How often should a boiler run-off soak get or need refilling?

MrCheeseman

I got a boiler fitted last year but it turned out that the drain just put the condensate/run-off into the soil. I quickly had a soak put in, by another plumber, but I'm not sure how often the soak needs inspecting/refilling? The person who serviced the boiler said it wasn't something he'd ever had to do. Is he right? I can, in theory, access the soak as it's under the boards on the patio, and a square has been cut for access, though I'll need to lever them free. 

Is this something I could do myself, and how do I know when the limestone chips etc need replacing? Advice would be appreciated. 

grumbler

I can only guess that it may need topping up, not replacing, - when most of it dissolves. Most likely, it'll take decades, not years.

tacpot12

The boiler manufacturers recommend checking the soakaway annually. I would endorse do it this often (do it when you book your boiler service), until you know how long the limestone chippings last. Once you know the rate at which they are dissolved, you can reduce the frequency of checking. 

grumbler

I removed one recently that was more than 5 y.o. - and it was full, absolutely no sign of any dissolution.

TELLIT01

I presume it's not possible to route the condense pipe to a drain.

Jeepers_Creepers

If Mr C is happy with the current arrangement, then there's no reason it can't be stuck with. As you say, tho', if it's dead easy to route to a drain, that's different.

Since two plumbers have failed to do this, I'm guessing it wouldn't have been straight forward.

Are 'special' chippings required, does anyone know?

Another_Level

There are so many options re the boiler only soakaway maintenance but the boiler is new and the soakaway is newer 

Is the soakaway a plastic pot filled with limestone chippings and surrounded with limestone chippings ? 

Diy maintenance will be easy but depends on which system you have...photos help 

Diy it yourself, some of the surrounding chippings may settle down and a sprinkle of a few new ones with a very gentle tap down is worth the effort.

Some gas technicians do more on an annual visit, some just consider it to be a safety (mot) check and walk away.

Cheers Maggie 

TELLIT01

When our combi boiler was installed by British Gas they ran the condense pipe along the roof of our car port for about 10 feet and then down to the drain.  When an error came up on the boiler in the winter an engineer came out and said the condense pipe was frozen but he couldn't go outside to fix it.  When I said they had installed it he simply said they shouldn't have done it that way and I ended up going onto the roof myself with kettles of boiling water.  I got another plumber in who rerouted it inside the house!  More work for them but obviously better solution.

MrCheeseman

Jeepers_Creepers said:

If Mr C is happy with the current arrangement, then there's no reason it can't be stuck with. As you say, tho', if it's dead easy to route to a drain, that's different.

Since two plumbers have failed to do this, I'm guessing it wouldn't have been straight forward.

Are 'special' chippings required, does anyone know?

Thanks to everyone for the advice - I'm a lot less worried, I'll check the soakway at some point if I can. The first plumber wrongly assumed the boiler pipe went to the drain when they fitted it! 

I'm having a third plumber in to give me an estimate for putting in a hosepipe tap at some point, so I may get him to check the soakway too. But the problem with the drain is that the boiler's at the side of the house, and the drains are at the front and back, shared with the semi-detatched next door, on the opposite side, so there's no easy way of connecting them. 

Another_Level said:

There are so many options re the boiler only soakaway maintenance but the boiler is new and the soakaway is newer 

Is the soakaway a plastic pot filled with limestone chippings and surrounded with limestone chippings ? 

Diy maintenance will be easy but depends on which system you have...photos help 

Diy it yourself, some of the surrounding chippings may settle down and a sprinkle of a few new ones with a very gentle tap down is worth the effort.

Some gas technicians do more on an annual visit, some just consider it to be a safety (mot) check and walk away.

Cheers Maggie 

I'll try and get pics. Right now I've taken the screws off the bit of the decking but they're fairly tightly wedged so I may need to find another way to lift them. As for the boiler engineer, they did more with the boiler, they did something that needed a tub to drain water, etc, they were there for about half an hour but, no, when I suggested checking the soakway they looked at me like I had two heads.