You can tell when a person takes pride in the work they do and watching your channel it's clear you are one of them... keep up the great work. ~ Take care, Mark
This is exactly what I was needing thanks. I was totally confused as to why I couldn't find a pressure gauge or valve downstairs on the boiler for topping up system and knew I didn't have a water tank in the loft. Wanted to know everything was located before i started bleeding and balancing system. Perfect YT's great ha
My cousin that is a plumbing engineer walked me through how to do this and it resolved my problem but afterwards I wanted to better understand the system and process and your video ticked all the boxes, thank you so much.
Very clear simple instructions to follow. Thank you Roger. May need to look at a video on the expansion tank in a few weeks time if the pressure does not remain stable!
I want to personally thank you for helping. I finally found that feeding valve. Ours was disconnected. And when you said you can leave it disconnected I was like it makes sense. I have to connect it and feed it manually like you shown and then disconnect it. So thank you. We are staying nice and warm now. :)
Thank you very very much. This was problem with cold radijator (half cold) by me, on the 1st floor. Because, I removed one radiator on the -1 level(garage level). And water pressure wasn't enough to push water again up(on the 1st floor). So, I did everything like on this video, and everything is OK now. Thank you again.
Great Video! Thanks for the tips! You took me out of a big trouble with the winter coming and the wife complaining! ;) Best regards from Austria! Keep on with the great work!
First trying to bleed the radiator, no hiss sound, no water coming out, no luck. The upper part of it was still lukewarm. Then I watch this video... Mama mia! Problem solved instantly, the bar went right up to 1 from 0 (then I realised that the arm that should be moving is the black one not the red one...). Back to the radiator and did the same bleeding job. This time, a loud hiss sound followed by water dripping out, and the upper part of the radiator is piping hot in the matter of seconds. Thank Jesus, Mary and Joseph!
Thank you so much for this video, I followed your instructions and my heating/boiler is working again, I had levers as opposed to screws which made it easier.
Thanks for this video - I’ve got a system like this and it’d dropped pressure right down - your video really helped sort it out! House is nice and warm again!
Hope I have done it correctly! It’s a new oil boiler. Plumbers were useless. When I bled the rads it dropped the pressure in the ev I didn’t know the filling loop was isolated. I bet plumbers hate you for this vid but probably saved us a small fortune for call out
Most plumbers are run off their feet. British Gas contract emergency repair has a 2 week wating list. Imagine paying all that money for years and when you need them they are busy.
@@SkillBuilder I was thinking about retraining, I could do wet plumbing but obviously gas is a different ball game. Problem is I need to earn whilst training
Roger, did you ever get around to making that video about recharging the expansion tank (that red thingy)? I need to do that as my system is constantly losing all pressure within about 4 hours of the heating system going off. Cheers
I had massive problems with three systems, all of which which were completely new - pipework, rads, and boilers. Radsat the highest points needed venting every week, and topping up every few months. No leaks that I could find. Drove me nuts. On my present system I have auto vents at the highest points, and, unlike the previous systems, motorized valves on both flow and returns. I never get air, and only top up by a tiny amount every year or more. One plumber told me that air can be sucked in through the radiator vents, seems unlikely to me. Problems in the past remain a mystery - crazy.
Yep, there is so many different combinations, nice to see someone do this video, on a system, where the filling loop, is not in the combi boiler, you lot in uk use. Nice to see someone do a variation on this, as normally these vids are done from uk, and most people there use combi boilers, and the filling loop, is attached mostly inside that thing. While other countries do not often use combi boilers, and thanks, for showing this vid, on a variation, where the filling loop, is not in the combi boiler. Mostly outside uk, people are not using combi boilers, so its nice to see, you understand there is a wider audience, then just uk residents, whom are mostly using combi boilers. But like you say, there is many a variation on all these things, and different plumbers in all countries, may install all these srts of things slightly differently. So thanks again, for showing, a different variation, of this, instead, of doing what most of these vids do, ie just show, people filling combi boiler systems, that most in uk, probably use. In your video on expansion vessels, can you also show, you measuring its pressure, not just pumping it up. thanks.
Twice now I have had problems with pressure increasing. Both times it was the in circuit filling loop valve passing. The maintenance contract company didnt seem to take my suggestion seriously so on one occasion got a new plate heat exchanger out of it. Of course it could have been a holed phe or pv diaphragm. But there you go! My sons system was losing pressure. Dripping drain cock under the floor
@@SkillBuilder it was an inherited system of course. Still looking for the Magnaclean. Theres a spanner for it but no sign of any filter! Got a Fernox TF1 Omega to go in, much better filter anyway, size and ease of service.
Many thanks for posting this, it covered pretty much what is happening with our system and was really useful. At 2:26 you said that frequent pressure loss is likely to be that the expansion vessel has lost it's charge but at the end you say it may be time to get help. I couldn't see a video about repressurising the expansion vessel, is that something someone with reasonable DIY skills could do or is it a job for an expert? Thanks, David
Hi David It is very easy to top up the expansion vessel. You need to drain a bit of water out of the system so the needle is on zero. Pumping up the expansion vessel is the same as pumping up a bike tyre. You are looking for just over 1 bar. If there is spare capacity in the system the expansion vessel will not have to work against a dead head of water. You only need to drain a bucket full out of the system. When the expansion vessel is topped up you simply repressure the system from the filling loop.
