Vaillant Ecotec boiler losing pressure intermittently
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So you have now located your leaks? Are these the culprits for the pressure loss?
No. The leaks seems to be a symptom rather than the cause. To get SO many leaks in a such a short period seems odd. That's why I wonder whether it is something to do with the underfloor heating zone valve. I em'd Polypipe earlier today but they've not replied yet.0 -
Valliant combi user here! Same issues - Ive stumbled upon possibility of frozen condensate pipe outside causing the boiler to shutdown and therefore lose pressure... anyone else?0
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AmateurLearner wrote: »Valliant combi user here! Same issues - Ive stumbled upon possibility of frozen condensate pipe outside causing the boiler to shutdown and therefore lose pressure... anyone else?
We used to have the condensate pipe running outside but got it re-routed internally a number of years ago. I'm not a plumber / heating engineer but to me it is utterly barking that in a country 50 degrees north it is even legal to run them outside! However it hasn't been particularly cold recently and the rapidly strengthening sun also means freezing becomes less of an issue by mid Feb. Also regardless of the weather I'd be surprised if your condensate pipe has frozen because you would have water backing up and spilling out.0 -
No. The leaks seems to be a symptom rather than the cause. To get SO many leaks in a such a short period seems odd. That's why I wonder whether it is something to do with the underfloor heating zone valve. I em'd Polypipe earlier today but they've not replied yet.
Quick update on my intermittent pressure loss. Heating engineer been out and the UFH was isolated to boiler and pressure tested overnight using a pressure gauge connected to return of manifold and there was slight pressure loss. There was no pressure loss from the CH side. Engineer powerflushed the UFH and refilled and balanced to sort out any potential air locks. Leak sealer was fed into the UFH flow and inhibitor was fed into the CH flow to iron out any potential small leaks. The system has been now run for 13 days and no pressure loss so far been running on 1.5bar constant. Billg100 maybe you can try this. The zone valve was fine.0 -
Quick update on my intermittent pressure loss. Heating engineer been out and the UFH was isolated to boiler and pressure tested overnight using a pressure gauge connected to return of manifold and there was slight pressure loss. There was no pressure loss from the CH side. Engineer powerflushed the UFH and refilled and balanced to sort out any potential air locks. Leak sealer was fed into the UFH flow and inhibitor was fed into the CH flow to iron out any potential small leaks. The system has been now run for 13 days and no pressure loss so far been running on 1.5bar constant. Billg100 maybe you can try this. The zone valve was fine.
Quick update from me....
We got a thermal imaging camera to check out the UFH. The circuits could be seen clearly and there was NO sign of a leak. That gave me more leverage with BG who had been pointing the finger of blame at the UFH (perhaps because they don't cover it on their policy?). Eventually another small leak was identified and fixed in the CH system. That was also about 13 days ago and since then our boiler has been running consistently at 1.1 bar when it is off to 1.5 bar when it is on. We're keeping our fingers crossed now - especially with the Siberian blast expected next week!
Don't want to sound overly critical of BG but the overall level of service has left a lot to be desired IMO. Individually all the guys who have been round were pleasant and sounded knowledgeable. On the other hand suggesting the UFH was the cause of the problems struck me as being a tad lazy at best.0 -
Where was the latest leak that you found?
RussPerfection takes time: don't expect miracles in a day
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Quick update from me....
We got a thermal imaging camera to check out the UFH. The circuits could be seen clearly and there was NO sign of a leak. That gave me more leverage with BG who had been pointing the finger of blame at the UFH (perhaps because they don't cover it on their policy?). Eventually another small leak was identified and fixed in the CH system. That was also about 13 days ago and since then our boiler has been running consistently at 1.1 bar when it is off to 1.5 bar when it is on. We're keeping our fingers crossed now - especially with the Siberian blast expected next week!
Don't want to sound overly critical of BG but the overall level of service has left a lot to be desired IMO. Individually all the guys who have been round were pleasant and sounded knowledgeable. On the other hand suggesting the UFH was the cause of the problems struck me as being a tad lazy at best.
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Great News! Might invest in one of these flir cameras (thermal imaging) that attach at the end of you iphone. Had a plumber round with and worked really well. Save a lot of hassle if anything else goes wrong in the future.0 -
The boiler has maintained pressure for almost two months so I hope the problems are resolved. I'll briefly summarise the lessons learnt for anyone who has similar problems in the future and finds this thread.
1) Not much diagnosis was done by BG. They seemed to rely on swapping out components in the hope that would fix things.
2) Don't be fobbed off! BG were keen to point the finger of blame at the underfloor heating system which isn't covered by the insurance we have with them. Eventually I used a thermal imaging camera on the underfloor heating and that strongly indicated there were no problems.
3) Not 100% sure about what the actual cause was. Both valves on the bathroom towel ring had slow leaks. However the heat exchanger on the Vaillant was also changed and another two small leaks were identified during the period. One of those was in the loft near the boiler and it appeared shortly after an engineer had been poking around.
To end on a positive note my advice if you find yourself in a similar position is don't fear the worst!0 -
Really glad I found this thread as we have the same problem with our Vaillant EcoTec (7 years old). Rapidly losing pressure but the plumber can't find any signs of leakage or extraction. This thread has hopefully saved me some trouble. I'm going to be checking drain pipe daily for purges of the siphonic trap first.
Am I correct in understanding that in the end it was the leak sealant that solved the problem?0
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