Post here if your boiler has failed or your pipes have frozen!

arctictree

OK, so who else is suffering out there?

Our boiler seized up last night and wont start now. The plumber says we will have to wait for the 'thaw', whenever that will be. Lucky we have a wood stove so at least some heat.

Just wondering if this is getting widespread with the current temps. Down to -7c here now. I'd say our water pump will be next thing to fail...

Sierra Oscar

Plenty of houses in and around Castletroy in Limerick have had burst pipes with internal roofs down due to flooding. Most of them are student houses, un-occupied over the last two weeks with minimal heating on . . .

Lots of people around where I live have had their water tanks in the attic's freeze and some have also had some burst pipes.

As for the boiler . . . I thought you should have been still able to leave the unit running, it should cut out itself before any damage is done and in the meantime it will be thawing the pipes. Thats so long as your system is not low on water, which could be the case if feeder pipes into the system are frozen in the attic.

alwaysadub

mains water pipes frozen for bout 12days at this stage..least i have heat i suppose!

Min

Currently defrosting my milking parlour, tomorrow I have to defrost the water for an elderly neighbour.

I have one burst pipe outside but the water going to it then froze :pac: one way of fixing a leak.....

Longboard

A Rat has eaten half way through one of the return pipes outside at the boiler. I have to replace the entire lenght & there is no guarantee he won't do it again.

Tactical

Longboard wrote: »

A Rat has eaten half way through one of the return pipes outside at the boiler. I have to replace the entire lenght & there is no guarantee he won't do it again.

Try replacing the qualplex with copper for the section rodents have access to. Note, copper should be used for at least the first metre from the boiler.

biko

Thread from Galway county started at Christmas
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055780269

dublincelt

Water has gone off in the past hour. In Carlow, anyone in the area experiencing the same?

Graces7

Yesterday I joined this club!

But thankfully the room it is in is not one I live in.. Heath Robinson plumbing here.... Not even telling the landlord until it thaws..

Today will rescue our stuff and box and stack it ..

Water has been frozen on and off for weeks; thankfully also I have isolatd the bathroom/immersion part of the system where the leak is and so still have the kitchen tap working when that too does not freeze; I use the water from the slow running tap there to manually fill the toilet cistern. And keep water stored always.

I had a rat chew through an internal pipe once in a different house; he at through plaster to keep his run open. So I filled that hole up with tin cans and that stopped him.

That and a rescue cat who fought and killed rats nobly.

No boiler here to break.. I rigged up a metal tray over the coal fire to boil water in and have a bottled gas cooker and super ser.

I can survive anything here I reckon...

Graces7

Yep; mine is frozen solid too ...

Min wrote: »

Currently defrosting my milking parlour, tomorrow I have to defrost the water for an elderly neighbour.

I have one burst pipe outside but the water going to it then froze :pac: one way of fixing a leak.....

Deep Easterly

I know it is not on the same scale of inconvenience as a frozen or burst pipe, but my mop bucket, in which my mop is placed, is frozen rock hard solid. No mop for a while now. :pac:

lyndonjones

A lot of my neighbours have frozen pipes, so far I have been lucky, keeping a trickle of water flowing "seems" to work but for how long?


An estate in Glanmire had its mains pipe frozen, it later transpired that during construction it had not been laid low enough!! Cowboys

Speak Now

Pipes frozen most mornings, yesterday was first day they didn't thaw
Don't expect them today either after -7 last night.

Hells Belle

Ah the joy, we joined the "frozen pipes" club yesterday and because our heating is a boiler we can't run that either - its still working but we've been "advised" not to....we have a few electric heaters and hot water bottles, the old fashioned way. It was -7 this morning :eek:

We have a concrete back garden so defrosting is not an option for us, bring on the thaw!!!

racso1975

external water tap burst during week. Thank god it was external.

kkontour

Had no water since christmas day but got it back a few days ago by using a blow torch on the footpath beside the main stop valve, then covering it with insulation over night. It took 3 days of this.

RedB

Sierra Oscar wrote: »

Plenty of houses in and around Castletroy in Limerick have had burst pipes with internal roofs down due to flooding. Most of them are student houses, un-occupied over the last two weeks with minimal heating on.