Hello, first i want to thank you for the great work you're doing by educating all of us 😊 Second i want to ask if you can help me with my problem. I have a combi heating system Junkers, which is losing pressure every time i use the hot water. Also, a few times a day it starts rumbling really loud and, the temp goes higher then normal and the pressure arrow starts jumping up and down until it settles down and water temp does down again. I've checked for leaks and swapped the expansion vessel. I dont know what else could be. Is it possible that the 3 way valve is defective and needs to be changed? Sorry for the long read and thx in advance 😊
Thanks for your video - very informative. Would low pressure in the system mean that the water doesn't heat up or come through? I had a cold shower tis morning!
Awesome, saved a heating engineer callout! You are a legend Sir! Had zero pressure, boiler not firing up. 4 Degrees outside. Checked the filling loop, valve was shut. Opened it up and within seconds the pressure went to 1 bar and hey presto, we have heating again! Had a plumber out here to fix a leaky tap last week and the bozo must have shut that valve. Presumably it remains open all the time?
I’ve got one of these it’s not connected to my boiler but it’s at the bottom is in the cupboard, I am visually impaired I’m getting a friend to check it out for me Thursday as the council should be doing this regularly when they do their safety check but never bother to check it when I asked thank you for the video because it’s informative so I know where the needle should be as sometimes my boiler vibrates from time to time this might be because of air in the system I will find out on Tuesday to see what’s what as I can’t see it myself.
Hi, interesting stuff, thanks. In the last 10 days or so every morning I have low pressure in the system! I have checked all radiators in the house and all have water at the valve quickly? Which to me means my system is full!!
Roger, great tips and very much like your advice BUT.... I have to keep re-pressuring my system (1960s 70s) and just had a new pressure vessel fitted BUT I have concrete floors, no sign of damp at all in ceilings or floors, only recently started problem hence new pressure vessel and piping associated, what else can I do or look at. Plumbers scratching their heads as well....
@@burntre1 Hello there, thank you so much, this is another thing I will get my heating engineer to look at, that I would never have guessed at, absolutely maddening with no obvious leaks!
@@flipper2392 Oh yes, seen plenty of that BUT, got a decent REAL plumber at last, immediately did a thermal image job (that one had done and charged a load JUST for the looking so was not going to risk more on the job fix with him) found an under tile floor leak through an old pipe joint. Fixed and done in two days for just a little more than the guy with the thermal image camera charged, EXTREMELY pleased and did not need a whole new system as one "expert" told me! 2nd or 3rd opinion vital in my experience.
It should be topped up to roughly 1 bar with the system at zero. The idea is for the membrane to expand fully and when the system is filled with water it presses against the membrane. If the cold pressure in the system is the same as the pressure vessel as it heats the expanded water pushes against the membrane and creates space for the water.
@@SkillBuilder so if the blow off is spitting out water .. & the existing vessel in the boiler is gone .. can an expansion be cut in on a line elsewhere an leave the old one in place ?
Thanks. When we lose pressure the boiler runs the water through to garden overflow pipe without raising the pressure. The boiler setting is 2.6 bar but the system pressure can;t be raised above 0. Frustrated!
What about if I don’t have the two valves? Last time a plumber attended to our boiler he changed the filling loop with no valves. There’s one big valve that I can turn with my fingers but when I turn it to open water comes out from that valve.
i just replaced an old boiler (Combi) with a brand new one, paid £1900 and the boiler wont hold pressure for more than 12 hours!! im being told by the company that fit it that i must have a problem with the old pipes and that the fact the system doesnt hold pressure it isnt there problem as i only paid them to fit a working boiler and as far as they are concerend have done their job? this is the first time ive had a new boiler installed is this normal for heating enginners to do ? from the way they are speaking its standard practice theyll charge almost 2 grand and still leave a customer with no heating. anyone had a similar experience ?
Thanks for the tips. Our pressure meter was close to 0 and the boiler cut out. Added water by opening the tow taps - luckillly permanently connected - and all seems fine. Question is what causes the pressure to fall and how long should one expect 2 bars to take to falll again.
Completely sorted my pressure issues after the refitting my radiator. Especially showing that there was 2 valves to open, as I was turning one a towel was hiding the other. Cheers for the vid, you've saved me 👍
Mines been getting worse and worse and even though it's had 2 lots of leak blocker, it's still leaking. It's got to the point where I'm topping it up twice a day! I thought I fixed it as the fill tap was leaking. So I changed it with a combined tap and non return valve, the braided hose and the pressure guage because it was Donald.
My fault, I drained too much water out, it was holding it steady OK .the guage went down to about 0.5bar when cold. I opend up the feed from the mains, and now I cannot get it to go back up to about 1 bar. does the expansion tank need a recharge or is there something I am missing here ?
