Leaking Back Boiler

SparrowHawk

Hi,

So I noticed some drips of water in the fireplace this morning. Looked up the chimney and it looks like the is a leak coming from the back boiler.

A couple of questions:

Is it safe to continue to use the fireplace and oil heating?

Is it easy to repair?

And how would one go about repairing it?

Thanks in advance,

SH

Dtp1979

SparrowHawk wrote: »

Hi,

So I noticed some drips of water in the fireplace this morning. Looked up the chimney and it looks like the is a leak coming from the back boiler.

A couple of questions:

Is it safe to continue to use the fireplace and oil heating?

Is it easy to repair?

And how would one go about repairing it?

Thanks in advance,

SH

For something like a boiler to leak would me there's probably serious corrosion occurring in your system. There's little or no chance you can repair this either.

SparrowHawk

Thanks Dtp1979,

any advice as to whether it is safe to use in the short term?

About the corrosion - we bought the house with current heating set-up - from what we have been told- the boiler was put in within the last 5- 6 years. But worse case scenario - lets assume the boiler was put in when the house was built - 2000, would corrosion as you mention be expected?

Dtp1979

SparrowHawk wrote: »

Thanks Dtp1979,

any advice as to whether it is safe to use in the short term?

About the corrosion - we bought the house with current heating set-up - from what we have been told- the boiler was put in within the last 5- 6 years. But worse case scenario - lets assume the boiler was put in when the house was built - 2000, would corrosion as you mention be expected?

Corrosion happens if the dual system is piped incorrectly, which is often the case. Or you may have a leak somewhere

SparrowHawk

Would it be possible/ worthwhile to try something like a radiator sealant?

Dtp1979

SparrowHawk wrote: »

Would it be possible/ worthwhile to try something like a radiator sealant?

No I'm afraid not. Are you sure it wasn't water from all the heavy rain we had?

SparrowHawk

I had hoped it was - but we've had a few dry half days and the drip is regular as clock work :-(

If the issue is corrosion I need to get "a guy" to come check it out, but are we talking changing the entire heating system?

Buona Fortuna

Hi Sparrowhawk, I sympathise with your plight especially as we seem to be getting into some cool weather.

Had you thought about replacing the open fire and back boiler with a stove and back boiler. We did this about 5 years back and haven't regretted it one bit.

I did a lot of the work myself to keep the cost down. The old boiler had to be kangoed out, it was an absolute bugger.

When we were part way through installation (back boiler disconnected) the plumber told us it was OK to have a small fire but not to stoke it up.

All the best.

Dtp1979

SparrowHawk wrote: »

I had hoped it was - but we've had a few dry half days and the drip is regular as clock work :-(

If the issue is corrosion I need to get "a guy" to come check it out, but are we talking changing the entire heating system?

When you say "guy" I hope you mean plumber!
Get a plumber who does Powerflushing as these guys are used to dealing with heating systems that are corroded. Most systems I powerflush are flushed because of dual systems piped incorrectly. Chances are you'll only have to change the back boiler. Have the piping layout checked because it's corroding for a reason.

SparrowHawk

:-) yep a plumber. Thanks for the advice all! Had thought about change the open fire at some point - just not right now :-(