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My mums yr old boiler Ideal logic 35 has started playing up. Is it faulty?
It worked fine since installation
Started with pressure going over 3 bar a few days ago, ideal engineer diagnosed too much water in system. No water have been added by myself or mum. Next day no pressure in system so I top up to 1.5 bar cold restart system and within a few mins its up at 3 bar again. I called help line "too much water in system they said" and was advised to remove some.
Next day low pressure, I called again explaining when filled it is at 1.5 bar but when heating comes on it goes to 3 bar. Ideal are refusing to send engineer "just to top up" I explained that I'm not wanting someone to top up system I want someone to look at the fault.
I cant go on with the topping up and taking out cycle insisting that there must be a fault somewhere. any suggestions as to the fault.
The problem is likely the expansion tank - either the bladder has failed and it's full of water (if water comes out the Schrader valve then it's that) or all the air has leaked out and it just needs topping up.
You need to depressurise the system and then inflate the bladder (any bike pump can do it) to about 1 bar (though this can vary). Every boiler has it in a different location and you may need to remove the front cover to access. At this point someone in the industry will chip in to scream about the danger of removing the cover.
If it has failed then you can half-empty a radiator and leave it locked open in the short term.
Edit: just seen that it's a year old. Give Ideal another call or get the people who fitted it back.
The pressure in most (all?) boilers raises during heating. Mine goes from 1.5bar standing to 2.5 at working pressure.
Is there any water coming from the PRV? If you're constantly adding water to the system, but then it's losing pressure, that could indicate that when the boiler gets to working temperature, the pressure is high enough to trigger the PRV. Occasionally PRVs can stick open one they've been activated and thus your boiler will vent until its cold again.
Another potential candidate is a broken/depressurised expansion vessel.
As above, but check your boiler manual for the correct bar setting for your particular make and model.
Trying to fit a bike pump to the valve of my expansion vessel was always a battle which involved taking about five bolts out and contorting my hand through a couple of inches gap.
Ideal "engineer " coming Thursday after explaining to them that my 79yr mother cannot be without heating and be expecting to top up and remove water every day. Which was their over the phone solution
If the diaphragm in the expansion vessel has failed then it will be full of water and the system will heat up to the max pressure before the prv releases it outside. Then when it cools down it will drop below the pressure you had set it to.
Can you lift the expansion vessel up a bit? Is it full of water?
As others have said, expansion vessel. Should be covered by warranty for a couple of years at least? I would Phone the original installer or call out ideal if you have warranty info.
The pressure in most (all?) boilers raises during heating. Mine goes from 1.5bar standing to 2.5 at working pressure.
Daffy, if your boiler is running that high at full temp then you have a problem. If cold pressure is 1.5 it shouldn't go above 2.0 at full temp. Either your expansion vessel has packed in/needs re-charged or it is undersized for your system.
If you try to let some air out of the vessel schrader valve and water comes out, its packed in.
If it just needs re-charged, it should be pumped up with zero pressure on the heating circuit to the recommended charge pressure on the vessel label. Then re pressurise boiler to 1.5.
If the diaphragm in the expansion vessel has failed then it will be full of water and the system will heat up to the max pressure before the prv releases it outside. Then when it cools down it will drop below the pressure you had set it to.
Had this exact issue with my Ideal boiler. Boiler constantly losing water and turning itself off (so no hot water either) - re-pressurising only worked for a week or so, so likely a tiny in the bladder . Bought a new pattern expansion tank off eBay for £47 Inc a new PRV (Vs £100+ from Ideal) Didn't bother with the PRV but fitted the expansion and all sorted. Maybe not a job for the OP's 79 year old mother. But mine didn't require touching the electric or the gas element so was a relatively simple DIY job.
Again another vote for the expansion vessel. Symptoms same as yours, we were constantly topping it up. The internal bladder had gone and the whole thing was filling with water. Tap it with a spanner or something, its easy to hear the difference between a clear ringing sound or a clunk if its full of water.
Relatively easy to swap and cured the issue straight away. Our expansion vessel runs at 1.5 bar.
I'd vote for expansion vessel. However on my Worcester boiler the pressure gauge was faulty. Only realised after returning from a week away to find that it had slowly pissed water everywhere. Made the cupboard around the boiler swell:-(
Was a simple fix to replace the gauge myself. On my father in laws system, he has a separate pressure gauge as part of the external fill loop. Unlikely that yours has that but if it does make sure it tallies with the boiler gauge.
But ultimately the ideal engineer should sort it.
Man came round to look at boiler today.
Those who said expansion vessel you can take the rest of the day off. 👍
He has replaced the expansion vessel and some valve. He said he could try pump up vessel again by seeing as its playing up already be as well just changing it now.