Effects of condensate not draining

[venton]

I noticed that my Firebird oil combi appears to never be producing condensate. I fettled the return temperature of heating so it condenses, but still no condensate - or so I thought.
On close investigation I can see the drain pipe from the condensate trap goes UP to the exit hole on the side of the boiler. So gravity can't drain the condensate away, and there is no pump. This is probably easily fixable by drilling a lower exit hole on the casing. It's not a long way off.
But what I was wondering, is what effect this acidic condensate might have had, not being able to drain away? It's been a couple of years since boiler was installed, and the thought of the condensate backing up is a bit worrying. After all, there must be a reason to be getting rid of it.
I pulled this condensate pipe off the trap, and sure enough condensate is actually coming out now.

 

[Rob Foster]

I noticed that my Firebird oil combi appears to never be producing condensate. I fettled the return temperature of heating so it condenses, but still no condensate - or so I thought.
On close investigation I can see the drain pipe from the condensate trap goes UP to the exit hole on the side of the boiler. So gravity can't drain the condensate away, and there is no pump. This is probably easily fixable by drilling a lower exit hole on the casing. It's not a long way off.
But what I was wondering, is what effect this acidic condensate might have had, not being able to drain away? It's been a couple of years since boiler was installed, and the thought of the condensate backing up is a bit worrying. After all, there must be a reason to be getting rid of it.
I pulled this condensate pipe off the trap, and sure enough condensate is actually coming out now.

Its quite simple, look at the installation instructions , and follow the manufacturers instructions, HOWEVER condensate out flow is considered to be a flue and as such younmust be Gas Safe to do anything including the actions already taken if it was a gas appliance. not so sure about stink pots however , a worst case scenario is someone you love gets hurt or your home insurance is already invalid....I would check if its ok to muck about with oil burners
centralheatking

 

[venton]

Thanks, but it is an Oil combi, not gas. If it needs modifying I will get the installer back though. Just want to know the effect of the condensate not draining might be.

 

[Rob Foster]

Thanks, but it is an Oil combi, not gas.

I know I just quoted that
chking

 

[Aire]

If there was an issue with your boiler holding condensate water then it would go to lockout, your boilers been installed 2 years so I'd say it's removing the condensate water. The pipe going uphill isn't ideal but if the outlet is below the top of the condensate trap then gravity will do it's work.

 

[venton]

If there was an issue with your boiler holding condensate water then it would go to lockout, your boilers been installed 2 years so I'd say it's removing the condensate water. The pipe going uphill isn't ideal but if the outlet is below the top of the condensate trap then gravity will do it's work.

Ok thanks for that. The final outlet is indeed well below the trap. Just that I've been trying to collect the condensate water from final outlet and been dry for weeks. Yet, when I remove the pipe from the trap, out comes water. Maybe the plastic piping outside has a leaky joint so it doesn't make it to final destination. Odd.

 

[Chuck]

Ok thanks for that. The final outlet is indeed well below the trap. Just that I've been trying to collect the condensate water from final outlet and been dry for weeks. Yet, when I remove the pipe from the trap, out comes water. Maybe the plastic piping outside has a leaky joint so it doesn't make it to final destination. Odd.

What's the return temperature at the boiler? Roughly speaking, if it's not below 55°C there won't be any condensate generated and if it's not below 50°C there won't be much.

 

[venton]

What's the return temperature at the boiler? Roughly speaking, if it's not below 55°C there won't be any condensate generated and if it's not below 50°C there won't be much.

The water leaves boiler at 65c and returns at around 40-45 c.

 

[Chuck]

The water leaves boiler at 65c and returns at around 40-45 c.

There'll definitely be condensate going somewhere then. Just not where you want it 🙁