New Condenser boiler fitted. Water now stinks

Matty36

** Think i posted this in wrong section again. Apologies **

Is it normal for the water to smell like **** after a new Condenser boiler is fitted? It was cloudy at first but that cleared. But its been a day and the water still stinks. Sometimes eggy, sometimes sulphury, sometimes !!!!!!.

Oh, and the hot water tap sounds like its going to blow off everytime its turned on but also leaks when its off...

Solutions? Advice? Did the installer cut a corner somewhere?

tim_p

Surely the first person to ask would be the installer.
We had a new condensing boiler installed about 9 months ago and have experienced nothing like you’re describing. Saying that, it wasn’t a combi boiler so all that changed in our situation was the heat source.
Get on to the installer while they might still be interested!

markin

Water set at 60c? To rule out bacteria.


Flexi tap connectors not WRAS approved?

Cardew

All boilers are now condensing.


Is yours a combi boiler('instant' hot water) or a 'normal' boiler that heats a hot water tank.

Matty36

Yeah its a combi. When i turn the hot tap on and leave it running, the digital display on the boiler creeps up to 61 degrees.

Its a Worcester Greenstar I ErP

Called the installer and he's adamant that its all normal and should leave the hot tap running for 20 minutes. Nothing changed. The smell is hard to explain. Probably more of a slight burning/eggy smell, rather than sulphur.

And its not really instant hot water. I mean the boiler turns on when I turn the hot tap on but takes about 20-30 seconds to get hot

Cardew

On your model there is a pre-heat facility that can be switched on or off. When 'on' water is pre-heated in a small internal tank to give faster response for hot water. It might be a good idea to switch that off and check again for a smell.



The delay in getting hot water to a tap is a function of how much cold water in the pipes has to be 'run-off'.

Talldave

Matty36 wrote: »

Yeah its a combi. When i turn the hot tap on and leave it running, the digital display on the boiler creeps up to 61 degrees.

Its a Worcester Greenstar I ErP

Called the installer and he's adamant that its all normal and should leave the hot tap running for 20 minutes. Nothing changed. The smell is hard to explain. Probably more of a slight burning/eggy smell, rather than sulphur.

And its not really instant hot water. I mean the boiler turns on when I turn the hot tap on but takes about 20-30 seconds to get hot

Welcome to the crap world of combi boilers. The bigger your property the bigger the misery. The last one of these I experienced was in a two bed flat where the system boiler with integrated tank died. For sure, after the combi was fitted gas consumption went down, but water consumption rocketed as you spent all day running taps waiting for hot water to appear. The water bill increase exceeded the gas savings so our total bills went up.

tacpot12

The hot tap leaking when turned off suggests a water pressure problem to me (pressure too high). Perhaps your area has high water pressure and the installer removed a Pressure Reducing Valve during the installation, not realising that it was required?

The hot tap sounding like it is going to blow off, could be related to the mains water pressure, but is more likely to just be the pressure caused when the boiler fires up and the hot water in the heat exchanger starts to expand.

The smell is very unusual. It could be a problem with the mains water supply, i would run the cold tap into a saucepan and boil it and then smell that water. If there is no smell, then there is a problem with the boiler. I would call the manufacturer for advice. It may be some contamination in the pipe, possibly flux from the installation. If it is flux, the installer is at fault and should redo the faulty section of the install.

Matty36

Cardew wrote: »

On your model there is a pre-heat facility that can be switched on or off. When 'on' water is pre-heated in a small internal tank to give faster response for hot water. It might be a good idea to switch that off and check again for a smell.

The delay in getting hot water to a tap is a function of how much cold water in the pipes has to be 'run-off'.

I'll try that thanks (Update) - Its already set to eco. When I hold the eco button in, its changes to preheat and there are no other options. So I should just leave it on eco?

Talldave wrote: »

Welcome to the crap world of combi boilers. The bigger your property the bigger the misery. The last one of these I experienced was in a two bed flat where the system boiler with integrated tank died. For sure, after the combi was fitted gas consumption went down, but water consumption rocketed as you spent all day running taps waiting for hot water to appear. The water bill increase exceeded the gas savings so our total bills went up.

Luckily I'm not on a water meter. Had one in previous property and hated it

tacpot12 wrote: »

The hot tap leaking when turned off suggests a water pressure problem to me (pressure too high). Perhaps your area has high water pressure and the installer removed a Pressure Reducing Valve during the installation, not realising that it was required?

The hot tap sounding like it is going to blow off, could be related to the mains water pressure, but is more likely to just be the pressure caused when the boiler fires up and the hot water in the heat exchanger starts to expand.

The smell is very unusual. It could be a problem with the mains water supply, i would run the cold tap into a saucepan and boil it and then smell that water. If there is no smell, then there is a problem with the boiler. I would call the manufacturer for advice. It may be some contamination in the pipe, possibly flux from the installation. If it is flux, the installer is at fault and should redo the faulty section of the install.

The smell only started as soon as the boiler went in. Water started off cloudy (almost pure white) which cleared after an hour but the smell remained. This is all from the hot tap by the way, the cold tap is perfectly fine so don't think it's the water supply.

Biscuit_Tin

Matty36 wrote: »

** Think i posted this in wrong section again. Apologies **
....
Oh, and the hot water tap ... also leaks when its off...

Solutions? Advice? Did the installer cut a corner somewhere?

Usually something as simple as it needing a new washer

Any plumber should be able to fix that for you if you don't know how to fix it yourself.

Nothing to do with having a new boiler fitted.

Biscuit_Tin

Matty36 wrote: »

** Think i posted this in wrong section again. Apologies **

Is it normal for the water to smell like **** after a new Condenser boiler is fitted? It was cloudy at first but that cleared. But its been a day and the water still stinks. Sometimes eggy, sometimes sulphury, sometimes !!!!!!.

Oh, and the hot water tap sounds like its going to blow off everytime its turned on but also leaks when its off...

Solutions? Advice? Did the installer cut a corner somewhere?

Regarding the smell, is this any help?
https://www.waterfiltershop.co.uk/blog/why-does-my-tap-water-smell-bad/

It seems to support the advice given to you by your installer to run the system for a while to flush it out.

Once it's been flushed out (and assuming the incoming supply is ok, as you say it is based on your testing of the cold water) then I can't see it being an issue with a the boiler.

(This assumes you are based in the UK. Plenty of references to a similar issue in the US can be found on the www, and indeed some UK sites referencing the US sites, but this is the UK and not the US. The advice on the US sites is not applicable to the UK)

The water being cloudy is not necessarily an issue. It can occur simply because it is being heated and is actually just lots of tiny air bubbles. If you draw off a glass of couldy water (if it ever reoccurs) and leave it to stand it should clear of its own accord. If when it clears there is no sediment, it almost certainly was just the result of air bubbles.