Hi firstly I love your videos. I had a problem with my heating system during the cold snap. My hot water pressure gauge was maxed out. And one of the pipes burst. I replaced the pipe. the system now works but makes a gurgling noise. The hot water pressure gauge doesn't drop below 2 bar (as if it has lost calibration) when I turned the PRV to release the pressure it made a mechanical vibration sound and returned the needle to 2 bar but won't go any lower. Now when I try to repressurise the system, the needle doesn't move from 2 bar. I believe the system doesn't have any pressure even though the guage is on 2 bar because I pressed in the valve on the expansion tank and no air escapes. My heating works but I think I'm running it with no pressure. Any advice greatly appreciated. Thanks for your videos.
Hi Roger Do you know anything about water accumalator tanks that can be used to boost the mains pressure in a domestic property?? If so are able to do a video on how they work, and how effective they really are please?? Great channel BTW keep up the good work!
Hi Roger, I moved to a new house 6 months ago and decided to get a plumber to check the plumbing. There is an unvented cylinder in a cupboard on the upstairs landing and also a white expansion vessel. The plumber told me that it should also have a red or grey expansion vessel because the white is for hot water and a red or grey for the heating. It’s been working ok apart from living/dinning room radiators which are very slow to warm up and don’t get as hot as the other 7 radiators. So confused and would appreciate any advice.
I have keep filling my boiler every day and when I actually open the loop the pressure gauge it donsent even move it only starts to build pressure when I reset the boiler, I did find a radiator with a very small leak
Perhaps it's worth saying something about the 'lovely' (unique) Range Powermax (not to be confused with the newer Potterton Powermax) boilers, which have known design problems that eventually lead to the pressure sensor and perhaps the pressure relief valve (PRV) getting gunked up, as they are at the top of the boiler and can get also trap air, leading to false (low) pressure readings. Topping up the system then can temporarily clear the air (moves it around for a while but is hard to purge, especially if you live in a single storey home like a flat), but can easily break the expansion vessel by over-pressurising the system, also causing the PRV to let by nearly all the time when the boiler is in use, leading to the PRV's failure in quick succession. In this case, those boilers have a relatively low operating pressure (0.9-1.0 bar when the system is 'cold' at 40degC [operation at 82/71]) but the boiler normally switches off on 'low pressure' at about an indicated 0.4 - 0.5 bar, even if the real pressure is higher, due to the design flaw I previously described. The best way to reduce the gunking up around the pressure sensor, boiler automatic air valve (AAV) and PRV is to make sure when those new parts are fitted, the system is drained down as best you can, flushed/cleaned and refilled with fresh water dosed with the correct type and level of inhibitors to stop the gunk (sludge) forming. Servicing of this type of boiler (a unique design concept) is difficult to say the least, and most plumbers either haven't got the training to work on them (which is what led to the retrospective regulation to install access panels on all concealed flues [different problem for another conversation]) or who shy away from working on them because they are difficult to work on or diagnose issues without lots of experience. When they are working, they are actually quite good at providing heat and DHW from a relatively low output boiler at a seasonal efficiency of around 83% - not bad for a boiler design from the late 90s/early 2000s.
Great video. I've got a Viessmann Vitodens combi and have topped up the water pressure in to the green area, but it doesn't hold the pressure. i'm topping it up on a weekly basis. Any advice?
I have a question which I can't find the answer to on Google. When I was cleaning the other day, I accidentally went a bit too close to the central heating control panel and I think the smallest amount of water must've leaked its way inside. The control panel started to flicker and slightly buzz. I grabbed a wooden spoon and switched it off. I haven't put it back on yet. Wondering if it will be safe to switch back on or even put the heating on or should I leave for perhaps longer? Have tried searching on Google but cannot seem to find an answer anywhere.
When my heating is on the gauge sits around 1 bar. But when its off it drops to maybe half a bar. All summer it was at 1 bar on the gauge and didn't move. Seems to be only in winter when heating is being used
There is 1 bar pressure in the vessel. Checked it with a tyre gauge. The filling loop is switched off. I turn it for few seconds to get the gauge to go up
It is the oxygen in the water that causes rust. Once the water has been run around for a year or so it loses its free oxgen and the result is black rust magnetite.
I have recently changed the pressure vessel and valve and pump on my boiler but noticed that there are leaks around boiler pipes what is the problem? I can hear drops of water but can not see where
The gauge on my Expansion vessel is showing as almost 0. Should I just add water to the system until it gets to the recommended 1.5 bar or do I also need to add air?
You need to pump the expansion vessel up with a car pump so it is equal to the static pressure. Release the water pressure from the system so it is below zero, then pump the vessel up to 1 to 1.5 bar then put the water back to 1.5 bar cold pressure.
@@SkillBuilder What is the static pressure? When you say release water pressure do you mean I need to empty the water tank? also what does '1.5 bar cold pressure.' mean exactly? Sorry for all the questions!
Hi I have a combi boiler and the pressure it’s going down only when I put the heating on even for 10 minutes only if it’s just for using hot water it doesn’t go down ! Why?
In my case discharge ( ohh matron! ) from the valve escaped from a pipe concealed beneath the sticky out bit along the base of the patio doors so you gotta look for these things.
