PRV drip

[Iamchamps]

I can see this is a very common ask for pressure dropping on systems.

My boiler install was finished yesterday, Valiant ecotec418 the central heating side has had the tank in loft removed and been sealed and set to 1 bar pressure. Since the plumber had left yesterday it had slowly dropped. Last night before I went to bed I put it back to 1 bar in the morning it was down to about half a bar (no heating or water turned on) reading posts on here saying wrap a small bag round the PRV and check for water so I did that this morning after throughly checking it was dry before I put it on. 2 hours later there is a very very small amount of water in the bag.

The PRV was installed with the boiler can it really fail in such a small space of time or maybe was not installed correctly?

I will need to call the plumber back to change I think. I was reading all sorts of horror stories regarding internal leaks which I hope it is not. Will a few small drips cause such a big drop in the pressure in a small space of time? (half bar in a night)

 

[dilalio]

Leaks on existing pipework; air pressure charge on xp vessel; faulty prv: all are candidates for the problem, individually or a combination!

Speak to your installer and let him investigate further - all but the possible leak(s) in the existing system should be part of his after care service! Rule the other two out first.

 

[Iamchamps]

I hope there are no leaks I have been in this house almost 3 years using my previous boiler no problems however that was not sealed so was unable to see a pressure gauge to tell me water was going somewhere. I have checked all points I can possibly see for a leak around all the radiators and all pipe work I can see with no signs of damp or puddles in walls or ceilings either.

I will get him back to check, thanks

 

[Hugh Jaleak]

This is not the only fault you are asking for advice on, if the boiler was only installed yesterday, I'd be demanding your 'Plumber' comes back and rectifies all the problems. Messing about yourself could invalidate the Vaillant guarantee and any warranty your installer may have put on the work!

 

[Iamchamps]

I know it's bad isn't it. When the price sounds to good to be true it's normally for a reason.

 

[dilalio]

I know it's bad isn't it. When the price sounds to good to be true it's normally for a reason.

It really pi$$es me off when we lose out on an install to a competitor we know is just gonna throw it in and scarper - you can tell by the way the customer talks when they inform you of their decision... and all they are concerned about is the model of the boiler that's going in

 

[Iamchamps]

To be fair I found him on mybuilder and seemed a very genuine nice guy who knew what he was talking about. Only good reviews etc, almost £300 cheaper than the next best quote.

A few weeks before install he was incredibly hard to get hold of which started to worry me but had already paid a small deposit which he asked for so he would buy the equipment knowing I wouldn't cancel.

I checked him on the gas safe register also to make sure he was all legit. Nothing seemed wrong but since the day he arrived to do the install, then come back to do a flush and the difficulty I have had getting hold of him I wish I paid that extra £300....

The quotes

British Gas - £3500
Worcester Bosch accredited installed - £2900
Next best - £1912
The actual job - £1650

 

[dilalio]

It's Sunday! He finished late on a Saturday (as did I yesterday).
Give him the benefit of the doubt and don't pester him throughout today! Txt/email him with the details and start ringing him on Monday to get him back!
You have hot water and heating? and can get by until he returns.
A certain amount of settling in and beta testing by the homeowner is not uncommon in system changes and its where that all important 'after sales' reputation comes to the fore! Price Hunters don't consider that part when choosing installers

 

[Iamchamps]

I appreciate it is Sunday that is why I am posting in here and not bombarding him with calls. If I can diagnose as much as I can before he returns it should make his life a bit easier.

As a telecoms engineer who spends all my days fault finding on different bits of equipment I am more than happy to try and work out the hot water staying on which is the other post I made. The plumber out sourced that part and had to get an electrician in to do that bit which will take longer to get him back than the plumber. So if I can work out a cable is in the wrong place I can sort that myself. The drip and low pressure I can't.

 

[dilalio]

A Heating installer that outsources the wiring to an electrician! Jeez, I'm afraid that says it all! My electrician friends call "me" to help them with heating wiring as they have no bloody idea how the system should function!

Edit: 'some' of my electrician friends

 

[Iamchamps]

Surely them friends who are calling you for advice is because they are at a job helping a heating engineer installing a boiler though?

 

[Hugh Jaleak]

Do you know which type of system you have? I'm sure as a telecoms engineer you are capable of safely fault finding on mains electricity, have a look here for wiring diagrams. http://octaveblue.co.uk/central_heating.html

 

[Iamchamps]

I can't work out if there is a hint of sarcasm in that. I have to sit courses to be able work on mains power in street cabinets which I have to wear a boiler suit, a nice big visor and some rubber gloves in case it blows up so a few cables going into a junction box next to my hot water cylinder which can be easily isolated is not a big problem. If the fault appears to be inside the wiring that is in the boiler I will not touch that as it is obviously a sealed unit which only someone gas safe should be touching.

Thanks for the link I will have a look.

 

[Hugh Jaleak]

No sarcasm chap, but we have to be careful what we say, there is no control over who is looking at this forum, now or in the future. Whilst I have no doubt you are quite capable of working safely with main power, the next person may not, and I don't want to give them ideas of fiddling themselves which then results in a fatality. You'd be (or maybe not!) surprised at some of the things we get to see, (and some are by so called professionals!)

Only yesterday did we have someone asking for opinions on pipework done by a 'Plumber' he'd found on a 'Trust a Trader' (or a similar site). It was bloody awful, and with some advice from here, the chap redid the work himself and did a far superior job to that he'd paid the guy to do originally!

As to your boiler, I would suspect it's a fault externally, check the link has been removed on the wiring connections if you have external controls.

 

[Madrab]

As @dilalio mentions there can sometimes be issues when a new system goes in and needs to settle down. There can also sometimes be issues when central heating systems that are moved from open vented to sealed and the older system can't take the pressure. That should have been pointed out to you and either a waiver agreed or pressure testing performed. That being said, if you are getting water expelled from the PRV pipe then that's an obvious place to be checked.

As others have mentioned, time to get him back and sort out the snagging list, if he's at all reputable then he should have no issue coming back and sorting it all out for you.