Hot water cylinder

[bernardgreen]

I was wrong ....... Not an air separator but, going by that cable, it is an immersion heater

 

[oldbutnotdead]

Is that lockshield open or closed (you'll need a spanner on it of course), try closing it first and count how many turns it takes to close it, then how many turns it takes to open it fully. Don't hit the spanner with a hammer, don't use massive force on it.

In your first set of pictures there are 5 pipes visible going into the cylinder cupboard ceiling. Can you see all 5 pipes in the loft- if so, tell us where they go & what they connect to (eg bottom of big plastic tank, top of tank, big loop above tank)

If you can sketch a schematic of which pipes connect to what for the rest of the system that would help...

 

[NewhouseOldhouse]

Tank in the loft

 

[NewhouseOldhouse]

Setup around oil boiler

 

[NewhouseOldhouse]

In relation to the lockshield if it was closed sure radiators would not heat would that be correct?

Just reluctant to touch it in case

 

[oldbutnotdead]

In relation to the lockshield if it was closed sure radiators would not heat would that be correct?

Just reluctant to touch it in case

No, that lockshield is (or appears to be) in the primary return from the cylinder and shouldn't affect the radiators.
Does look crusty though so be gentle with it.
Pic 3 in your new set- are both those gate valves open?
Lastly, i would strongly advise you to get a solid fuel engineer in to look at the system, your pictures are showing some dubious features.
With solid fuel, the header tanks must be metal. Plastic tanks fail at 90 deg c, an uncontrolled heat source (like your back boiler) can heat the water to that temperature under fault conditions (eg power cut while fire fully loaded and burning)

Plastic fittings are not fit for use on solid fuel systems for similar reasons. The one near the oil boiler looks a bit close to the boiler anyway

If that one tank is supplying hot tap water and primary makeup there will be no inhibitor in the primary system, thus risking sludge buildup

My suspicion is that the previous owners have bodged the system (metal tanks are much more expensive than plastic ones) and left you holding a potentially expensive and dangerous baby. Please get it checked asap.

 

[Nige F]

Indeed, the copper bulge is a strange one , maybe a device to allow one feed from the CWSC ? I have seen similar, but a different shape. The 28 dropping down then reducing ,at that height makes me wonder if it's a looped gravity circuit and that's the flow connection to a annulus heat exchanger - not a coil

I may have been talking like an annulus I see now it's a coil I'll get me jacket

 

[HERTS P&D]

That cylinder is a leak waiting to happen.

Andy

 

[NewhouseOldhouse]

would it be advisable to replace the hot water cylinder?

 

[oldbutnotdead]

Probably. Get someone competent in to have a look at the whole system and explain to you how it is meant to work. Not BG or any other sales driven company.

 

[NewhouseOldhouse]

Probably. Get someone competent in to have a look at the whole system and explain to you how it is meant to work. Not BG or any other sales driven company.

do you think this would solve the heating of water issue??

 

[oldbutnotdead]

Hopefully yes. A competent person on site will also be able to assess the general state of the installation, it may be stuff that looks iffy on the photos is in fact ok because of other features that we can't see

 

[NewhouseOldhouse]

what is the approx cost of cylinder replacement and what type of cylinder could i possibly get?