Is Your Central Heating System Losing Pressure?
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- Опубліковано 4 жов 2024
- Another plumbing DIY tip from Roger, this time we look at boiler pressure problems, how to solve them and get your system repressurised.
Repressurising your central heating system is a basic do it yourself job that can be easily completed without getting a plumber in. Solving low boiler pressure problems is usually quick and simple.
Roger has a FAQ on boiler pressure problems.
• Why is my boiler losing pressure when heating on?
• Why is my central heating losing pressure slowly?
• Why is my boiler losing pressure yet no leak?
• Why is my central heating losing pressure when heating not on?
• Why is my combi boiler losing pressure overnight?
• After heating has been on my boiler loses pressure, why?
#plumbing #boiler #DIY
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I watched numerous other videos and nothing worked. Eventually stumbled upon yourself and you've saved my bacon. Thank you!
Great to hear!
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.
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
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!
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.
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!
Amazing video. Very easy to follow and saved us a lot of time and money 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
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!
Excellent informative video......I followed the advice here and now my CH system is working perfectly 🙂
Glad it helped
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.
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 a lot ! You saved me an expensive call to emergency heating guy !
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!
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. 🤣
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.
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
OMG thank you thank you thank you! Heating now working -6 later tonight xxxx👍
Wonderful!
Thanks for the video, my sentral heating system now has the correct pressure :-)
Thank you, very clear - sorted out my problem.🙂
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 for the information. Very useful!!
I had to have my expansion vessel replaced as the diaphragm failed. Spot on now though thanks to my brill plumber👍
Top notch was able to bleed my system after a stove install. Many thanks
Could really do with a guy of Your skills in My area. Great video
Cheers roger had a few issues around boiler pressure. This has sorted it mate 👍
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
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!
Liking these videos you’ve been putting out recently
Once again,thanks so much.❤👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
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 ?
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 😊
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.
Thanks for the video, very well explained. 🙏👍
Glad it was helpful!
That was really helpful.... Thank You ❤❤❤
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!
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
Thanks you man greatly appreciated solved months old problem
Thanks Roger. Really helpful this video.
Glad it helped
This sorted my heating problem out straight away 👍
Thank you!
SB. Can you review and explain the pros/ cons of Electric Central Heating Boilers to run wet radiators and hot water?
What could be the reason if the red needle is above 4, does it means there is a leak somewhere?
Hi any ideas on F2 fault on a glow-worm boiler?
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
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?
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?
Thank you very much it worked for me.
What about modern Boilers such as Valiant or Bosh.
Regards
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.
Thanks for this. Can you cover the same subject for normal boilers with a hot water tank please?
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!!
Very helpful video
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
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.
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, after trying to wash the pots and no hot water coming out I followed your steps and know everything is hunkydorie
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
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.
found the video very informative and useful
Cheers mate, worked a charm
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 ?
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.
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
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 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!
Does the heat hero on a gravity fed heating system with a back boiler really work
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.
Why does the boiler need to be pressurised in order for the hot taps to work?
surely the central heating system is separate to the hot taps system, isn't it? And we're pressurising the heating system and not the hot water. I'm baffled. please explain.
Brilliant help Ty
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.
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
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.
Guide to the pressure vessel would be great 👍
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
Good to see Brits doing tool channels good vid m8 .
Thank you for the video.
Excellent!
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
THANK YOU. I will call my boiler engineer. I'm having to put pressure in everyday. I get an E19 error code.
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.
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
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.
I've done all this, wont get any psi and water just leaks out of the tap, I have taps in place instead.
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.
🙏🏽❤️💐Thank You, It was so helpful.
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.
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
how difficult it is to install central heating for beginners
That was handy .... that guage has always puzzled me. Ours goes up and down of it's own accord .... seems that's OK after all :-)
Hi bud mine is on 1qurter, when I put heating on it goes 2,, 2 bar is that normal?
Skillbuilder
What do you think about wall-detectors? Do you have some smart tricks discerning hidden dangers in walls?
Hit and miss. I don't trust them but they help
when venting the rads do i need to keep rads closed
no they need to be open but you can turn the heating off
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
Great video Roger This subject has has our engineer baffled for over 12months. We are loosing half a bar in 3-4 days, no sign of leaks and radiators pressure tested ok over 2 days in the summer. New larger expansion vessel fitted. Must be the boiler. Manufacturers engineer is heading out Monday, interesting to see if they can locate the problem. The more info I have the better.
faulty gauge ? ...
Either the Pressure Relief Valve has failed to reseat and you have a weep from the PRV termination, can be ruled out with a party balloon attached with a rubber band over the termination; or the heat exchanger has a crack, and you're losing water inside the combustion chamber on a standard efficiency boiler or down the condensate pipework on a condensing boiler. Probably do with a better engineer to be honest; if the system has been eliminated from the equation, it can only be the boiler, and domestic boilers don't have many places water can escape from or to.
Thank you Mike, great info to have when the Manufacturers Engineer comes out.
There's a good chance your boiler may have a leak within the heat exchanger or from the prv as mike suggests. You don't say what system your on. Do have a pressurised system/conventional boiler which a hot water cylinder? If so you may also have a pin hole in the coil causing heating water to leak into your hot water system.
Other things to consider is what sort of floors do you have? Wooden/floating floors won't show up leaks as easy as screeds.
I've also had it in the past where a system would only leak when the heating was on, through the summer you would get nothing but in the winter when the heating is on, the pipes get nice and hot and when they expand the leak shows itself, this can be a common issue if compression fitting are buried in the floor.
If you have have no look with the manufacturer on Monday then look at hiring a thermal imaging camera, wait for your heating to get hot and using the camera you'll be able to trace where all your heating pipes run, you should just see distinctive orange tubes but if you see a pool of orange then that would indicate a leak.
Good luck
Thank you Craig it’s a grant vortex, oil boiler similar to a sealed combi.
We are in a bungalow with the pipe work going up into the loft and then it comes down the walls. I will a try the thermal
Imaging camera on the walls and ceiling . I do remember the auto blead valve being changed a few years ago, that is definitely a area to look at. Thanks again I now have a much better insight into were to look. Hope fully the engineer will appreciate it !
i had to keep topping up it was not the vessel i had an internal leak on the main heat exchnger
Hi Roger and contributors. Our Grant engineer came out this week and spent 2.5 hours checking over the system. He removed the internal 10l expansion vessel which had failed and was full of water. This unit was supplied with the boiler . leaving the external 25 l vessel in the loft. He checked the valves and seals and re-seated some bits. From what he reported looks like it must be the pipework. Need to see f we are still loosing pressure over the next week or so. Thank you all for your helpful insight.
*losing