Installation of gravity fed heating system from a woodburner

[danharrison]

We have recently fitted a wood burner with a wrap around boiler to run our central heating and hot water system. However when we light the fire, we have to keep the draught low as when the fire gets hot, the hot water bypasses the hot water tank and goes straight into the expansion tank, resulting in us having very little hot water. The water is very noisy travelling through the pipes also
We fitted the hot water tank ourselves, using 28mm piping to and from the fire to the hot water tank, reducing the pipe to 22mm to go into the expansion tank, the pipe is 6ft long from the hot water tank to the expansion tank.
If anyone has any suggestions to why our hot water is going straight to the expansion tank, please let us now, we would be very greatful!! thanks Dan Harrison

 

[Agile]

It sounds as if this is a DIY installation and not designed by anyone with the relevant experience! Not very likely to work if thats the case!

I know that plumbers leave school at 14 and are very thick and that anyone else can do better without any experience or skills apart from being able to joint a few pipes, but....

Can you take and post a photo of the connections at the boiler ?

Can you do a sketch of the layout with some dimensions included?

Tony

 

[doitall]

First thoughts say you got the wrong cylinder.

Is it suitable for gravity circulation ?????

I'm very surprised Tony didn't pick up on that.

 

[Agile]

Most DIYers spend hours reading brochures and telephoning suppliers to ask if something is suitable.

They then spoil it all by thinking that they will be able to connect it up themselves and it will work first time.

After all you only have to connect the pipes together dont you!

If an ignorant plumber can do it then any DIYer will be able to as well!

I took the view that they probably DID get a suitable cylinder.

But as you rightly point out, I should not have given them the benefit of the doubt !

I think the water is BOILING in their boiler! In spite of the name its not meant to do that and they may have already coated the inside in a nice lims scale coating!

They have not mentioned any heat sink either! Or how their rads are connected up.

He only mentions a pipe going INTO the F&E tank and nothing about a vent pipe! Its probably a plastic F&E as well!

We had a similar posting to this one a few weeks ago. Probably exactly the same installation flault!

Tony

 

[doitall]

Quite obviously the water is boiling, the worry is why it's by-passing the cylinder.

The answer to that question is:- there is no circulation, therefore immediately dangerous, and must not be used.

 

[rayburner]

Can someone give some info on the correct way to pipe up a cylinder for use
with gravity circulation from a WB and point out the differences between cylinders for gravity and conventional ?