Sorry for it being a Ferroli in the first place, never again thats for sure, their customer service for a member of the public is a disgrace and their services charges/call out fees are not good.
Ferroli 35c Maxima Combi boiler fitted 4 years ago..ground floor, the boiler had to go on an inside wall....so, flue out the top, through a wall into another small toilet, round the corner of the toilet and then out to an outside wall.
Total length of the flue pipe approx 1.6 metres. Flue rasied slightly as it meets the outside wall presumably for any condensation to run back to the boiler.
This is the problem, last night I noticed water dripping from the boiler...so, switched it off, read the manual and took off the front cover...There was a pool of water on the heater exchange unit...so soaked it off with a towel, cleaned the excess water from the boiler...no problem so far...I traced the leak back to I think the flue jacket (not the flue) at the top of the boiler..and it was from there it was dripping down through the boiler onto the heater exchange and splattering against the back of the pcb board at the front of the boiler....
After checking the flue jacket (not the flue) through into the small toilet a couple of the ubends have moisture round them at some of the joints (when going around the corner...small 90degree ubends etc...If I manually move the jacket water actually drips from these joints.
I assume that there is an inner flue pipe from the boiler flue outlet which then had an outer casing/jacket where I can move a little at the joints and see water dripping The jacket is cemented into the walls where it goes through so maintenance when it comes isn't going to be a simple job)
What is the fault? Is it possible that the rubber/plastic or whatever seals are on the inner flue pipe have failed and that the moisture is then leaking from the inner flue pipe to the outer casing? (My carbon monoxide meter doesn't appear to detect anything and it's recently been tested) and thus running back to the boiler but because it's not the actual flue pipe (which I assume anything going back simply goes into the combustion chamber and is combusted so to speak.
Why would the seals on a flue fail just four years in...seems a bit strange to me.....the outside flue end is protected from vandalism, nothing is inside it that i can see and the vents are clear.
Is there any danger to me should I keep the boiler running? what if the actual inner flue pipe has dislodged a little from the boiler due to the pipes in the small toilet being manipulated to see for the leaks? would the boiler shut off if the flue lost it's seal etc etc?
I am running the boiler as a test at the moment, i've put the cover back on but as a precaution I've placed a waterproof covering on the back of the pcb board in the event that water leaks again...and I've kept a tub (friend rice tub from a chinese) lined the bottom of it with silver foil and placed it above the heater exchange which is where the water was dripping on to it.......I guess the heater exchange will only get hot when the hot water is on anyway...but it has been catching some drips.... I've undone the expansion pipe cap a little...not enough to allow the steam from it to come out and thus go all over the bottom of the boiler but enough for it to drip into a large bucket ...I've run the boiler, it's firing up and working...and heating/water is working and all but the front panel of the boiler is back as it should...I realise it's not perfect but in the absence of an available plumber until mid-week it's all I can do to keep warm. I switch it off at night inclusive of the gas to the meter just to be on the safe side. I have not adjusted or taken apart any components or wiring or anything, I've simply cleaned up the water and noted where it appears to be coming from. No interference of gas/electric has been attempted (I wouldn't know where to start anyway)
I was initally running the thermostate at 19.5 and the rad temp on the boiler at 58...I guess this is too cold for the house to be warm ...would this have caused the condensation or for the seals in the flue to be faulty?
I managed to get a torch up to where the flue comes into the boiler..I have pics if I am allowed to post them...and there was moisture up there, also there is a little rust up there and when i removed some of the screws from the outer casing of the flue (not the flue) (I thought the water if there would run through but there was not but they were rusty almost the entire thread...so this may have been happening over the course of time but with the recent low temperatures it's exacerbated the problem or shown up the error....I had the boiler serviced in May by ferroli.the service was £150 and no errors were reported.
Any advice would be much appreciated and also does anyone know how easy the parts as in a new flue/casing/seals would be to source for the plumber when they do come out and will they be the same as they once were...ferroli have recently updated the maxima...so i guess the flue may have been changed?