Hi my girl friends house has got a red vessel and coming out of that she has her water pipes, now one of the water pipes has a little black cone shaped unit between the 2 water pipes and it has 2 holes in it, now hers you can see water constantly running through it and water is splashing out side this unit causing water to run down the outside the copper water pipe and it’s causing her sloping ceiling to have a wet water mark which is then running down her hallway wall any idea please as we are desperate, I may have to turn off the mains water valve under the sink
we have a glow worm ultrocom 30 cxi and we have heating ok but intermittent hot water, three visits by british gas and its still not right, I have kept the pressure at around 1.2 as suggested and we are getting a little fed up any ideas please
@@SkillBuilder they all said they couldn't find a fault, they all used a foot pump and said the water coming out the overflow was normal even though we told them it's just started more often, when the water wont heat there is a water icon on the screen next to the temp that blinks , this stays on permanently when ok,hope this helps and thanks for getting back to me mate
Have yourself a subscribe and a like young man. Bled my rads yesterday and I have no pressure. Screw you Craig off of big brother. You didn't mention this in your video.
They have different coloured pressure vessels for heating and hot water tanks. The red ones are for central heating system and the hot water system is white. I tried to check the air pressure once and water ran out of the schrader valve. I had to buy a new pressure vessel from Toolstation. It was about £40.
What’s holding that expansion vessel up? Just the pipe work??? Lol! What happens when the diaphragm inside goes? It’ll end up flooding the place. Quarter of a bar will only reach 2.5 meters above the gauge.
@@jimmyman8031 there will be a bracket behind the vessel which clamps onto that grey rim round the middle of the vessel. And when the diaphragm fails you no longer have an allowance for expansion, when heated up your water will continue to expand raising the pressure above 3bar causing the prv to activate. Then you will continue to suffer from pressure loss until your expansion vessel has being replaced and in most cases the prv too.
I didn’t know they did brackets for a 35 litre expansion vessel. That’s why they’ve got feet. Where can I get these brackets from that you mention? As any bracket up to 25 litres you mention is too small to fit over that rim.
@@jimmyman8031 or maybe it's got feet to give you the option for either wall or floor mounting. I'll also point out that you are only assuming it's a 35 litre, could easily be a 24 litre as the size difference between the two are fairly similar. Not to point out the obvious but if the vessel wasn't fixed to the wall how do you think it's held there? This isn't a new installation, and when the system is full that vessel will weigh between 20 and 30kg so it wouldnt stay fixed to that pipe for long if wasn't held to the wall by one of those imaginary brackets you claim don't exist.
Funny you posted this today. I'm a maintenance man for about 90 apartments. I had to cut, drain and repair a 1" copper heating pipe that was leaking in a closet today. When I got ready to turn the water back on and bleed the (4 apartment, 12 bedrooms total) system, there was no water pressure in the boiler. Turns out the pipe feeding the boiler inlet valve had rusted and collected so much crap in it, there was no flow. Sure was a bitch figuring that out. What a day.
You can tell when a person takes pride in the work they do and watching your channel it's clear you are one of them... keep up the great work. ~ Take care, Mark
I watched numerous other videos and nothing worked. Eventually stumbled upon yourself and you've saved my bacon. Thank you!
Great to hear!
This is exactly what I was needing thanks. I was totally confused as to why I couldn't find a pressure gauge or valve downstairs on the boiler for topping up system and knew I didn't have a water tank in the loft. Wanted to know everything was located before i started bleeding and balancing system. Perfect YT's great ha
My cousin that is a plumbing engineer walked me through how to do this and it resolved my problem but afterwards I wanted to better understand the system and process and your video ticked all the boxes, thank you so much.
Very clear simple instructions to follow. Thank you Roger. May need to look at a video on the expansion tank in a few weeks time if the pressure does not remain stable!
I want to personally thank you for helping. I finally found that feeding valve. Ours was disconnected. And when you said you can leave it disconnected I was like it makes sense. I have to connect it and feed it manually like you shown and then disconnect it. So thank you. We are staying nice and warm now. :)
Glad it helped
Thank you very very much. This was problem with cold radijator (half cold) by me, on the 1st floor. Because, I removed one radiator on the -1 level(garage level). And water pressure wasn't enough to push water again up(on the 1st floor). So, I did everything like on this video, and everything is OK now. Thank you again.
Thanks, this was a really helpfull video - I also lost pressure after draining the radiators!
Thank you so much! This helped me gain the confidence to go messing with my pressure and all that jazz in a foreign country! A small victory!
Thank you - that was really helpful. Got my system back up and running which is handy during the Covid 19 lockdown!
Great Video! Thanks for the tips! You took me out of a big trouble with the winter coming and the wife complaining! ;) Best regards from Austria! Keep on with the great work!
First trying to bleed the radiator, no hiss sound, no water coming out, no luck. The upper part of it was still lukewarm. Then I watch this video... Mama mia! Problem solved instantly, the bar went right up to 1 from 0 (then I realised that the arm that should be moving is the black one not the red one...). Back to the radiator and did the same bleeding job. This time, a loud hiss sound followed by water dripping out, and the upper part of the radiator is piping hot in the matter of seconds. Thank Jesus, Mary and Joseph!
Amazing video. Very easy to follow and saved us a lot of time and money 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
Thank you so much for this video, I followed your instructions and my heating/boiler is working again, I had levers as opposed to screws which made it easier.
