Little red light on my boiler

Johnc72

whats that all about? there's a symbol of what looks like a drop of water with a line going through it. It's not heating our water tank. Is there anyway i can fix this myself or will I have to get a plumber in to get it seen to?

Eoin

Johnc72 wrote:

whats that all about? there's a symbol of what looks like a drop of water with a line going through it. It's not heating our water tank. Is there anyway i can fix this myself or will I have to get a plumber in to get it seen to?

John,

I think we have the same problem - if so, it's the water pressure has dropped below 0.7 bar. The LCD should show the pressure (if it's the same unit).

We have a blue valve in the hot press which can be turned 90 degrees. This releases water into the system. I generally turn it for a slow count of 10 or 15 and this seems to work. I don't know if it makes a difference, but I turn off the boiler first just in case.

Durkan's plumber told us that this happens at first because the new house has air pockets in the system, so it takes a while for these to be worked out. However, 6 months on we still have to put water back into the system on nearly a weekly basis, indicating a leak somewhere.

Eoin

Johnc72

Thanks Eoin. The water pressure seems to be ok. I must have a different boiler to you though as it doesnt have an lcd. I'll have a try later on and see if it sorts it out.

Ta
J

Manus

There is a plumber on site 2morrow .I dont know if you have the same builders (Durkans) but a girl called Fiona said that he comes generally every Tuesday(shows you the standard of their work if he is here every week). Have a problem with the emersion ,living in the court.

Johnc72

Cheers lads, Got home last night and it seems to have righted itself. Hallelujah, thought I'd be having to use the showers up in Jackie Skelly's till it got sorted

Bertie

ladies and gents be super careful with the water valve in the hot press if the pressure goes above 1.5 bars on the dial youre in big trouble itd burst the joints on all the heating system when you switch on the heating the ideal on a system is 0.5 bars.Sometimes the pressure drops and people do this and raise the pressure too high it causes aleak which could be under the concrete floors result constant loss of pressure and water slowly leaking.The red light was on in a lot of houses mine too this was because the gas was switched off in charlesland one evening last week --suspected leak this caused an airlock in the gas pipes leading to houses and pressure dropped just turn the dial with reset on it to reset leave for 10 mins switch it back and try to fire it up if this fails try a few more times youll eventually get a result.When tampering with the pressure valve make sure you have some body watching the pressure dial never let it go above 1.5 bar if it does bleed a radiator let some of the water out and the pressure will drop. The heating system is a closed system and very energy efficient but all closed systems drop pressure and have to be topped up every 3 or 4 months eoin get your system checked sounds like theres a bleed or leak some where.

Eoin

Bertie wrote:

eoin get your system checked sounds like theres a bleed or leak some where.

Definitely well, herself just noticed a massive damp patch under the boiler last night, so I think we have found the leak. The boiler turns off if the pressure is anything less than 0.7 bar. I filled it to about 1.4 last night, and this morning it's down to 0.9 bar or so. Very annoying, as it is hard to take time off work on the chance that one of the Durkan guys will come around.

Bertie

Sounds like the pressure safety valve popped its not a big deal -its under the boiler and the small copper pipe runs out through the wall if its a voykera then your under guarantee and their service is spot on- same day I'd call voykera yourself going through durkans would take days.

Eoin

Bertie wrote:

Sounds like the pressure safety valve popped its not a big deal -its under the boiler and the small copper pipe runs out through the wall if its a voykera then your under guarantee and their service is spot on- same day I'd call voykera yourself going through durkans would take days.

Thanks again Bertie

LMC

Thanks Bertie, hopefully thats the only reason for the cold showers Ive had to endure for the last few mornings, I shall reset it tonight

EllieD

eoin_s wrote:

John,

I think we have the same problem - if so, it's the water pressure has dropped below 0.7 bar. The LCD should show the pressure (if it's the same unit).

We have a blue valve in the hot press which can be turned 90 degrees. This releases water into the system. .

Eoin

We had this issue yesterday too, and after following the information on the magnet on our Glow Worm boiler, we emptied our system of water before realising that the magnet said in small print "except for the 18si model" i.e. ours. Ooops!!!