I can post pics if required.
Thank you
Julie
Ferroli 35c Maxima Combi boiler fitted 4 years ago..ground floor, the boiler had to go on an inside wall....so, flue out the top, through a wall into another small toilet, round the corner of the toilet and then out to an outside wall.
Total length of the flue pipe approx 1.6 metres. Flue rasied slightly as it meets the outside wall presumably for any condensation to run back to the boiler.
This is the problem, last night I noticed water dripping from the boiler...so, switched it off, read the manual and took off the front cover...There was a pool of water on the heater exchange unit...so soaked it off with a towel, cleaned the excess water from the boiler...no problem so far...I traced the leak back to I think the flue jacket (not the flue) at the top of the boiler..and it was from there it was dripping down through the boiler onto the heater exchange and splattering against the back of the pcb board at the front of the boiler....
After checking the flue jacket (not the flue) through into the small toilet a couple of the ubends have moisture round them at some of the joints (when going around the corner...small 90degree ubends etc...If I manually move the jacket water actually drips from these joints.
I assume that there is an inner flue pipe from the boiler flue outlet which then had an outer casing/jacket where I can move a little at the joints and see water dripping The jacket is cemented into the walls where it goes through so maintenance when it comes isn't going to be a simple job)
What is the fault? Is it possible that the rubber/plastic or whatever seals are on the inner flue pipe have failed and that the moisture is then leaking from the inner flue pipe to the outer casing? (My carbon monoxide meter doesn't appear to detect anything and it's recently been tested) and thus running back to the boiler but because it's not the actual flue pipe (which I assume anything going back simply goes into the combustion chamber and is combusted so to speak.
Why would the seals on a flue fail just four years in...seems a bit strange to me.....the outside flue end is protected from vandalism, nothing is inside it that i can see and the vents are clear.
Is there any danger to me should I keep the boiler running? what if the actual inner flue pipe has dislodged a little from the boiler due to the pipes in the small toilet being manipulated to see for the leaks? would the boiler shut off if the flue lost it's seal etc etc?
I am running the boiler as a test at the moment, i've put the cover back on but as a precaution I've placed a waterproof covering on the back of the pcb board in the event that water leaks again...and I've kept a tub (friend rice tub from a chinese) lined the bottom of it with silver foil and placed it above the heater exchange which is where the water was dripping on to it.......I guess the heater exchange will only get hot when the hot water is on anyway...but it has been catching some drips.... I've undone the expansion pipe cap a little...not enough to allow the steam from it to come out and thus go all over the bottom of the boiler but enough for it to drip into a large bucket ...I've run the boiler, it's firing up and working...and heating/water is working and all but the front panel of the boiler is back as it should...I realise it's not perfect but in the absence of an available plumber until mid-week it's all I can do to keep warm. I switch it off at night inclusive of the gas to the meter just to be on the safe side. I have not adjusted or taken apart any components or wiring or anything, I've simply cleaned up the water and noted where it appears to be coming from. No interference of gas/electric has been attempted (I wouldn't know where to start anyway)
I was initally running the thermostate at 19.5 and the rad temp on the boiler at 58...I guess this is too cold for the house to be warm ...would this have caused the condensation or for the seals in the flue to be faulty?
I managed to get a torch up to where the flue comes into the boiler..I have pics if I am allowed to post them...and there was moisture up there, also there is a little rust up there and when i removed some of the screws from the outer casing of the flue (not the flue) (I thought the water if there would run through but there was not but they were rusty almost the entire thread...so this may have been happening over the course of time but with the recent low temperatures it's exacerbated the problem or shown up the error....I had the boiler serviced in May by ferroli.the service was £150 and no errors were reported.
Any advice would be much appreciated and also does anyone know how easy the parts as in a new flue/casing/seals would be to source for the plumber when they do come out and will they be the same as they once were...ferroli have recently updated the maxima...so i guess the flue may have been changed?
I can post pics if required.
Thank you
Julie