Thanks a lot ! You saved me an expensive call to emergency heating guy !
Excellent informative video......I followed the advice here and now my CH system is working perfectly 🙂
Glad it helped
Thanks for this video - I’ve got a system like this and it’d dropped pressure right down - your video really helped sort it out! House is nice and warm again!
Thank you for this! Just stopped my mother in law screaming. Saved us a fortune as it is -7 today
Hope I have done it correctly! It’s a new oil boiler. Plumbers were useless. When I bled the rads it dropped the pressure in the ev I didn’t know the filling loop was isolated. I bet plumbers hate you for this vid but probably saved us a small fortune for call out
Most plumbers are run off their feet. British Gas contract emergency repair has a 2 week wating list. Imagine paying all that money for years and when you need them they are busy.
@@SkillBuilder I was thinking about retraining, I could do wet plumbing but obviously gas is a different ball game. Problem is I need to earn whilst training
Roger, did you ever get around to making that video about recharging the expansion tank (that red thingy)? I need to do that as my system is constantly losing all pressure within about 4 hours of the heating system going off. Cheers
Did you manage to get it fixed or a new one? Am having the same issue now with mine 🤔
Thanks for the video, my sentral heating system now has the correct pressure :-)
Thanks for the information. Very useful!!
Liking these videos you’ve been putting out recently
I had massive problems with three systems, all of which which were completely new - pipework, rads, and boilers. Radsat the highest points needed venting every week, and topping up every few months. No leaks that I could find. Drove me nuts. On my present system I have auto vents at the highest points, and, unlike the previous systems, motorized valves on both flow and returns. I never get air, and only top up by a tiny amount every year or more. One plumber told me that air can be sucked in through the radiator vents, seems unlikely to me. Problems in the past remain a mystery - crazy.
Yep, there is so many different combinations, nice to see someone do this video, on a system, where the filling loop, is not in the combi boiler, you lot in uk use.
Nice to see someone do a variation on this, as normally these vids are done from uk, and most people there use combi boilers, and the filling loop, is attached mostly inside that thing.
While other countries do not often use combi boilers, and thanks, for showing this vid, on a variation, where the filling loop, is not in the combi boiler.
Mostly outside uk, people are not using combi boilers, so its nice to see, you understand there is a wider audience, then just uk residents, whom are mostly using combi boilers.
But like you say, there is many a variation on all these things, and different plumbers in all countries, may install all these srts of things slightly differently.
So thanks again, for showing, a different variation, of this, instead, of doing what most of these vids do, ie just show, people filling combi boiler systems, that most in uk, probably use.
In your video on expansion vessels, can you also show, you measuring its pressure, not just pumping it up.
thanks.
So you're not in the uk and dont have a combi boiler then Andy. 🤣
Thank you, very clear - sorted out my problem.🙂
OMG thank you thank you thank you! Heating now working -6 later tonight xxxx👍
Wonderful!
Cheers roger had a few issues around boiler pressure. This has sorted it mate 👍
Could really do with a guy of Your skills in My area. Great video
Top notch was able to bleed my system after a stove install. Many thanks
That was really helpful.... Thank You ❤❤❤
Thankyou so much amazing so helpful and just vhat i needed
Thanks for the video, very well explained. 🙏👍
Glad it was helpful!
Twice now I have had problems with pressure increasing. Both times it was the in circuit filling loop valve passing. The maintenance contract company didnt seem to take my suggestion seriously so on one occasion got a new plate heat exchanger out of it. Of course it could have been a holed phe or pv diaphragm. But there you go!
My sons system was losing pressure. Dripping drain cock under the floor
I hate putting drain cocks under floors. I usually stick them outside.
@@SkillBuilder it was an inherited system of course. Still looking for the Magnaclean. Theres a spanner for it but no sign of any filter! Got a Fernox TF1 Omega to go in, much better filter anyway, size and ease of service.
Thanks Roger. Really helpful this video.
Glad it helped
Many thanks for posting this, it covered pretty much what is happening with our system and was really useful. At 2:26 you said that frequent pressure loss is likely to be that the expansion vessel has lost it's charge but at the end you say it may be time to get help. I couldn't see a video about repressurising the expansion vessel, is that something someone with reasonable DIY skills could do or is it a job for an expert? Thanks, David
Hi David
It is very easy to top up the expansion vessel. You need to drain a bit of water out of the system so the needle is on zero. Pumping up the expansion vessel is the same as pumping up a bike tyre. You are looking for just over 1 bar. If there is spare capacity in the system the expansion vessel will not have to work against a dead head of water. You only need to drain a bucket full out of the system. When the expansion vessel is topped up you simply repressure the system from the filling loop.
@@SkillBuilder Many thanks for the information, that's very good of you.
Hello, first i want to thank you for the great work you're doing by educating all of us 😊 Second i want to ask if you can help me with my problem. I have a combi heating system Junkers, which is losing pressure every time i use the hot water. Also, a few times a day it starts rumbling really loud and, the temp goes higher then normal and the pressure arrow starts jumping up and down until it settles down and water temp does down again. I've checked for leaks and swapped the expansion vessel. I dont know what else could be. Is it possible that the 3 way valve is defective and needs to be changed? Sorry for the long read and thx in advance 😊
Thanks for your video - very informative. Would low pressure in the system mean that the water doesn't heat up or come through? I had a cold shower tis morning!
