Low Pressure Boiler. Filling Loop No Where to be found. pics provided.

DaveRs7

Hi My boiler which is a Logic Idea S18IE has low pressure.. Recently it has been making gurgling noises as if it is thirsty for water or air trapped inside.. I bled some radiator because there is definitely some trapped air and rads were not heating up. Now my boiler has low pressure. there are no cap offs for filling loop hose under the boiler. even filling valves are not to be seen under the boiler (see pics) . just isolation valve for magnetic filter and gas valve. the other pictures are on my 2nd floor where the pump and tank are located. I live in a duplex style house with no attic. thats the only place where I can find other valves. Thanks in advance. If you need any more pics or even close ups pics let me know.

Wearb

Looks like the the top right of second last pic

monkeybutter

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120270903#Comment_120270903

yup looks like an auto filler valve, sometimes these freeze up and the only solution is to replace

Calahonda52

...

DaveRs7

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120270903#Comment_120270903

i had a feeling it was this too.. i havent twisted any knobs just incase. ill try to do it when I get home tonight. thanks... that black needle is currently at 0 bar! im guessing that blue twist knob should fill it back up. thanks

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120270931#Comment_120270931

when you say automatic filler valve, do you mean when I bled the radiators , the system should have automatically topped itself up?.. anyways the pressure on that automatic filling valve (black needle) is 0 and the red needle as far as I remember is at 3bar.

thanks

monkeybutter

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120271060#Comment_120271060

ideally yes, it can be manually closed, so check if has been, there us usually some little pin or wheel that sets the desired pressure

the possible downside to these is that if say you had a leak, it would never stop as this would keep topping it up, so some people manually close them off

The valve is handy on its own to see the pressure you are topping up with at source

Wearb

Dont set it to 3 bar. 1.5 or 2 should be enough. Close the valve after topping up. It should only be opened for topping up.

If its set correctly, you could open it while bleeding rads. It will automatically replace the water. Turn it off after bleeding and keep an eye on the gauge.

DaveRs7

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120274297#Comment_120274297

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120274096#Comment_120274096

@Wearb @monkeybutter thanks for the help lads. unfortunately no luck .. So yes I opened the blue knob and increased the pressure (there is a screw adjustment on the other side to set pressure) i actually set the screw adjustment to max eventually and fully opened blue knob. I even left it like this for 2-3 hours and black pin on pressure gauge didnt even move a single bit stuck at 0. the pressure gauge infront of the boiler is still very low when heating is on around 0.1...

ive lowered the pressure screw and closed the valve on the automatic filling valve for now incase it kicks in and burst my systems. So yea I think the automatic filling valve is seized as the pressure didnt budge at all.

Wearb

Where is your water supply from?

DaveRs7

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120275834#Comment_120275834

Mains water supply valve is under the kitchen sink. Boiler is also downstairs.

automatic filling valve, pump, water tank, 2port motorised valves etc. all upstairs in the hot press.

Wearb

Ok you need to be careful. Opening that adjusting screw has to potential to cause trouble if the valve suddenly decides to operate.

Deagol

Plumber told me to CLOSE that screw first, it pushes against the valve internally and if it's a bit stuck it frees it out. Worked perfectly for me. I just left the screw fully out now and just open and close the valve manually to fill up the tank if it loses some pressure.

monkeybutter

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120276238#Comment_120276238

the mains pressure isn;t high enough to cause a problem when the heating operates at those pressures anyway, just release the pressure manually after

monkeybutter

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120276267#Comment_120276267

that didn't work for me, had to replace

DaveRs7

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120276267#Comment_120276267

imma try this now. fully decrease the pressure screw and manually open close the knob..hopefully this will unseize it. thanks . ill let you know how it goes.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120276238#Comment_120276238

yea when i left it on for 3 hours and i finally decided to close the valve and fully decrease the pressure just incase it kicks in. thanks...

DaveRs7

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120276267#Comment_120276267

hey man this worked! i unscrewed it fully until it became springy. and then opened the knob. tightened the screw again and then bam the pressure went up!. i have set the automatic fill valve to 1 bar for now as the boiler pressure is 1.2bar.. ill leave it like that for now and see how the pressure maintains itself the next few days or weeks!.. thanks a lot again.

so should i just full unscrew it again? and close the knob fully. then only open the knob if pressure lowers?

also @monkeybutter and @Wearb thanks for the input i really appreciate it!!

Deagol

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120276719#Comment_120276719

Delighted to hear it worked. Be careful leaving it 'set' - I found that the pressure slowly crept up, and no matter how many times I tried to get it to 'set' at a certain pressure it would slowly creep up over 2 bar. (I keep my system at ~1.9barg).

So now, I just leave the valve (knob) closed and keep an eye on the gauge - if it drops below ~1.5barg I open it and refill the system. TBH, since I replaced a couple of rads with pinhole leaks the system is keeping pressure now so I don't have to do it.

monkeybutter

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120276719#Comment_120276719

great advice from @Wearb

don't touch the screw, the only real danger with leaving the valve on is if you do have a leak, well it will never stop

DaveRs7

@Wearb @monkeybutter @Deagol

just an update guys on why i was loosing pressure. this radiator is hidden behind the sofa so i didnt really notice the water on the floor.radiator had like 8 pinhole leaks due to corrosion. these radiators are 20 years old . magnaclean filter was only put in 2 years ago with new boiler... should i get a new radiator or will those stop leak liquid pour products work to seal those?

monkeybutter

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120299693#Comment_120299693

100% replace the rad

Check all other rads, replace as needed

Make sure to add inhibitor to system to prevent rusting