Vaillant leaking prv

[chatlow]

Hi,

After some advise pls. Noticed quite low pressure (0.6) on our vaillant ecotec combi boiler. Whilst at work, the wife stupidly turned the pressure relief valve anti-clockwise thinking it was the filler and the pressure dropped again. She turned it back tight and then found the correct filler loop screws.

The pressure was increased to around 1.5 but we then had water flowing from the overflow pipe outside the house.

Have we disturved the prv by turning it?

A plumber came around yesterday and seemed pretty clueless on this boiler. He hit the prv a few times and turned it once or twice.

The overflow pipe is now only dripping (even when pressure is above 1) which is a good sign, but still having to top up often.

Will I need to replace/clean the prv to permanently fix this issue?

Think the model is valliant turbomax plus (has the front flap and internal filling loop)


Thanks

 

[muggles]

You'll need a new PRV and also need to investigate why the old one was running. Does your heating pressure get very high when it's hot?

 

[chatlow]

You'll need a new PRV and also need to investigate why the old one was running. Does your heating pressure get very high when it's hot?

No, the pressure has never been high. That why I wondered if my wife had cuased the prv leak but turning it for a few seconds (she heard water releasing), so it may not be sitting correctly?

The way it is at the moment - with the heating on, the pressure stays the same (when we set it to 0.8 bar) and there's a drip every second or so from the over flow pipe out the back. When the heating is turned off, the pressure slowly drops, albeit a lot slower than when this first happened.

To top if off, the filling loop screws are badly rounded and don't think they are going to last much longer, so we won't be able to refill :-/

 

[Agile]

You should "click" the PRV about five times. That will assist it to reseal.

I find that usually they can drip for up to a week but in most cases they do eventually stop.

But there is another aspect that you should check. Watch the pressure as the heating warms up from cold. When cold it should be filled to about 1.5 bar and as the heating warms up this will increase a little to about 1.8 bar depending on the volume of the heating system.

That tests the effectiveness of the expansion vessel. That should be checked at the annual service but so many are not getting their boilers serviced regularly.

Tony

 

[pinheadplanet]

My experience is that when the PRV is activated it often does not close fully because some crud/iron oxide/sludge that was in the water that passed trough it has stopped it from closing completely. I replaced the PRV on my boiler and that did the trick (and it was easy to do). And yes if the PRV is dripping then of course you are losing pressure.

And PS No, it is not your wife's fault!

 

[Agile]

The problem exists because of the wife's operating the PRV. So I would say its her fault.

Although obviously she did not know what she was doing.

Of course the husband was also to blame to an extent for not showing her how to increase the pressure or not telling her not to touch the boiler at all.

Tony

 

[pinheadplanet]

lol

 

[chatlow]

You should "click" the PRV about five times. That will assist it to reseal.

I find that usually they can drip for up to a week but in most cases they do eventually stop.

But there is another aspect that you should check. Watch the pressure as the heating warms up from cold. When cold it should be filled to about 1.5 bar and as the heating warms up this will increase a little to about 1.8 bar depending on the volume of the heating system.

That tests the effectiveness of the expansion vessel. That should be checked at the annual service but so many are not getting their boilers serviced regularly.

Tony

Thanks very much for this. My concern is that there was no definite 'click' as I turned the PRV anti-clockwise. It felt a little loose at first then as I felt some pressure and kept twisting, I heard a release of water. Should I try again and keep turning to left then lock back to the right to help reseal it?

Will also test pressure later. Last night, heating came on at 0.5 bar and rose to about 0.6 and stayed around that - even though there were a few drips out the overflow pipe.

Getting more confident that this can be fixed by myself. It's just getting full access to this valve which is half covered by my wall :-/

 

[chatlow]

My experience is that when the PRV is activated it often does not close fully because some crud/iron oxide/sludge that was in the water that passed trough it has stopped it from closing completely. I replaced the PRV on my boiler and that did the trick (and it was easy to do). And yes if the PRV is dripping then of course you are losing pressure.

And PS No, it is not your wife's fault!

Haha, I did wonder how long it would take to get the finger pointed at me, not my wife!