Ideal Isar HE24 frozen condensate pipe

[johnbeard]

Hi, I'm a newbie and looking for some advice.

The condensate pipe on our Ideal Isar HE24 keeps freezing, so the boiler stops working (displaying the L:F error code) - when it first happened two days ago I rang our usual heating engineer who, unsurprisingly, said it might take a day or two for him to get out, but he suggested it was probably the external condensate pipe and to try pouring hot water on it. That worked, then it froze up again yesterday, so I did the same again - which worked again. I assume this is going to keep happening until the weather warms up, so I'm looking for a short term alternative solution, as the boiler is at first floor level, so I keep having to go up an icy ladder and pour water from a flask, which I'm not particularly enjoying and is terrifying my wife!

The condensate pipe is 35mm on the outside, and 22mm on the inside. The external pipe isn't insulated, and I'm struggling to find any big enough insulation/lagging at B&Q (I can find better stuff online, but it will obviously not come until the new year if I order it now).

Having looked at other forums, some people suggest cutting the internal condensate pipe and draining it to a bucket, but on one forum someone said that option wasn't appropriate for Ideal Isar boilers as it would lead to flue gases leaking out (I'm spectacularly non-techie, as you can probably tell).

Any other ideas? I'm thinking about buying some heat pads and strapping them to the outside pipe, but whether that will have much effect I don't know.

Any suggestions gratefully received, thanks.

 

[stem]

Electric trace heating kits are available, they consist of a heating wire that is attached to the pipe before the insulation is applied, they come with temperature control so that the condensate pipe is kept just above freezing.

Alternatively can the pipe be re-routed so that it doesn't go outside? Condensate pumps are available to overcome situations where a gravity route to a waste connection isn't possible.

I've not seen an installation where the external pipe gets bigger. But I have seen 22mm pipe that is insulated and then covered for protection giving the appearance of a larger pipe.

If it isn't insulated, you can get 35mm insulation click here for an example

 

[johnbeard]

Thanks for the advice - I will be getting a plumber out to look at re-routing it in the new year, I think. We only bought this house in August so the boiler and the condensate pipe going outside are a legacy of the previous owner!

It may well be that the larger outside pipe contains a smaller pipe - but it does sound fairly hollow when I tap it (at the bottom - it's more solid at the top where it's frozen!).

Oh, I have another question - some advice seems to be to keep the boiler running constantly, and turn the boiler (not room) thermostat up to full to try and stop this happening. Does that sound sensible? The boiler was running when it froze up the first time, so I'm not sure that it would work.

Thanks again,

John

 

[stem]

Condensation pipe freezing depends on many circumstances and variables. Location, insulation, number of bends, angle of discharge, even the direction of the prevailing wind, so there's not an exact answer, unfortunately

I know of pipes that have frozen when the boiler is only used in the daytime but also on those on permanently.