Vokera gas boiler pressure guage dropping frequently.

[Deleted User]

The pipe looks like white  plastic, southcoastrgi.  I think it is about 22 mm  but could try to measure in daylight.  The pipes going into the radiators come up from the floor and are white plastic - but difficult to see with the radiator covers.  The boiler has been replaced since the bungalow was built  but it is quite old now.  A neighbour had to have hers replaced this year.

It is a small one bedroomed linked bungalow with five radiators:  big one in living room, smaller one in bedroom, small one in the kitchen is never on, one in the bathroom and small one in the hall has no TRV and, when the heating is on, it is on all the time.

I'm not very confident but, if it's  not freezing or pouring rain tomorrow I'll try to take some pictures.   As well as the white pipe outside there is, higher up, a round much bigger pipe and sometimes it sends out puffs of steam.  I'll post in the morning and hope to get some photographs - I haven't  tried to post 'photos here before.  I don't  think there are any damp patches on the floors.  Thanks.

Crimson

Jeepers_Creepers

If that pipe is plastic, then it'll be your condensate pipe - so the boiler has been replaced at some point, and the one you have is a condensing type ('High Efficiency'). 

The larger pipe with the steam is your flue! What you see is called a 'plume' and, again, suggest an HE boiler. 

And - remind me - have you found the 15mm copper 'safety discharge' pipe out there? It'll either be bent back to aim at the wall, or else will be down facing the ground.

Anyhoo, to recap - your system must be leaking somewhere... It's either a radiator system leak which would be obvious if above floor level, a safety discharge issue in which case drips would be seen at the end of the 15mm copper pipe, or a cracked main exchanger in which case water would usually be coming out the larger plastic pipe when the boiler isn't running. 

By all means hold off for as long as you can if that's what you want - it shouldn't cause worse problems (eg, if the pressure drops too far, the boiler just shouldn't fire up).

If the leak becomes significantly worse, tho', you may just have to call someone out.

What sort of floor coverings do you have - laminate or carpet? If the latter, try exposing the floor below by lifting it immediately around where the pipes come up.

(If these pipes are plastic as you think, then it's less likely they have leaked below floor level, so the mystery remains...)

[Deleted User]

This is a photo of the white pipe at the bottom just to the left outside my kitchen window.  On the same side as the boiler.  I'm now going to try to post two more photos - I have not done this before.

[Deleted User]

This is the white pipe higher up on the wall outside above the earlier photograph of the pipe lower down below it.

[Deleted User]

I hope I can explain this one.  This is the bottom of the small radiator in the hall - the one (like all the others with a radiator cover over the gas radiator) but this is the one which has no TRV and which is always on when the heating is on.  Although you can't see it - looking through the grill at the bottom, you can see white plastic pipes coming up through the floor to the radiator.  Without removing the cover, which I have never done, there would be no way of trying to turn this radiator off.

The kitchen and bathroom have lino on the floor and the living room, bedroom and hall all have carpets.  The heat comes out of the grill at the top which you cannot see in the photograph.  I hope all this makes sense and thank you very much for looking at them.  I managed to take the photos between heavy showers when it was a bit sunny.    The boiler is off at the moment.  Crimson

[Deleted User]

There is no sign of any water leaking and all the rooms, where the radiators are, seem to be dry.  This morning, after heating being on yesterday but not, so far, this morning, the dial on the outside of the boiler (I have not needed to top up) is just below one and, was just above one when topped up yesterday.

Thank you very much for taking time to look at all this.

Crimson

Jeepers_Creepers

Deleted_User said:

This is a photo of the white pipe at the bottom just to the left outside my kitchen window.  On the same side as the boiler.  I'm now going to try to post two more photos - I have not done this before.

This is definitely plastic? When you tap it with something hard, it gives a dull thud? It has slight deflection when squeezed? And it's 22mm diameter?

Almost certainly the condensate pipe. Can you see where it goes through the wall on the inside? Where does it go to?

If this pipe gives slugs of water even when the boiler has been off for a while and is cold, that's almost certainly coming from the main exchanger. However, it can be quite a while between slugs, so hard to monitor without putting a container under it - with a hood over to keep out rain. Bear in mind that, when the boiler is running, slugs will be coming out every few minutes. 

Jeepers_Creepers

Deleted_User said:

This is the white pipe higher up on the wall outside above the earlier photograph of the pipe lower down below it.

Can you confirm that the bottom part of that pipe does NOT head back through the wall, but actually stops short of it so's water can come out? If so, that's your safety discharge pipe.

NO water should be coming out of there at any time - unless there's a fault. You can slip a small plastic bag over this and secure it with a rubber band to monitor. If water comes out, you have a leaking safety discharge valve - good news.

Jeepers_Creepers

Deleted_User said:

I hope I can explain this one.  This is the bottom of the small radiator in the hall - the one (like all the others with a radiator cover over the gas radiator) but this is the one which has no TRV and which is always on when the heating is on.  Although you can't see it - looking through the grill at the bottom, you can see white plastic pipes coming up through the floor to the radiator.  Without removing the cover, which I have never done, there would be no way of trying to turn this radiator off.

The kitchen and bathroom have lino on the floor and the living room, bedroom and hall all have carpets.  The heat comes out of the grill at the top which you cannot see in the photograph.  I hope all this makes sense and thank you very much for looking at them.  I managed to take the photos between heavy showers when it was a bit sunny.    The boiler is off at the moment.  Crimson

Blimey, not seen anything like that before!
This one doesn't have a TRV because I'm assuming that the wall thermostat is also in that hall? That's the way your system works; one radiator in the house in an area that's kept at a steady temp regardless of other rooms - that's usually the hallway or the sitting room - is fitted with normal valves which are set to the correct opening so's the rad heats up at the same rate as every other one. This room (ie hallway for you) also has the wall 'stat, so the two work together - the rad heats up the room until the 'stat says 'fine, that's enough' and shuts off the boiler. When it cools down, the 'stat says 'come on again...'. 

That keeps everything at a steady warmth. All the other rads have TRVs on them because you can then turn each one up or down to suit the room it's in, without affecting the rest of the house. 

It doesn't matter if this rad - or any other rad - is on or off; if it's leaking, it's leaking, and you should notice it.

Since there are no damp patches anywhere, the leak remains a mystery.

Keep monitoring these two pipes, and also your floors around the rads. And PLEASE come back whenever you get a plumber out, 'cos this one is strange... :-)

As strange as your rads - I ain't seen nuffink like these before.

How certain are you that there isn't a damp patch behind one of these grilles? I mean, they go right down to the floor so could be hiding it?

Can you show a wider shot of the whole cover? Surely they are removeable? Worth doing one at a time to check behind them, and for damp patches on the rad bottoms and/or floor? 

[Deleted User]

Thanks again, Jeepers_Creepers - I'll get on to that today and post later. 

Crimson