Constant pressure drop

[orsm78]

Hi guys,

Hope I'm posting in the correct place 🙂

I have a Glow worm Flexicom 18sx boiler, ever since I moved into my house I have had an issue where the pressure on the boiler drops below 1bar, in turn I get the normal error stating no pressure resulting in no hot water, this normally happens every month to 5 weeks, I have to then "top" the tank up to increase the pressure. I have had corgi engineers out to look at it and have never had it fixed properly.

I am spending £50/£60 a month on gas and only live in a 2 bed terraced house with my Wife, we never have the heating on and hardly use the gas cooker, the only gas used is to heat the boiler and the odd cooking. I'm trying to get to the bottom of why my gas bill is slightly high and why the Bar pressure drops all the time. I've added below certain details of how the boiler fires up, what setting is on, and also the drayton unit that's next to the boiler.

1- The boiler is set to 66c (was 82c but told to change)

2- The boiler fires up every 9 minutes, with the bar pressure slightly dropping a couple of points (starts at 1.5 bar drops to 1.3 then back to 1.5) then the temp rises to the setting of 66c, this repeats it self every 9 minutes, is this normal ?

3- The drayton water and heating unit (added in the pic) is set to what and when I want the water to come on, currently the heating is turned off, not sure if this or the boiler is working properly, if I set it to holiday mode (the plane symbol) and put in 3 days away the boiler still kicks in and heats water ever 9 minutes. Surely if I have set it be be away or to come on at the times I want then why does it heat itself every 9 minutes, is this normal ?

4- When the pressure drops and the boiler cuts out I have to turn the valve taps on in the airing cupboard to put the water back in the system, if for example I put 2bar in on the dial in the airing cupboard the system on the boiler normally shows a higher value.

Any help and suggestions would be grateful.

Thanks in advance.

 

[lame plumber]

the pressure issue is going to be a leak somewhere on the system, be it pipework, prv or rad valve issue, or failed expansion vessel. so needs a decent technician to check it out to solve the issue. re the on of cycle, it sounds like your boiler is short cycling and needs to have the cause found and resolved.

 

[Riley]

Agree with lame

 

[orsm78]

the pressure issue is going to be a leak somewhere on the system, be it pipework, prv or rad valve issue, or failed expansion vessel. so needs a decent technician to check it out to solve the issue. re the on of cycle, it sounds like your boiler is short cycling and needs to have the cause found and resolved.

Thanks for the reply mate, I have checked all the visible pipe work, rad ends and cant seem to find the leak any where, the expansion vessel was changed and the problem continued, a different plumber arrived a few months after and I told him it was replaced and he said it didn't look new so god knows what the other one put on, maybe a second hand one?

Out of interest with regards to the cycle, how long should the boiler be off for before it comes on to heat the water, I set the Drayton timer to come on at 5am 11am and 6pm as I do shift work, so should the boiler only fire up and heat at those times I have selected. Could that be a reason why my gas bill is high ish

Cheers

 

[Riley]

Short cycling is where the boiler turns off and on repeatedly even if outside set times or if temperature reached. There's nothing wrong with times you've mentioned. I'd be looking at a valve stuck open and telling the boiler to fire

 

[orsm78]

Thanks Riley, I will give Corgi a call again, could the short cycling be a possible reason why my gas bill is high

 

[rpm]

I know of a Corgi called Toby but thinking you mean a gas safe engineer as Toby only chases rabbits. :smile5:

 

[Dotty]

Corgi don't exist as the regulatory body any more. And haven't done for any number of years.

Nice one getting the message across, Gas Safe Register!

OP. The best thing you could do is tell us roughly where you are. One of us might cover that area.