Dirty hot water

michaels

I think our hot only water is yellow this morning.  I guess it could have been the mains supply and the cold already washed through but the how water is from the tank but I suspect it is more likely a perforated cylinder coil.  The cylinder is only 9 years old so I would have thought unlikely but what else could it be?  Any way I could find out for sure?  It is an unvented/mains pressure cylinder so it is not going to impact the boiler pressure.

neilmcl

If you run it enough and it clears, and importantly stays that way, then you'll know.

michaels

Looking pretty grim, drained down some water from boiler circuit and the pressure has gone back up so pretty clearly water is going from the tank into the boiler loop - and I guess back again.  I don't think there is any way to isolate the tank from the boiler and just use the immersion either.

Perhaps I can drain the boiler circuit, disconnect, add a bypass and close of the cylinder connectors and then just use it with the immersions as a temp measure.  I am wondering how dangerous it is to bathe in the water for the time being?

WE had a chemical power flush on Thursday to try to resolve a blockage in the boiler that resulted form a power flush the week before to try and resolve one rad not getting hot.  I wonder what could have ruined the cylinder coil.....

Ectophile

It won't have ruined the cylinder coil.  But it may have dislodged some limescale that was blocking the hole.

michaels

Ectophile said:

It won't have ruined the cylinder coil.  But it may have dislodged some limescale that was blocking the hole.

Thanks - not sure that helps me though

southcoastrgi

Disconnect the filling loop & see what happens 

michaels

southcoastrgi said:

Disconnect the filling loop & see what happens 

And the winner is - turns out that the flushing machine managed to push back liquid through both the thumb valve and the non return valve on the filling loop into the tank.  Now we have run enough water through the tank it is back to clean and a new filling loop with a better shut off valve installed.  A fair bit cheaper than £1400 plus fitting for a new cylinder

No idea what bathing in inhibitor/flushing chemical polluted water will have done for our health....