Vokera Maxin 24e - no pressure problem

[spam90]

Hi,
I hope someone can help!

Earlier, I bled all the radiators in my flat. Now, the Vokera Maxin 24e combi boiler shows 0bar on the pressure gauge. I'm thinking this is probably a bad thing!

How do I get it up to the 1bar recommended in the manual again?

I've read many posts on the forums, but I'm not confident enough to touch things without some reassurance. I don't particularly want to blow myself up.

There's a picture of the pipes coming out from the base of the boiler here:
http://www.alism.com/boiler/1.jpg

...following those pipes down, there's what I suspect is the part I need to twiddle slowly?
http://www.alism.com/boiler/2.jpg

If it helps, I looked in the manual and it says that the pipes are as follows:
http://www.alism.com/boiler/4.jpg

Apologies for the picture quality, but hopefully you get the idea.

Any help appreciated!!
Cheers,
Chris

 

[Gasguru]

The filling loop will normally be between the cold water inlet pipe and either the heating flow or the heating return pipe. The valve on your image appears to be a bypass valve between the flow and return - do not touch this - will probably leak.

The filling loop is normally a flexible hose.

Pressurise to 1 Bar maximum. Put heating on and watch pressure gauge.

If it rises to more than 2.5 Bar your expansion vessel has insufficcient air pressure.

Don't allow pressure to rise to 3 Bar, otherwise safety valve will open and cause more problems.

Ideally gauge should not rise higher than 2 Bar.

 

[spam90]

Thanks for taking the time to reply, it's appreciated.

There's not a flexible hose in sight. But, a bit further down the pipes though, there are connections where there perhaps should be one (between pipes 4 & 5).
http://www.alism.com/boiler/3.jpg

Is it unsafe to use the boiler in it's current state?

 

[corgiman]

I think that the filling loop on these is integral

(sorry I cannot see the pics)

if i remember right if you look under the boiler to where the pipes are, on the left you will see a black handle pointing up, I am sure that this is the control for the filling loop, if you turn the handle through 180 degrees it will fill (90 degrees and it turns the hot water supply to your taps off)

I really hope I am right but cannot be sure

as to the usafe bit, the boiler will probably over heat and lockout any way so dont bother

do you not have a book with it?

 

[spam90]

I can't see a black handle pointing upwards I'm afraid.

I do have a Service Manual, but to be honest, it's a bit over my head. I won't pretend to be an expert, but I've learnt some useful lessons today, so it's not been all bad.

I'll pop out tomorrow and get a flexi-hose and follow gasguru's instructions. Thank you both again for taking the trouble to reply.

Cheers,
Chris

 

[corgiman]

sorry i could not help you

if no one else has anything to say I would suggest that you contact a CORGI engineer to sort it out

again I am sorry

 

[lucyricketts]

I realise the original poster of the issue will have had it long fixed by now ....... but I had exactly the same problem today, and was gutted when I found this post which explained situation, and problem perfectly, but there was no answer!

So here it is.

The fill loop isn't activated by a lever valve but by turning a small screw a quarter turn either clockwise or anticlockwise with a screwdriver, or a butter knife will do!

The standard fill loop on this model is a flex hose between the cold water inlet and the central heating return (both these pipes are labelled underneath on the main body of the boiler). On mine it's about 30cm below the boiler itself.

At first I thought the screw was merely part of the fixing between the flex and the copper piping but closer inspection revealed that it was definitely a valve. I turned the screw and heard water start to gush in.

Once it reached 1.2 bar I turned it back to original position, did have a moment where I turned it too far other way (i had expected it to get tight) and thought I wasn't going to be able to shut it off, but found the right spot to leave it and all was well.

Hope this helps somebody else and saves a call out, even if only in a few years time!

In the middle of this problem a lucky lady called from scottish hydro electric asking me if I wanted boiler cover ..... I signed up!

 

[Walkerz]

I've just had this issue as well so thanks for the very good explanation, it saved me a call out.

Just one note, on my boiler the central heating return pipe is just labelled flow. Future searcher if you're having difficulty seeing the labels mine were right up underneath the boiler in a recessed bit.