gas pressure too low? new potterton boiler

[Corgigrouch]

I'd still be taking a second look at that regulator.... That is a big drop, especially if I read right and the standing pressure starts at 18mB and then drops to 8.... Perhaps I'm mistaken in what is written though

 

[cjm123]

I'd still be taking a second look at that regulator.... That is a big drop, especially if I read right and the standing pressure starts at 18mB and then drops to 8.... Perhaps I'm mistaken in what is written though

That's correct. The Heat Team engineer showed me on his meter when the boiler fires. What happens is the initial firing up occurs, then around 15 seconds later a 'second burn' (my phrase!) kicks in, which is when the noise happens. At this point, he showed me the pressure dropping from 18 to 12 and then lower, it definitely went below 10, and i'm pretty sure it reached 8mb.

This problem only occurs when the boiler is firing from cold. If you start it again within an hour or so you skip this noisy stage. Once the initial noise has passed, the boiler runs seemingly happily enough (certainly more quietly), although periodically the water will go completely cold for 20 seconds and then heat up again (often when someone is in the shower) - the engineer said this also supports the idea of the low pressure.

The engineer suggested that turning the tap on very slowly would reduce the noise, this seems to be true.

 

[hansthebear]

the workingpressure at the meter needs to be checked, this will confirm either faulty meter regulator or undersized pipework.

 

[cjm123]

the workingpressure at the meter needs to be checked, this will confirm either faulty meter regulator or undersized pipework.

Yes, that was done by the Heat Team engineer:

yes, the Heat Team guy did check the pressure at the meter while I ran the boiler. He was happy with it and thus diagnosed the pipes as being the issue (having already checked the pressure at the boiler first)