Once again,thanks so much.❤👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
I had to have my expansion vessel replaced as the diaphragm failed. Spot on now though thanks to my brill plumber👍
Awesome, saved a heating engineer callout! You are a legend Sir! Had zero pressure, boiler not firing up. 4 Degrees outside. Checked the filling loop, valve was shut. Opened it up and within seconds the pressure went to 1 bar and hey presto, we have heating again! Had a plumber out here to fix a leaky tap last week and the bozo must have shut that valve. Presumably it remains open all the time?
I’ve got one of these it’s not connected to my boiler but it’s at the bottom is in the cupboard, I am visually impaired I’m getting a friend to check it out for me Thursday as the council should be doing this regularly when they do their safety check but never bother to check it when I asked thank you for the video because it’s informative so I know where the needle should be as sometimes my boiler vibrates from time to time this might be because of air in the system I will find out on Tuesday to see what’s what as I can’t see it myself.
SB. Can you review and explain the pros/ cons of Electric Central Heating Boilers to run wet radiators and hot water?
Hi any ideas on F2 fault on a glow-worm boiler?
Thanks you man greatly appreciated solved months old problem
Hi, interesting stuff, thanks. In the last 10 days or so every morning I have low pressure in the system! I have checked all radiators in the house and all have water at the valve quickly? Which to me means my system is full!!
This sorted my heating problem out straight away 👍
Does the heat hero on a gravity fed heating system with a back boiler really work
Hi Roger would like to see a video on how to bleed / refill an underfloor heating system. MANY THANKS
yes I think we can do that
Very helpful video
Roger, great tips and very much like your advice BUT.... I have to keep re-pressuring my system (1960s 70s) and just had a new pressure vessel fitted BUT I have concrete floors, no sign of damp at all in ceilings or floors, only recently started problem hence new pressure vessel and piping associated, what else can I do or look at.
Plumbers scratching their heads as well....
Derek Stocker could be cracked heat exchanger or nitrogen forming in rads then escaping through the auto air vent.
@@burntre1 Hello there, thank you so much, this is another thing I will get my heating engineer to look at, that I would never have guessed at, absolutely maddening with no obvious leaks!
You do know that plumbers charge for time spent scratching thier heads.......
@@flipper2392 Oh yes, seen plenty of that BUT, got a decent REAL plumber at last, immediately did a thermal image job (that one had done and charged a load JUST for the looking so was not going to risk more on the job fix with him) found an under tile floor leak through an old pipe joint. Fixed and done in two days for just a little more than the guy with the thermal image camera charged, EXTREMELY pleased and did not need a whole new system as one "expert" told me! 2nd or 3rd opinion vital in my experience.
When should the vessel be topped up with air ? When the system is empty of water ? Full, hot or cold ?
Gixer750pilot it comes pre charged
It should be topped up to roughly 1 bar with the system at zero. The idea is for the membrane to expand fully and when the system is filled with water it presses against the membrane. If the cold pressure in the system is the same as the pressure vessel as it heats the expanded water pushes against the membrane and creates space for the water.
Thanks for this. Can you cover the same subject for normal boilers with a hot water tank please?
Hi Roger, I am topping up mine now using your excellent instructions. First time in 8 years, so I think it’s a good system!
Great to hear!
@@SkillBuilder so if the blow off is spitting out water .. & the existing vessel in the boiler is gone .. can an expansion be cut in on a line elsewhere an leave the old one in place ?
@@wittywoo9559 and* leave
Thanks. When we lose pressure the boiler runs the water through to garden overflow pipe without raising the pressure. The boiler setting is 2.6 bar but the system pressure can;t be raised above 0. Frustrated!
What about if I don’t have the two valves? Last time a plumber attended to our boiler he changed the filling loop with no valves. There’s one big valve that I can turn with my fingers but when I turn it to open water comes out from that valve.
What about modern Boilers such as Valiant or Bosh.
Regards
i just replaced an old boiler (Combi) with a brand new one, paid £1900 and the boiler wont hold pressure for more than 12 hours!! im being told by the company that fit it that i must have a problem with the old pipes and that the fact the system doesnt hold pressure it isnt there problem as i only paid them to fit a working boiler and as far as they are concerend have done their job? this is the first time ive had a new boiler installed is this normal for heating enginners to do ? from the way they are speaking its standard practice theyll charge almost 2 grand and still leave a customer with no heating. anyone had a similar experience ?
Thanks for the tips. Our pressure meter was close to 0 and the boiler cut out. Added water by opening the tow taps - luckillly permanently connected - and all seems fine. Question is what causes the pressure to fall and how long should one expect 2 bars to take to falll again.
Cheers mate, worked a charm
Completely sorted my pressure issues after the refitting my radiator.
Especially showing that there was 2 valves to open, as I was turning one a towel was hiding the other.
Cheers for the vid, you've saved me 👍
Chris Crawley bloody towels
there *were
Could you please explain how do we tell that the pressure is low and what the problems do we run into if we don’t fix this issue?
found the video very informative and useful
What could be the reason if the red needle is above 4, does it means there is a leak somewhere?