Had my mains pipe freeze yesterday near Castletroy (Monaleen) also so trying to conserve what we have in the attic tank. Some neighbours have water so their mains might be lower in the ground and not frozen? The council say there's no issues with their mains. The house has been occupied so the internal pipes are ok but the external one must have frozen overnight as the air temp was -6 this morning. No washing machine as it must've been fed from mains and refuses to start.

I presume the only thing to do is to wait it out?
Will the external pipe be burst when it thaws or could it be ok?

davehey79

Had no water Christmas eve night, Christmas day, St. Stephens day and half of the day after that. All was grand for a few days then lost it again this day week ago or possibly last Thursday evening can't remember which now. Also had a burst pipe in the shed where the washer and dryer are plumbed in but was only a plastic fitting so easily repaired. have an outside tap and water filtration system tank that has pipes plumbed down into the mains so reckon the frozen pipes are down there somewhere. Have been getting ballygowan watercooler drums filled and emptied into the tank in the attic so can have the heat on and fire lit as there is a back boiler and our jheating is through the tank too so no water in tank no heat!! Toilet is a bucket of water to flush job. Getting a heat lamp / cow shed lamp dont know the technical name on it and gonna leave it at the base of the pipes facing them see does it thaw them out at all. Not a nice thing to happen at all at all. In Longford by the way.

Queen-Mise

Water into my washing machine froze this morning. Is this unusual - all the other water in the house is working fine though

Queen-Mise

RedB wrote: »

I presume the only thing to do is to wait it out?
Will the external pipe be burst when it thaws or could it be ok?

same question from me actually. will there be any problems with the waterpipe into the washing machine when it thaws out

My name is URL

My pipes have frozen. Even the hot water taps aren't running

does anyone know if it's safe to turn the boiler on with frozen pipes?

max_power

Got in at about 6 last night after walking for more than an hour for a taxi, went to get my lovely cold pint of water but no dice. Everything frozen, pipes burst this morning.

Queen-Mise

max_power wrote: »

Got in at about 6 last night after walking for more than an hour for a taxi, went to get my lovely cold pint of water but no dice. Everything frozen, pipes burst this morning.

Oh Jeez, that is nasty. you have my sympathy.

The pipes going into my washing are frozen. My oven is beside the washing machine - i have the oven on for the past few hours to see can I help defrost the pipes.....

I am in an end house - so am very vulnerable for my pipes to freeze. I will have no qualms to keeping taps running, and everything possible to keep water running in my house.

Would it help at all if I put a quilt or something over the oil tank to try to prevent the oil tank from freezing. Temperatures are dropping down here to nearly -10 here at night.

Duddy

day two of frozen pipes here in maynooth!

c4cat

Queen-Mise wrote: »

Oh Jeez, that is nasty. you have my sympathy.

The pipes going into my washing are frozen. My oven is beside the washing machine - i have the oven on for the past few hours to see can I help defrost the pipes.....

I am in an end house - so am very vulnerable for my pipes to freeze. I will have no qualms to keeping taps running, and everything possible to keep water running in my house.

Would it help at all if I put a quilt or something over the oil tank to try to prevent the oil tank from freezing. Temperatures are dropping down here to nearly -10 here at night.

Do not worry about yr oil tank, it has to get to -35 befor kero will start to freeze

caprilicious

We've had no (oil) heating since Tuesday and what water was left in the tank ran out Wednesday. That coupled with the roads to our house (all steepish hills) being impassable we had to lock up the house, pack the dogs into van and head for the inlaws house til things thaw a bit.

I wouldn't mind but we're due our first baby next month and my 'nesting' instinct was just starting to kick in, I was cleaning the house like there was no tomorrow!
I'm itching to get back home and tidy up so more but can't get near the house without borrowing the brother in laws Defender and risking the dodgy road conditions

I put our oil heating on a few nights ago and didn't cop til about 15 mins later when the rads were still icy that the heating hadn't been working.
Could I possibly have wrecked our boiler? I'm really worried about that.
Its a relatively new house/3 years old, do they have a system where they'll knock themselves off so idiots like me can't wreck them?
Here's hoping

sold

Christmas Day no Water!!, (and neighbours the same), 3 kids you don't want to know what the toilets turned out like.

