Just visited a (slightly elderly) lady friend who lives on her own and she announced she'd just noticed a leak from the cylinder. (She does have it serviced annually and it had recently been done). A quick look showed it was coming from the lower edge of the grey inspection cover over the immersion heater (the one with one screw holding it on).
I called a local heating firm that I knew was reputable and who has an out of hours number and he advised to turn off the blue quarter turn isolating valve - which slowed the leak to a manageable drip - and he asked for some photos ... which I sent ... and he thought it almost certain to be the immersion heater washer that either needs nipping up or needs replacing.
He said he'd recently done one on a nearby property (new build Bovis housing estate about 6 years old).
The upshot is it's all out of my hands now and the lady is no longer flooding her ground floor toilet and we have a reputable company who will deal with it as soon as they can. He said they might need to order the washer.
I've always had a bit of an aversion towards unvented cylinders despite the many proponents on this site, and almost everywhere else.
I guess unvented cylinders (along with the ubiquitous combi boiler) are the systems of choice for the majority nowadays but I would just ask if it's an acknowledged issue or was it a one off and maybe she was a bit unfortunate, but it could well be an insurance claim as the water has leaked under the fitted vinyl floor covering.
I called a local heating firm that I knew was reputable and who has an out of hours number and he advised to turn off the blue quarter turn isolating valve - which slowed the leak to a manageable drip - and he asked for some photos ... which I sent ... and he thought it almost certain to be the immersion heater washer that either needs nipping up or needs replacing.
He said he'd recently done one on a nearby property (new build Bovis housing estate about 6 years old).
The upshot is it's all out of my hands now and the lady is no longer flooding her ground floor toilet and we have a reputable company who will deal with it as soon as they can. He said they might need to order the washer.
I've always had a bit of an aversion towards unvented cylinders despite the many proponents on this site, and almost everywhere else.
I guess unvented cylinders (along with the ubiquitous combi boiler) are the systems of choice for the majority nowadays but I would just ask if it's an acknowledged issue or was it a one off and maybe she was a bit unfortunate, but it could well be an insurance claim as the water has leaked under the fitted vinyl floor covering.
