Any plumbers on here?

[the snooper]

I take it you have pressure in the system?

also worth turning the power off for a couple of minutes to reset the system

did I mention that I hate these crap systems the green ******* have forced on us?

the pressure in the system is nothing to do with the hot water supply only the central heating

 

[pidgeon chit welder]

Pete, thanks mate you are spot on, white filling key.

By the small plastic tap do you mean the square peg type thing? Will have a look at the destructions online.

Been having a dig around and the both the cold inlet and the hot outlet pipes go under the kitchen floor where there is an air brick so it will be fairly cold under there.

Steve, I'm feeling your pain!

How come the cold in both Steve's and my case doesn't freeze? There must be a reason

Cheers people

Jim

Most likely did not freeze because you have moved water along the cold pipe fro flusing tiolet , kettle filng and teeth cleaning etc. much more than through the hot pipe which as we know from science and cooling curves of napthalene is that a hot pipe will give up heat faster and a greater amount than a cool pipe once the rot sets in.

 

[mike os]

the pressure in the system is nothing to do with the hot water supply only the central heating

I have had them doing odd things after a freeze & always worth checking everything.. cos the poor little sensitive bunnies sometimes throws a strop

 

[M4RKE]

I cannot believe how a bit of cold kills all the heating systems! Imagine if this country was actually cold.

I know of about 5-6 just in our family/friends who are having problems. I fixed a few of them (I'm not a plumber) 1 called a plumber and he said he was stupidly busy.

Its not the boiler at fault its a bad install that is having its effect on things as in the installation manual it states the the condensate pipe when run outside should be lagged and I have not yet seen one thats been laged and I have seen laods as Im in the building trade

 

[breezer]

Ordered some lagging for mine today.

Been looking but couldn't find any in the shops so resorted to ebay.

 

[the snooper]

Its not the boiler at fault its a bad install that is having its effect on things as in the installation manual it states the the condensate pipe when run outside should be lagged and I have not yet seen one thats been laged and I have seen laods as Im in the building trade

thats due to the mild winters we have been getting installers think its not worth it, it will never freeze here

 

[M4RKE]

thats due to the mild winters we have been getting installers think its not worth it, it will never freeze here

I wonder if anyone has called the plumber back that has installed thier system that has such a fault and the plumber has been honest enough to put it right with a no cost call out ? I recon not one would be so honest as they do like to have people over as a rule. And why people call plumbers out when they have a heating problem beats me as 9 out of 10 the faults are electrcal faults not plumbing faults

 

[the snooper]

I wonder if anyone has called the plumber back that has installed thier system that has such a fault and the plumber has been honest enough to put it right with a no cost call out ? I recon not one would be so honest as they do like to have people over as a rule. And why people call plumbers out when they have a heating problem beats me as 9 out of 10 the faults are electrcal faults not plumbing faults

not a chance more like err you need a new heat exchanger or divertor valve ill have to go and get one
meanwhile your wallet is starting to sweat and the engineer has the front off the boiler heating up the pipe in question after which he pops out side to check for water dripping from it comes in with a new part which he takes back to the van after telling you he fitted it.
and its a miracle that great bloke (figure of speach only) got your boiler working again

 

[brightspark]

i went out yesterday reset a boiler and lent the old biddy a fan heater payment was a cup of tea a biscuit and listen to her going on and on and on a freebee im an electrician plumbers dont do it not everyones greedy

 

[ford34/2]

2 weeks + ago,
I`m no expert but I was on the bum for some insulation for a work colleague whos approx 3/4 inch plastic condensate drain had frozen,now this bloke I asked for insulation is a Corgi or whatever the new recognised setup is, he said the condensate drain came out the boiler with about 3/4" I think, now,if it went through an external wall to the outside, the pipe through the wall should be 11/4" or 112" (inches) and you should connect the two bits with an adapter. it minimises the risk of the outlet freezing completly. just what he said, I`m a joiner.
Stan

 

[M4RKE]

i went out yesterday reset a boiler and lent the old biddy a fan heater payment was a cup of tea a biscuit and listen to her going on and on and on a freebee im an electrician plumbers dont do it not everyones greedy

I to am a electrician so you will know where Im comming from with the above remark Brightspark LOL I have had to peice a lot of motorized vale systms that have been left in a right old mess buy plumbers in the past.

 

[Tigman]

My mate Terry fits Worcesters and he is running the condense line in 1 1/4 " because he had a lot of freeze ups last year and he lags the pipes , he has also started fitting tracer wires around the pipe to keep it warm

 

[hunter27]

right - undid the plastic square tap.

LOTS of gurgling.

NO water came out.

What's that mean then?

It means that there is a ice plug in the cold pipe supplying the boiler and it may have moved a bit nearer the boiler The pipe between the boiler and the hot tap may also be frozen as well if they run under the floor together.
The manufacturers say run condensate to an internal drain if possible but if you have to run it outside run it in 32mm. I see Worcester Bosch on the 29/November have updated their website to lag the pipe outside
http://www.worcester-bosch.co.uk/ho...en-condensate-dont-get-caught-out-this-winter
also but even condensates run in 32mm with the correct fall fitted to manufacturers instructions before 29/11 have been freezing up. The latest thing are Trace heaters a wire runs along side the pipe under the lagging that heats the pipe slightly when the temp falls. Surprising thing is that I believe that they are hard to buy because of the demand.
Pete

 

[pedrobedro]

The Worcester Bosch factory is a mile down the road from our house, I'll nip down and see if they've got any advice The afternoon shift will be going down soon.

