Any plumbers around for advice?.........

[Becaroooo]

Long story short.........Boiler broke on tuesday

Had new one put in thursday/friday.

Its a potterton heatmax condenser combi.

The expansion vessel (sp?) was leaking on thursday so the plubmer got a new one on friday and that one is leaking too.

Plumber thinks it v v unlikely that it is another faulty vessel and that its condensation gathering (the leak is a drip really but it is persistent)

Dh and I do not think it is condensation...the water from the drip is stone cold....surely if it was condensation the water would be tepid/warmer?

My question is....

Do I leave it a week as he has suggested (the new boiler plus labour plus VAT has cost us £2k btw!) and see what happens? Or do I say come back please? I dont want to be unreasonable so wondered what MN think?

TIA

open the windows wide to blow out all the moist air from your home. If you have draped wet washing around the house take it down.

Does the vessell now stop dripping? If so, it was condensation.

We had one fitted the wrong way up once(it was on its side) kept dripping until standing upright. Also the expansion vessel needs to be big enough for the boiler iirc.

PJ The boiler is in a cupboard next to the bathroom so no windows and I keep the bathroom window open all day anyway...?

I dont dry washing in the house.

noddy Its def the right way up!

I thought condensation was unlikely but worth a try. In modern boilers the expansion vessel is inside the boiler case so would tend to be warm (unless you have an unusually large installation or a boiler conversion from open vent or it is in a very cold place like a loft)

if you can catch the drip in a glass, inspect it to see if it is clean and fresh like tap water; or if it has a chemical smell and possibly a bit brown or yellow like water from bleeding rads, and see if it fizzes when you put a tiny amount of bocarbonate of soda (nothing else will do) in it (or you can use litmus paper or universal indicator if you have it - you are testing for acidity)

Leaks from a vessel are very improbable. It is more likely to be coming from one of the connectors, most likely where the water pipes connects at the bottom, but possibly the air-pressure topup valve (this is very very unlikely).

Professional plumbers like to claim their joints never leak (this is untrue) and some of them are too proud to use jointing compounds or tape.

If you can actually get at the vessel, wrap kitchen roll tightly round any joints or other places that might be leaking and see if any of them get wet.

It is possible that there is something above the vessel which is leaking and dripping onto it.

Was your installer a reputable firm, and have you seen evidence that the fitter is gas-safe registered?

What is the pressure showing on the boiler gauge (might be about 1 Bar.)?

bi carbonate of soda

p.s.

you may even be able to see his photo

www.gassaferegister.co.uk/help/check_an_engineer.aspx

Just asked by plumber husband. He says get your plumber back, it's a leak. Potterton boilers are very reliable and unlikely to be faulty twice. They run and test all their boilers before they leave the factory. The leak most lukely to be from your plumbers workmanship not the actual boiler.
Oh and condensation can be cold apparently.
Hope that helps!

Thanks all!

Will phone him.