Hello, This is my first message here and I'd be grateful for any tips or pointers! A few months ago, my boiler pressure dropped to the point that it cut out until the filling loop was used to re-pressurise it. Someone else did this for me as this is my first home and I had no idea. I have been periodically monitoring the pressure and it has been falling slowly ever since. I have done some searching and I understand that the pressure release valve is often to blame for a system de-pressurising. I cannot do the bag on the pipe test as I live on the second floor and therefore cannot get near where I think the pipe is on the outside wall. In order to get the pressure problem solved before the boiler cut out again, I thought I'd use the filling loop to boost the pressure in the system. In doing so, I noticed a load of wet limescale around a strange looking device in the airing cupboard amongst all the pipes around the hot water tank, which is nowhere near the boiler. The person who showed me the filling loop obviously did not spot the leak at the time. My questions are, is this item likely to be the cause of the system pressure dropping over a prolonged period and what is it? Also, is repair going to be expensive? I don't know whether it's relevant, but my hot water is partially supplied by a solar panel. Thanks for any and all help in advance and I appreciate this is a big ask for a first post! Gary
Ha ha found this The expansion relief valve and the condensate discharge pipes of condensing boilers must be arranged so that their outlets can be observed to have satisfactory air gaps above any tundish which conveys the discharge and so that a discharge from either one can be observed independently of the other.
I've never actually seen one on a domestic, but I have seen them on humidifiers for air handling units so I knew what it was ;-)
They are fitted on unvented cylinders,if you see water dripping down the tundish you need to recharge the vessel,unless you have a faulty prv.
Thanks for the replies so far So the problem could still be with the pressure release valve? Now I think about it, there is a spike in pressure when I turn on the tap, which eases after a second or so when the water flow returns to normal. Is this consistent with the PRV being faulty? Could the tundish and/or PRV result in pressure slowly being lost over months and the extra power when first turning on the tap? The water is pumped into the flats from our own pumping station if that's relevant. Thanks again.
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