 

[slim_boy_fat]

As a temporary measure, you could try wrapping a length of heated cable round the pipe - they're designed for use in vivariums and come in a selection of wattages.

Should get the water flowing again and keep it from re-freezing if left on - they draw around 15w, so just like a fridge lightbulb.

 

[pidgeon chit welder]

A very timely thead indeed guys. Thanks !
I've just been out and checked the Will-mor-will's of Treadgear government grant part funded install of a complete new condensing balanced flue oil fired boiler heating system .
Because they did such a rubbish not installed to any know standard( other than crap ) initial fit I had to get them back four times to rectify obvious faults and correctly put the roof void insulation on all the pipes up there.

That condensate pipe .. has two 90 degree elbows in it and runs up hill in the glued up position . it's in 32 mm poly pipe and is frozen soild at the outlet end , after tapping it it also appear to be solid over the remaining 1.1 mtr of pipe before it enters the bungalow wall.

Nine kettles of boiling water later there is a slow movement of dripping water going into the surface drain .Outside temp is now 2.4 oC thankfully
so the thaw should continue apace till it cools later today/night.

What hacks me off is that I had their surveyer here 14 weeks before the install so that we could custom build the cupboard for the boiler and put in the fuel & oil lines etc. I asked about an need for condensate drainage and was told no we just run them outside in 32 mm .

Had I know what I now know , it would have been five minutes work to include a floor drain to connect to the partly installed internal drains for shower , bath and sink.. Arrrragh !

Luckily I have not managed to concrete the paths in , they are just 40 mm crushed stone compacted to a depth of 300 mm and adjacent to the bungalow wall . There is no snow for a foot from the wall , so I have put a weld mesh frame over the whole pipe work for 200 mm above the pipe work & down to the ground , covered it in three big old bath towels and an old patio door curtain .
I've done like this in the hope that the kettles of boiled water running off the pipes on to the stones will help act as a radiator and cause the complete condensate pipe work to fully thaw.


Off out now to see if I can get some external insulation/lagging for the pipe as this cold spell ain't over yet methinks.


edit ( or edgit ) at 17:40 hrs

Well I made it to the local buildes merchants , purchased some solvent weldable 32 mm pipe and a 30 % elbow so as to put a true run on the pipe , got some foam insulating tube that fits like a glove . Made enquiries at two electrical wholesalers .... this all the replies from their counter staff..
" I've never heard of the heater tape but have heard about the condensate pipe freezing .... must check mine tonight ".

came home and had a play on line looking for a local to me supplier & found Plumbcentre

I had a look & found some " ISO heat tape @ 15 watt per mtr " on the Plumbcentre site at £ 22 ish per metre.

Is this the stock to be obtained.? Do you need a stat , resistors etc or is it on all the time ?

My thoughts are if it is on all time are to use it connected via a plug in rcd and insert a plug in time clock to run 15 min per hour using a water proof box at the external junction of tape and power cable so as to not need elect regs interference in the project .( I'm a C&G industrial electronic test and service engineer and play onm all sortes of gear ).

Any thoughts about what I've said guys ?

The pipe is still frozen

 

[clueless77]

been to 5 boilers today with frozen condensate waste pipes, none of them insulated. i use a hair dryer or hot air gun (but not to close with a hot air gun) to defrost them as boiling a kettle takes too long. a condensate pump under the boiler with a connection to an inside waste would have prevented any of these boilers from freezing up. also the first thing to go in the skip when they're being installed is the manufacturers instructions. ( i use an rcd with the hairdryer before i get jumped on )

 

[breezer]

Well came home from work tonight to find the hot water is now working.

That's after being left all day with the taps closed and no heating on in the house whatsoever. Which puzzles me.

Struggled to get to any pipes last night as they are under the kitchen floor, laminate flooring and the kitchen units so the whole lot would need to come out to give access to the pipes.

That said I don't like the floor or kitchen so post Xmas I will probably rive the lot up & put some proper insulation on the pipes. That should save us from any cold winters for the next two decades.

 

[pidgeon chit welder]

Well came home from work tonight to find the hot water is now working.

That's after being left all day with the taps closed and no heating on in the house whatsoever. Which puzzles me.

Struggled to get to any pipes last night as they are under the kitchen floor, laminate flooring and the kitchen units so the whole lot would need to come out to give access to the pipes.

That said I don't like the floor or kitchen so post Xmas I will probably rive the lot up & put some proper insulation on the pipes. That should save us from any cold winters for the next two decades.

When using insulation like that make sure you shape the insulation to go round the pipe clips etc and use a quality bduct tape or gas seal tape to close of every joint /cut insulation pipe .

In 1982 in minus 22 o C I found the prob of my mates rushing water noise under the floor .. he'd foam tube insulated the cventral heating pipes under the floor but not covered at the stand off and as luck would have it there was an air brick right by the bare pipe in the stand off and one onn the opposite side oof the house , the sub wall supporting the floor joists was hit and miss brick work to allow air movement .. this bit of pipe had split for a good six inches and was running off from the rads once the thaw set in.

 

[slim_boy_fat]

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Zoo-Med-Repti-HEAT-CABLE-25w-4-5m-Vivarium-Reptile-/120415815677?pt=UK_Pet_Supplies_Reptiles_Spiders_Insects&hash=item1c095787fd is the kind of thing I was suggesting.

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