Thanks for this, after trying to wash the pots and no hot water coming out I followed your steps and know everything is hunkydorie
Thank you very much it worked for me.
Hi there, I tried turning both the black valves right angle but there is another blue lever little down do I need to turn that as well
Mines been getting worse and worse and even though it's had 2 lots of leak blocker, it's still leaking. It's got to the point where I'm topping it up twice a day!
I thought I fixed it as the fill tap was leaking. So I changed it with a combined tap and non return valve, the braided hose and the pressure guage because it was Donald.
Would you like to do a Zoom call on this? I could look around
🙏🏽❤️💐Thank You, It was so helpful.
My fault, I drained too much water out, it was holding it steady OK .the guage went down to about 0.5bar when cold. I opend up the feed from the mains, and now I cannot get it to go back up to about 1 bar. does the expansion tank need a recharge or is there something I am missing here ?
Hi firstly I love your videos. I had a problem with my heating system during the cold snap. My hot water pressure gauge was maxed out. And one of the pipes burst. I replaced the pipe. the system now works but makes a gurgling noise. The hot water pressure gauge doesn't drop below 2 bar (as if it has lost calibration) when I turned the PRV to release the pressure it made a mechanical vibration sound and returned the needle to 2 bar but won't go any lower. Now when I try to repressurise the system, the needle doesn't move from 2 bar. I believe the system doesn't have any pressure even though the guage is on 2 bar because I pressed in the valve on the expansion tank and no air escapes. My heating works but I think I'm running it with no pressure. Any advice greatly appreciated. Thanks for your videos.
I think you just need to screw in a new pressure guage, It happens every so often, They are cheap.
Hi Roger
Do you know anything about water accumalator tanks that can be used to boost the mains pressure in a domestic property??
If so are able to do a video on how they work, and how effective they really are please??
Great channel BTW keep up the good work!
Is it normal to need to fill up the system a week after i bled it all out? Hot water is not as hot either
Hi Roger, I moved to a new house 6 months ago and decided to get a plumber to check the plumbing. There is an unvented cylinder in a cupboard on the upstairs landing and also a white expansion vessel. The plumber told me that it should also have a red or grey expansion vessel because the white is for hot water and a red or grey for the heating. It’s been working ok apart from living/dinning room radiators which are very slow to warm up and don’t get as hot as the other 7 radiators. So confused and would appreciate any advice.
Brilliant help Ty
I have keep filling my boiler every day and when I actually open the loop the pressure gauge it donsent even move it only starts to build pressure when I reset the boiler, I did find a radiator with a very small leak
Thank you for the video.
Perhaps it's worth saying something about the 'lovely' (unique) Range Powermax (not to be confused with the newer Potterton Powermax) boilers, which have known design problems that eventually lead to the pressure sensor and perhaps the pressure relief valve (PRV) getting gunked up, as they are at the top of the boiler and can get also trap air, leading to false (low) pressure readings.
Topping up the system then can temporarily clear the air (moves it around for a while but is hard to purge, especially if you live in a single storey home like a flat), but can easily break the expansion vessel by over-pressurising the system, also causing the PRV to let by nearly all the time when the boiler is in use, leading to the PRV's failure in quick succession.
In this case, those boilers have a relatively low operating pressure (0.9-1.0 bar when the system is 'cold' at 40degC [operation at 82/71]) but the boiler normally switches off on 'low pressure' at about an indicated 0.4 - 0.5 bar, even if the real pressure is higher, due to the design flaw I previously described. The best way to reduce the gunking up around the pressure sensor, boiler automatic air valve (AAV) and PRV is to make sure when those new parts are fitted, the system is drained down as best you can, flushed/cleaned and refilled with fresh water dosed with the correct type and level of inhibitors to stop the gunk (sludge) forming.
Servicing of this type of boiler (a unique design concept) is difficult to say the least, and most plumbers either haven't got the training to work on them (which is what led to the retrospective regulation to install access panels on all concealed flues [different problem for another conversation]) or who shy away from working on them because they are difficult to work on or diagnose issues without lots of experience. When they are working, they are actually quite good at providing heat and DHW from a relatively low output boiler at a seasonal efficiency of around 83% - not bad for a boiler design from the late 90s/early 2000s.
Great video. I've got a Viessmann Vitodens combi and have topped up the water pressure in to the green area, but it doesn't hold the pressure. i'm topping it up on a weekly basis. Any advice?
did you sort this? what was the issue
I have a question which I can't find the answer to on Google. When I was cleaning the other day, I accidentally went a bit too close to the central heating control panel and I think the smallest amount of water must've leaked its way inside. The control panel started to flicker and slightly buzz. I grabbed a wooden spoon and switched it off. I haven't put it back on yet. Wondering if it will be safe to switch back on or even put the heating on or should I leave for perhaps longer? Have tried searching on Google but cannot seem to find an answer anywhere.
Excellent!
When my heating is on the gauge sits around 1 bar. But when its off it drops to maybe half a bar. All summer it was at 1 bar on the gauge and didn't move. Seems to be only in winter when heating is being used
Have you checked the pressure in the expansion vessel? Is the filling loop always attached?
