Do you've got a leaking boiler?
If you have a boiler that you might think is leaking, but cannot see any type of leak, what now ??
First we must establish what type of boiler you have, could it be a mix boiler, system boiler or heat only boiler.
With combination and system boilers they work under ruthless, with heat only boilers they are sometimes are pressurised, or work under low pressure.
With all boilers that are pressurised you will see a pressure gauge fitted to either the front of the boiler or close by on the pipe work.
A leaking boiler is not always a leaking boiler, I understand that might sound strange, but it's true. All these boilers working under ruthless should have an expansion vessel fitted either internally or externally, this is normally the cause of a leaking boiler.
So how do we resolve the leaking boiler problem?
First you ought to have your boiler serviced each year without fail, in the event that you decide not to have your boiler serviced then at sometime in the foreseeable future you will have an expensive repair bill and even the cost of a fresh boiler.
So why could it be vital that you have your boiler serviced?
The times of not bothering to service your boiler have long gone, these boilers were very basic rather than much went wrong using them, the most frequent problem was that the thermal coupling had to be changed. These boilers weren't very efficient around 40% of your fuel bill went of the flue and another 60% into you're heat.
Because the introduction of the high efficiency condensing boilers it's been very important to have them serviced every year. These boilers are designed to give the best performance and most of most save you on your own energy bill.
When a boiler service is carried out we have been looking first to make certain everything is still safe, that there are no combustion or gas leaks, checking over the flue making sure the product of combustion are exiting to the outside as they should.
We have a combustion reading with a combustion analyser and be sure the boiler when running is within the boiler makers parameters, if the reading are not correct then we perform further investigation to determine why, then reset.
Next we come to the most frequent problem with these boilers.
Bathroom Fitters Colchester , The expansion vessel is really a very important section of your boiler and heating system, if this isn't working properly then you will have problems. The most frequent problem is definitely the lack of system pressure, most people describe this as a leaking boiler.
In fact it's not a leaking boiler, it's an expansion vessel problem. The vessel must be checked each year and reset for your boiler to give its best performance, once the vessel it not checked, over time it will stop working.
The Boiler Service
When you contact your local gas safe registered boiler service engineer to service your boiler, ask him to make sure the expansion vessel is checked over and reset if needed. For some reason whenever a boiler service is completed, the expansion vessel appears to be left out and not checked, not all of that time period but around 80% of the time. When you browse the boiler makers instructions on boiler service they say that the expansion should be checked and reset if needed.
So what happens to the expansion vessel?
The best way to describe the expansion vessel is, its just like a car tyre, as time passes it is going to go flat. The vessel is the same, it is pumped up with an automobile pump to a Pressure that's compatible to the type of heat you have.
If the vessel loses its pressure then it will start to fill with water internally, once this starts to occur most people start to think they may have a leaking boiler.
The expansion vessel works by taking on the expansion of the water as it gets hotter within you're heating system. If the vessel has no internal pressure then it will fill with water, once full, your boiler will begin to discharge water through the pressure relief valve, to release the pressure to avoid pipes bursting.