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Help with hot press pressure gauge

  • 19-05-2012 12:42pm
    #1
    Registered Users Posts: 1,112 ✭✭✭


    Hi,
    Up front I'll say that I have no idea about any plumbing issues, my interests lie more in the technological areas, so for something like this I would just get a guy in to look at it. But for something that I assume is a small issue, I don't want to have to pay a call out fee when I can hopefully get some advice here.

    Anyway in the my hotpress there is a small pressure gauge, with a red marker arrow, which shows what the pressure used to be. It is at 1.4 bar. The actual pressure reading though is less that 0.5 bar. Obviously it is measuring the pressure of the water in the pipe, but I don't know if this low pressure is a bad thing or something that needs to be rectified or how to rectify it. Also it wasn't a sudden drop of pressure, it has been dropping over a long period of time. I just didn't know if I needed to be worried about it.

    Here are a few pics I have taken of the hotpress. Hopefully someone will be able to help out

    Thanks
    Dace

    2012-05-19%2013.19.57.jpg

    2012-05-19%2013.20.46.jpg

    2012-05-19%2013.21.17.jpg

    2012-05-19%2013.21.32.jpg

    2012-05-19%2013.22.17.jpg

    2012-05-19%2013.22.30.jpg


Comments

  • Registered Users Posts: 2,409 ✭✭✭sullzz


    I would be worried about why you have a pressure reducing valve fitted in the first place , i would get this replaced with a filling loop .


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,632 ✭✭✭heinbloed


    Call the installer back and demand a safe installation.
    The blue boxes are installed up-side down. See the red box which is installed correctly, the cable opening facing downwards.

    The yellow earth cables are propably not installed correctly as well, the copper pipes ending in a plastic pipes won't offer much protection.

    All pipes and the cylinder should be insulated completely. An anti-syphoning device is missing.

    The pressure can be topped-up.
    1.5 bar seems to be on the very high side, check the boiler manual.


  • Registered Users Posts: 648 ✭✭✭PeteHeat


    The valve is an automatic filling valve, no longer recommened I would question why it was used in the first place because they are more expensive than a standard filling loop.

    As to the blue boxs they are two port valves and are installed in the direction of the water flow nothing to do with where the wires come out.

    Earth straps appear to be in the correct places as they are on the copper pipes not the plastic.

    Insulation should have been used on the pipes however some customers prefer a little heat leaking into the hot press so it actually works as a hot press.

    .


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,112 ✭✭✭Dacelonid


    Thanks for the replies everyone.
    I live in a housing estate, built 7 years ago. The developer has long since gone bust so no fear of getting them back. I know the plumbing contractor they had in was from England so maybe that explains why things were done they way they were.

    So that aside, can someone explain what exactly that pressure gauge is measuring and should I be concerned about it reading only 0.5 bar.

    Thanks


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,242 ✭✭✭.243


    Dacelonid wrote: »
    Thanks for the replies everyone.
    can someone explain what exactly that pressure gauge is measuring and should I be concerned about it reading only 0.5 bar.
    Thanks
    thats the pressure of the hot water in your heating system (inside the rads,pipes,h.w cylinder worm)is at,
    really anything between 0.5 bar and 1 bar is good enough,(it sounds like a small reading but its actually not),
    rarely you need to top it up but its no harm every odd time your in the hot press for something to throw your eye over it,the reason the guys are telling you to off load the device that the gauge is attached to is they can be unrealiable where they can get stuck open and let more pressure into your system,as to the "filling loop" which is manually controlled to where you yourself open a valve and let the system come up to pressure and shut it again,


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  • Registered Users Posts: 1,112 ✭✭✭Dacelonid


    Thanks for all the replies, its good to find out about these things.

    One last question that I think is connected.
    Whenever I turn on the immersion or the heating, it doesn't seem to to matter what I set the thermostat to, the water is always boiling, and there always seems to be feck all of it.
    I put this down to there being low water pressure in the pipes( ie low pressure = less water therefore the water gets too hot ) but I am not sure.

    How would I go about topping up my tank to make sure there is enough water in the tank for the heating to work correctly.

    BTW the reading on that gauge is about .4 not .5, which is why I am concerned that it is too low


  • Registered Users Posts: 648 ✭✭✭PeteHeat


    Dacelonid wrote: »
    Thanks for all the replies, its good to find out about these things.

    One last question that I think is connected.
    Whenever I turn on the immersion or the heating, it doesn't seem to to matter what I set the thermostat to, the water is always boiling, and there always seems to be feck all of it.
    I put this down to there being low water pressure in the pipes( ie low pressure = less water therefore the water gets too hot ) but I am not sure.

    How would I go about topping up my tank to make sure there is enough water in the tank for the heating to work correctly.

    BTW the reading on that gauge is about .4 not .5, which is why I am concerned that it is too low

    I wouldn't be too concerned about the pressure level so long as it isn't dropping, it is very easy to over pressure when adjusting that valve and it would take me a week to type up what can be done by an experienced plumber in a few minutes.

    Your question is a little confusing, I can't see an electric immersion on that cylinder maybe it's on the side instead of the top where the plug is?

    If you mean the cylinder coil it must be working or you would get no hot water at all, from what I can see it appears to be a good size heat enters about a third of the way down the cylinder and exits about 150mm off the floor.

    A lot can depend on how much hot water you are using for example if you have a power shower they can use as much hot water as a bath, the cylinder should be sized allowing approx 50 litres per person per day, it is not unusual for a cylinder to be undersized to meet the demands of individual households.

    I hope the above is of some help.

    .


  • Registered Users Posts: 13 pbrooks


    I am having a similiar issue to the above thread but....

    I ran out of oil last week and the water pressure stat in the hotpress dropped below 1 bar. I opened the valve last night to raise the pressure but it went up to 3 bar and i don't know how to drop it back down? The thread in the valve to open it is a bit worn.

    This morning i noticed there is water overflowing from the overflow valve where the boiler is located. The boiler is working but this happened before and i ended up having to replace the pump in the boiler so i want to sort it before it becomes an issue.

    All advice would be appreciated....:)


This discussion has been closed.
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