valves themselves, the connections between valves and radiators or the connections between valves and the system pipework?

It matters, because connections leaking after an initial dry start could be caused by the system pressure rising. But if they have leaked from the offset I would have expected the installer to fix the problem.

Radiators leaking directly could imply no inhibitor was added when the boiler was replaced, leading to internal corrosion of the radiators. If that is the case existing weaknesses could have been made worse.