So if your red light flashes, DO NOT follow the advice on the magnet/sticker on your boiler, but exactly what Eoin said above!! (our valve is black, but other than that, this is the process that we went through and it worked beautifully and we avoided having to shell out a fortune on a plumber)

Coolhand

My bolier is now reading 0.4 bars. Opened up the hot press and saw there was about 6 adjustable taps so not sure which one to use to increase the pressure, i tried the one that is nearest to the bioler itself. its to the right of the boiler. didnt do anything. Anyone got any advice. want to get this sorted with the least hassle possible.

loyatemu

in our airing cupboard the valve is behind the cylinder so you need to reach over the top. Its a black plastic valve - not a red tap. Turn it 90 degrees, you'll hear the water rushing in, slow-count to 5 and close it again. Then check the pressure on the boiler - it should be between 1.0 and 1.5

We have to do this every few weeks - we've found and fixed a couple of leaks but pressure still drops, albeit very slowly.

foxy06

Pressure seems to drop on ours very often too can't find any leaks though.

Coolhand

Thanks for the advice. Reckon it was just i didnt know where to look for the valve. Hopefully this will sort out the problem later.

Maisy

This might be something, or nothing, but this seems a good spot to ask - would there be any particular reason why my toilet cisterns have been completely emptying when flushed, for the last two days ? then takes an age to refill - I'm in a two bed house

thanks

matt-dublin

bertie wrote:

ladies and gents be super careful with the water valve in the hot press if the pressure goes above 1.5 bars on the dial youre in big trouble itd burst the joints on all the heating system when you switch on the heating the ideal on a system is 0.5 bars

Bertie just a note on this, safety levels on a heating system is between .5 and 1.5 bar, after that there is a pressure safety valve which automatically allows water back out of the system if it raises beyond a certain pressure.

@ maisey, have you cold water in the bathrooms, if not either your cold water tank is not refilling or you have an airlock somewhere (very common with the water pumps in charlesland housing.

Maisy

I do have cold water md, thanks

LMC

Hi my nieghbour asked me to throw this out there. He's boiler is not working, the pressure gage is at zero! No flame - when you put it on it clicks but thats it? Anyone any ideas or should he just get a plumber in to look at it?

Charlie-Bravo

Hey LMC,

I suppose re-pressurising the system may sort it all out. The valve is in the hot press. It's normally located at low level to the side of the hot water cylinder. If you are unsure of what exactly to do - try and get someone you know who has an idea about these things.

Astro.

Andy1985

Hi

For a week now the pressure has kept dropping below 0.7 bar, this casues the red light to come on and the system shuts down, not allowing the heating to come on or the use of hot water.

I keep releasing pressure using the valve so it increases the bar and then the boiler starts to work again. When i close the valve there is a trickle of water that drops out from beneath the boiler. Could this be the leak? Everytime i go to bed i turn the heating off and put it on the timer to come on in the morning but as i wake up the pressure has dropped again causing the heating not to come on and no hot water.

If this is due to a leak, how could i find it? Or could the water coming from the boiler be linked to this in anyway.

pixbyjohn

Andy1985 wrote: »

Hi

For a week now the pressure has kept dropping below 0.7 bar, this casues the red light to come on and the system shuts down, not allowing the heating to come on or the use of hot water.

I keep releasing pressure using the valve so it increases the bar and then the boiler starts to work again. When i close the valve there is a trickle of water that drops out from beneath the boiler. Could this be the leak? Everytime i go to bed i turn the heating off and put it on the timer to come on in the morning but as i wake up the pressure has dropped again causing the heating not to come on and no hot water.

If this is due to a leak, how could i find it? Or could the water coming from the boiler be linked to this in anyway.

Have a look where your pressure relief outlet is and see if there is water coming from it. That will signify that the pressure relief valve is faulty ( opening below its stated
pressure and allowing the pressure to drop thereby cutting off the burner). Its a common enough problem, so maybe thats your trouble.
Please post the cure so others will know.

Andy1985

Hiya mate,

Thanks for your reply. There is water coming from the pipe on the outside wall.

The only thing is that the pressure relief valve was replaced 2 months ago. Would it need replacing again?

pixbyjohn

Andy1985 wrote: »

Hiya mate,

Thanks for your reply. There is water coming from the pipe on the outside wall.

The only thing is that the pressure relief valve was replaced 2 months ago. Would it need replacing again?

If water is coming out of that pipe then relief valve is weeping. Shouldn't be after only 2 months but it happens.