rolion

Hi,new boiler installed 2 months ago...is stopping itself with F4 error on screen.
Checked manual,it looks that is not enough gas signal / presure at the input and the sensor won't start the system !
Anyone having issues with the gas pressure over here in D15 !?
Temp outside around -8" ! !

patneve

test

Sierra Oscar

RedB wrote: »

Had my mains pipe freeze yesterday near Castletroy (Monaleen) also so trying to conserve what we have in the attic tank. Some neighbours have water so their mains might be lower in the ground and not frozen? The council say there's no issues with their mains. The house has been occupied so the internal pipes are ok but the external one must have frozen overnight as the air temp was -6 this morning. No washing machine as it must've been fed from mains and refuses to start.

I presume the only thing to do is to wait it out?
Will the external pipe be burst when it thaws or could it be ok?

Well, I have visited a number of properties in Milford Grange & Elm Park and the mains water is working ok. Do you have any exposed piping for the mains leading into the house? Most likely the mains is frozen leading into your own house. If thats the case, there is not much you can do but wait for it to thaw out. You could always feed some buckets of water directing into your water tanks to keep your internal toilets and the likes fed if needs be.

Cherrycola

Frozen washing machine pipe here too, for the second time, happened at Christmas too, but thawed out fine by that evening as the sun was out, no chance of that now though.
And im in the midlands, where we have had no real snow to speak of, but it seems worse is on its way, so im terrified that all the pipes are going to start freezin now, as its an old 1970's built bungalow im in, albeit newly renovated a few years ago, new heating put in, but im not sure what the insulation is like.

And we've only just moved home from the Middle East before Christmas, great timing....NOT!!:rolleyes:
We are bleedin freezing!!!:D:D

whiteandlight

No water here either, maynooth beaufield estate. Anyone else in the area out?

burger1979

hot water tap in the kitchen is gone, the only to go in the house, not a drip coming out. no leaks at present thanks god but if there were then a big job to replace.

Graces7

No water again.... thankfully I have plenty set by...

rolion

rolion wrote: »

Hi,new boiler installed 2 months ago...is stopping itself with F4 error on screen.
Checked manual,it looks that is not enough gas signal / presure at the input and the sensor won't start the system !
Anyone having issues with the gas pressure over here in D15 !?
Temp outside around -8" ! !

Lads,i've fix it !!!
The new condensing boilers have an outside pipe for condesing water that is flowing outside...that pipe frozed on me,i've took off the cable from inside boiler and put it in to a big container on the kitchen top and ...voila !! i have heat up to 60" from 9" !!!
No more errors either !!Spred the word...
Thank God !!!

Queen-Mise

rolion wrote: »

Lads,i've fix it !!!
The new condensing boilers have an outside pipe for condesing water that is flowing outside...that pipe frozed on me,i've took off the cable from inside boiler and put it in to a big container on the kitchen top and ...voila !! i have heat up to 60" from 9" !!!
No more errors either !!Spred the word...
Thank God !!!

Well done.... ;)

Cheap Thrills!

Bust boiler here too

My Sime boiler's pilot light is gone out. Can't get it relit....

Can anyone advise, I still have running water in the house.....

Whats all this pressure business, I see a dial but no button/controls to change it and don't know what the pressure is supposed to be....

burger1979

burger1979 wrote: »

hot water tap in the kitchen is gone, the only to go in the house, not a drip coming out. no leaks at present thanks god but if there were then a big job to replace.

Is that caused by the tank in the attic freezing? I was up in the attic yesterday was only 1c up there :eek:
Have a heater up there since!!!

Maglight

rolion wrote: »

Lads,i've fix it !!!
The new condensing boilers have an outside pipe for condesing water that is flowing outside...that pipe frozed on me,i've took off the cable from inside boiler and put it in to a big container on the kitchen top and ...voila !! i have heat up to 60" from 9" !!!
No more errors either !!Spred the word...
Thank God !!!

Hey Rolion, is that a plastic pipe that leads to an outside drain. I'm getting the same error message on a Baxi megaflo boiler

RayM

I've heard that leaving the attic door/hatch slightly ajar can help prevent the pipes from freezing over. At the expense of heat in the rest of the house, of course...

Queen-Mise

RayM wrote: »

I've heard that leaving the attic door/hatch slightly ajar can help prevent the pipes from freezing over. At the expense of heat in the rest of the house, of course...

