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First post here, hoping someone can help (and that I've obeyed the forum rules!)
I have a Tornado 250ltr unvented water cylinder which last year the bladder in the expansion vessel failed on, so a new one was fitted last year and all was well. (Its the one where you just screw the vessel straight onto the cylinder and the lagging walls cover it all.)
Until last week when my wife noticed a damp smell in the airing cupboard and hot water was dripping over the top of the lagging of the cylinder, fortunately it looked like it hadn't been dripping for long and hadn't soaked the floor etc. Long story short, after shutting off the water I syphoned nearly 40litres of hot water from the gap around the expansion vessel but couldn't really see where the leak was coming from (i was hoping for a hiss!), i pressed the schraeder valve on the vessel but got a sort of dismal weak fart out of it.
G3 plumber/engineer from plumbing company came to look at it and after getting some air into the tank said he could see bubbles coming from the lagging around the cylinder (there was still about an inch of water ontop of the cylinder), I was gutted. He said he would send a quote through. When he left however, I heard a dripping noise and on further inspection noticed that water was dripping from somewhere at the back of the expansion vessel and onto the remaining shallow pool of water ontop of the cylinder. This peaked my interest greatly, so I stuck my scrawny arm down the gap between the vessel and the lagging and noticed that it was indeed leaking water at a drip-rate and i could feel it right at the back of the unit and about halfway across the neck towards the flange/joint underneath where it joined the cylinder. I then shoved my gopro down the gap and streamed to my phone and could clearly see that the vessel had some sort of failure - the white enamel was lifted in a u-shape with what looked like corrosion around it and the water was coming from underneath this corroded flap. I called the plumbing company to get the engineer back.
I am now certain that all this water has come from the expansion vessel, however the engineer still remains convinced that he saw bubbles. I don't doubt that he saw something, but I'm not convinced that both an expansion vessel and the cylinder would both fail and cause this leak? Surely water would be trying to leak elsewhere but it only seems to be spilling over the top. I wonder if he perhaps just saw some air trapped that moved or maybe something that looked like bubbles, I didn't see them. I am currently thinking of just replacing the vessel again and monitoring to save me having to fork out for an entire new cylinder, although the engineers logic is a new cylinder would remove any doubt of any leaks. new cylinder all-in quote was £1200.
My thought is in this day and age of consumer law etc, should this expansion vessel not have some sort of warranty/guarantee and if so, what do they usually consist of? Eg, just a replacement part so it's worth £35, or would it include claiming for some of the labour to replace it as well? I don't yet know the make, I've asked the plumbing company to tell find out (it was the same plumbing company that purchased and fitted it last year)
Many thanks in advance for any advice given.
I have a Tornado 250ltr unvented water cylinder which last year the bladder in the expansion vessel failed on, so a new one was fitted last year and all was well. (Its the one where you just screw the vessel straight onto the cylinder and the lagging walls cover it all.)
Until last week when my wife noticed a damp smell in the airing cupboard and hot water was dripping over the top of the lagging of the cylinder, fortunately it looked like it hadn't been dripping for long and hadn't soaked the floor etc. Long story short, after shutting off the water I syphoned nearly 40litres of hot water from the gap around the expansion vessel but couldn't really see where the leak was coming from (i was hoping for a hiss!), i pressed the schraeder valve on the vessel but got a sort of dismal weak fart out of it.
G3 plumber/engineer from plumbing company came to look at it and after getting some air into the tank said he could see bubbles coming from the lagging around the cylinder (there was still about an inch of water ontop of the cylinder), I was gutted. He said he would send a quote through. When he left however, I heard a dripping noise and on further inspection noticed that water was dripping from somewhere at the back of the expansion vessel and onto the remaining shallow pool of water ontop of the cylinder. This peaked my interest greatly, so I stuck my scrawny arm down the gap between the vessel and the lagging and noticed that it was indeed leaking water at a drip-rate and i could feel it right at the back of the unit and about halfway across the neck towards the flange/joint underneath where it joined the cylinder. I then shoved my gopro down the gap and streamed to my phone and could clearly see that the vessel had some sort of failure - the white enamel was lifted in a u-shape with what looked like corrosion around it and the water was coming from underneath this corroded flap. I called the plumbing company to get the engineer back.
I am now certain that all this water has come from the expansion vessel, however the engineer still remains convinced that he saw bubbles. I don't doubt that he saw something, but I'm not convinced that both an expansion vessel and the cylinder would both fail and cause this leak? Surely water would be trying to leak elsewhere but it only seems to be spilling over the top. I wonder if he perhaps just saw some air trapped that moved or maybe something that looked like bubbles, I didn't see them. I am currently thinking of just replacing the vessel again and monitoring to save me having to fork out for an entire new cylinder, although the engineers logic is a new cylinder would remove any doubt of any leaks. new cylinder all-in quote was £1200.
My thought is in this day and age of consumer law etc, should this expansion vessel not have some sort of warranty/guarantee and if so, what do they usually consist of? Eg, just a replacement part so it's worth £35, or would it include claiming for some of the labour to replace it as well? I don't yet know the make, I've asked the plumbing company to tell find out (it was the same plumbing company that purchased and fitted it last year)
Many thanks in advance for any advice given.
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