There is 1 bar pressure in the vessel. Checked it with a tyre gauge. The filling loop is switched off. I turn it for few seconds to get the gauge to go up
Hi, could you please explain why constant fresh water into the central heating would rust the rads away? Thanks advance
It is the oxygen in the water that causes rust. Once the water has been run around for a year or so it loses its free oxgen and the result is black rust magnetite.
I have recently changed the pressure vessel and valve and pump on my boiler but noticed that there are leaks around boiler pipes what is the problem? I can hear drops of water but can not see where
The gauge on my Expansion vessel is showing as almost 0. Should I just add water to the system until it gets to the recommended 1.5 bar or do I also need to add air?
You need to pump the expansion vessel up with a car pump so it is equal to the static pressure. Release the water pressure from the system so it is below zero, then pump the vessel up to 1 to 1.5 bar then put the water back to 1.5 bar cold pressure.
@@SkillBuilder What is the static pressure? When you say release water pressure do you mean I need to empty the water tank? also what does '1.5 bar cold pressure.' mean exactly? Sorry for all the questions!
Hi I have a combi boiler and the pressure it’s going down only when I put the heating on even for 10 minutes only if it’s just for using hot water it doesn’t go down ! Why?
In my case discharge ( ohh matron! ) from the valve escaped from a pipe concealed beneath the sticky out bit along the base of the patio doors so you gotta look for these things.
Good to see Brits doing tool channels good vid m8 .
Hi my girl friends house has got a red vessel and coming out of that she has her water pipes, now one of the water pipes has a little black cone shaped unit between the 2 water pipes and it has 2 holes in it, now hers you can see water constantly running through it and water is splashing out side this unit causing water to run down the outside the copper water pipe and it’s causing her sloping ceiling to have a wet water mark which is then running down her hallway wall any idea please as we are desperate, I may have to turn off the mains water valve under the sink
we have a glow worm ultrocom 30 cxi and we have heating ok but intermittent hot water, three visits by british gas and its still not right, I have kept the pressure at around 1.2 as suggested and we are getting a little fed up any ideas please
Hi Malcolm
What did British Gas say the problem was (is)?
@@SkillBuilder they all said they couldn't find a fault, they all used a foot pump and said the water coming out the overflow was normal even though we told them it's just started more often, when the water wont heat there is a water icon on the screen next to the temp that blinks , this stays on permanently when ok,hope this helps and thanks for getting back to me mate
Why would a indirect tank PSI go from 65 psi to 160 only when the pump is running. There was a lot of sediment in the storage tank
Have yourself a subscribe and a like young man. Bled my rads yesterday and I have no pressure. Screw you Craig off of big brother. You didn't mention this in your video.
i had to keep topping up it was not the vessel i had an internal leak on the main heat exchnger
when venting the rads do i need to keep rads closed
no they need to be open but you can turn the heating off
Thank you!
Guide to the pressure vessel would be great 👍
Good vids 👍
They have different coloured pressure vessels for heating and hot water tanks. The red ones are for central heating system and the hot water system is white. I tried to check the air pressure once and water ran out of the schrader valve. I had to buy a new pressure vessel from Toolstation. It was about £40.
That seems a good deal. I have paid £90.00 for one in the past.
What’s holding that expansion vessel up? Just the pipe work??? Lol! What happens when the diaphragm inside goes? It’ll end up flooding the place.
Quarter of a bar will only reach 2.5 meters above the gauge.
@@jimmyman8031 there will be a bracket behind the vessel which clamps onto that grey rim round the middle of the vessel. And when the diaphragm fails you no longer have an allowance for expansion, when heated up your water will continue to expand raising the pressure above 3bar causing the prv to activate. Then you will continue to suffer from pressure loss until your expansion vessel has being replaced and in most cases the prv too.
I didn’t know they did brackets for a 35 litre expansion vessel. That’s why they’ve got feet. Where can I get these brackets from that you mention? As any bracket up to 25 litres you mention is too small to fit over that rim.
@@jimmyman8031 or maybe it's got feet to give you the option for either wall or floor mounting. I'll also point out that you are only assuming it's a 35 litre, could easily be a 24 litre as the size difference between the two are fairly similar.
Not to point out the obvious but if the vessel wasn't fixed to the wall how do you think it's held there? This isn't a new installation, and when the system is full that vessel will weigh between 20 and 30kg so it wouldnt stay fixed to that pipe for long if wasn't held to the wall by one of those imaginary brackets you claim don't exist.
Funny you posted this today. I'm a maintenance man for about 90 apartments. I had to cut, drain and repair a 1" copper heating pipe that was leaking in a closet today. When I got ready to turn the water back on and bleed the (4 apartment, 12 bedrooms total) system, there was no water pressure in the boiler. Turns out the pipe feeding the boiler inlet valve had rusted and collected so much crap in it, there was no flow. Sure was a bitch figuring that out. What a day.
I feel for you. An innocent repair and you are there all day sorting out existing problems and nobody wants to pay you for that.
I've done all this, wont get any psi and water just leaks out of the tap, I have taps in place instead.
2:53 contamination ( Legionnaires)?