Was thinking of doing that myself tonight... I might close the kids bedroom doors and do it.

rolion

Maglight wrote: »

Hey Rolion, is that a plastic pipe that leads to an outside drain. I'm getting the same error message on a Baxi megaflo boiler

Quoting my friend that installed the boiler for me...i had two options:

1.under the boiler,you have a flexible pipe like the one from wash machine.take it out off the wall nicely and let the water to go on a container or big pot.then reset your boiler.don;t forget to check the level over night.When freezing cold gone,put it back in the connector to outside pipe,in the wall...

2.cut the pipe outside if is sitting horizontally and /or get some hot water over to get the water flowing again...more than likely froze and blocked the flow of the condensing water system.

i choosed 1st one...and F4 error is gone,back to normal !
Thanks to Radu...

Sierra Oscar

RayM wrote: »

I've heard that leaving the attic door/hatch slightly ajar can help prevent the pipes from freezing over. At the expense of heat in the rest of the house, of course...

I have been doing this for the last few days, works a treat - but as you indicated you will loose a lot of heat from downstairs in the house.

Even having a high wattage bulb in the attic, such as a 200W bulb will help.

dvpower

RayM wrote: »

I've heard that leaving the attic door/hatch slightly ajar can help prevent the pipes from freezing over. At the expense of heat in the rest of the house, of course...

Also, make sure that there is no insulation under the water tank.

whiteandlight

Argh! Have just spent the last two hours trying to clear the paths outside to find our stopcock as the water has stopped. Snow and ice making it really difficult. And the awful thing is that since the neighbours aren't in we don't even know if finding the stopcock will even work as it could be our own pipe!

items

I've been posting in Cork section after floods to give plumbing advice / help, now moved into DIY section to help out with frost problems, tons of problems daily, hard to keep up with all posts, anyone stuck looking for help or advice, plenty of info and good folk in DIY section. If possible, scan over a few previous pages, might find the answers you need without posting.

All plumbing and heating systems in Ireland are designed on worst case -1 to -2 for a few days, we've been in the doubles for up to 3 weeks, our system cant withstand current conditions. A lot of problems can be saved if, 1 mains pipe lower in ground than building regs 300 mm, 2 cold water storage properly insulated, 3 heating system filled with an inhibitor, 4 proper working boiler frost stats fitted.

Sierra Oscar

I got lucky until today, but now my mains is frozen!:(

Ronan|Raven

Two days ago I walked into the house to see water start gushing down from the attic. Thankfully I was home when it happened and got the mains turned off asap. Dining room floor got the worst of it and is starting to lift but sure that is what insurance is for.


What had happened was the mains pipe going to the smaller cistern in the attic got firzen and blew off from where it was attached. New pipe installed now and all is well. I even had the loft door open so heat could go up but it still froze...

NiamhL

Hi All

Looking for a bit of advice if possible? We have no cold water coming from our kitchen sink. There is cold water everywhere else in the house and I am thinking it has frozen due to the outside (garden tap) being frozen. They are directly opposite each other on either side of the back wall to the house. Is there anything I can do to get the kitchen tap to start working?

Many thanks

gaeilgegrinds

Washing machine which is in shed is kaput. Am I better off trying to defrost pipes or will I just leave it? Not an emergency or anything but the thoughts of leaving all the washing while my OH's sister and two toddlers stay here and pile up the washing while pregnant myself is not pleasing me too much! We have a tiny trickle of water so fill the bath for the cistern when we can each day. This sucks!

Sierra Oscar

NiamhL wrote: »

Hi All

Looking for a bit of advice if possible? We have no cold water coming from our kitchen sink. There is cold water everywhere else in the house and I am thinking it has frozen due to the outside (garden tap) being frozen. They are directly opposite each other on either side of the back wall to the house. Is there anything I can do to get the kitchen tap to start working?

Many thanks

Your mains leading into the house is most likely frozen, you will still get water in other taps if they are coming from your tanks in the attic. Be careful though, dont use up all the water in the tanks or you could have some air issues when the water returns. If you climb into the attic you can check how much water is left in the tanks. You could fill it manually with buckets of water to keep your toilets and central heating going.