Repressurising my Worcester boiler

Milerix

I appreciate this isn't really a money saving topic... But I'm trying to do this myself to avoid calling a plumber!

I recent bought a house and with it a Worcester 30i boiler. With the heating being a bit spotty, I decided to bleed the radiators which wasn't fully successful, due to - as I subsequently discovered - boiler pressure gauge pointing at the big fat zero. So I decided to clue myself up on repressurising and discovered there are 3 methods for this:
1. Using a key - no key and no entries for the key
2. Using a hose - no hose
3. Using a blue lever - no lever either!

All I have is 3 pipes going into the boiler:
Hot one, going into central heating unit
Hot one, connecting the boiler and big water tank
Cold one, going into the wall, with absolutely no levers or anything on it.
All three pipes have an open/closed black screw that can be turned at the point where they go inside the boiler, but are all in open position. Any ideas at all how to repressurise?? Thanks in advance!

nofoollikeold

You need to post:
1. You need to post the precise make and model of your boiler, together with photographs of it and the pipework connections to it, and photographs of your hot water cylinder (if any).
2. If its a combi, it would have six copper pipes (flow, return, cold in, hot out, pressure relief and gas (or oil), and probably one white plastic (condensate).
3. Given that you have a hot connected to the "big water tank" suggests you have a system or heat only boiler.
4. If heat only you may well have an open system, with a small feed and expansion tank in the loft. However, you state you have a pressure gauge, so its likely to be a system boiler.

bris

The filling loop will be near the tank and the expansion vessel.

Locate the tank and follow the pipes.

dunroving

I'm re-pressurising my new WB 30i tomorrow, with the help of the plumber who installed it, so I'll share what I learn!

Milerix

This is the boiler:
imgur com WZIRnPF

Here are the pipes coming out of it:
E2t0Tf9

Here are they continued and what they connect to. The red circle is on the cold pipe which goes down, right and into the wall.
dmYBERu

And this is the big tank next to it
hZm3JJM

Let me know if you need other pictures as there is a lot of stuff...

nofoollikeold

The filling loop is in your third picture (dmYBERu). Its the looped, braided hose with a black lever valve at each end.
Just check that it is not connected to a white or blue expansion vessel (you can look that up on the internet). If it is, that's for pressurising the hot water system, which you don't want to touch. Assuming its not connected to the hot water, then:
1. Open one valve.
2. Open the other slowly. You should hear the water entering the system. Get someone to check the boiler pressure gauge.
3. When it gets to about 1.2 / 1.3 bar, close both valves. Job done.
The valves are fully open when the handles are parallel to the pipes, and fully closed when at right angles to the pipes.

Milerix

The braided hose is connected to the water tank, expansion vessel and the boiler. So I think that's not it?
I added another picture which maybe shows things better: I7AyEh9

And thank you lots for trying to help!!:beer:

nofoollikeold

1. Your hot water cylinder has an internal expansion provision. While it is possible an additional, external, expansion vessel has been fitted, this seems unlikely. If it does have an additional vessel this should be a white one or a blue one, not red.
2. So far as I can see from your last picture the braided hose is connected between the incoming mains and the system return pipework. This makes me fairly certain it is indeed your filling loop.
3. Assuming your entire system is in good condition it won't do any harm to try the suggestions in post #6, but turn the second valve on for only 10 seconds, then turn it off again and see if the boiler pressure has increased. Give this process up to three goes. If the boiler pressure creeps up even a bit, you have found the filling loop. If not, you won't have done any harm.