Overflow pipe from tank in attic

R

redriddick

Registered User
Messages
22
Hi guys,
Have a funny one for ye.I have a dual coil cylinder in my hot press which is heated by a solid fuel stove and the oil on the other side.They also heat the radiators obviously.For the past number of weeks my overflow fron the feed tank in the attic has been dripping.I went up to look and took some water out of it and adjusted the ballcock.For two days it was fine then back to the same again.I then disconected the ballcock altogether and blanked it, took out some water and low and behold it is still at it.Cant understand how the extra water is getting into the tank to cause it to overflow.Dont think there can be a hole in the coil as the hot water from the tank is crystal clear.Any suggestions would be great!
 
You have a hole in you Cylinder coil.

You may or may not find a slight colour in your water. It really depends if the system has been treated or not.
 
Hi Davy,
The system has not been treated and have to say would be very unimpressed if there is a hole in coil as it is in less than 5 years old.Any way of definitely putting it down to this?
 
redriddick said:
.Any way of definitely putting it down to this?
Click to expand...


Yes and you have done it.

the Feed and expansion tank is lower than the storage tank?

To confirm it, you would have to disconnect and remove cylinder. Blank flow or return and blow through it, you will feel the air escaping.

Chances are it is a pin hole.
 
The feed and expansion tank is beside the storage tank so would be lower than it.Will i have to change the cylinder or is there any other fix?
 
Maybe the reason why the water is not stained. Fresh water entering heating system as opposed to heating water entering plumbing water, this would happen if F&E tank were higher than storage tank, possibly.

No fix (that I know of) other than replace.
 
Maybe both pumps on at once and pitching back into tank, could overflow for a while.
 
Possible but highly unlikely for two reasons.

redriddick, stated it was dripping over a number of weeks. I would take that it was constant.

More importantly he removed water from the tank and blanked ballcock. This is all the water that the system can get,I.E tank is not being refilled. Even if it was pitching, it would very soon run out of water to overflow as the water in the tank would be refilling system as it pitched. he would in a short time find the tank low in water or even empty.
 
Hi Guys,

I have decided to turn off heat on saturday while im at home to see if it is dripping when the heat is off.This will confirm the pin hole.Priced cylinder and it is €450 plus vat will be fitting it myself as it was me that plumbed the house.Thanks guys.
 
Hi guys,think i might have a similar problem.over the last couple of months the tank would over flow every couple of days could have been every day
but might not have noticed.It was overflowing alot this morning when i got
up so decided to go up and have a look at tank.
Ballcock seemed to be working fine and no water coming in there , but
the water itself seemed quite warm for a cold water storage tank , any ideas what my problem is ?.I have oil fired central heating UFH downstairs
and rads upstairs.
 


Any news on that?



Do what redriddrick did to confirm or discount hole in cylinder.

Is it the big or small tank that is overflowing?
 
Hi Davy,

As we thought it is the cylinder coil.Had heat off and it was still at it.What do you think of the price of the cylinder.Dual coil 18" x 60" 36" element and fully insulated 450 plus vat.Have to say just about 4 and half years in would'nt like this every 4 years or so.Thanks.
 


Can't remember of top of my head., but trade price on those items would be about €400-ish. Not a bad price.Ask/insist on best price.

besure and treat heating system after installation.
 
Will treat it alright.Still cant get over that it is gone already but i guess you can always get faulty ones.Thanks for the help Davy!
 
DavyJones , just come home now after been out for a fw hours water is
p**sing out over flow was at it when i left so presume its been like that since.
have 2 tanks in attic that are the same size that are connedted at the base of each,should there be a small & big tank ??
boiler hasnt been on since 8am this morning.
didnt adjust ballcock earlier.
Will do that tomorrow and see what happens.
 
if the tanks are joined then you have a sealed heating system i.e. the heating water will not mix with the domestic water unless there is a hole in the coil but i doubht it if its only 5 years old more then likely the stat is knackered in the emersion or in the boiler and is boiling the water in the cylinder and as water expands when its boiling due to the conversion into gas it needs to expand up the expansion pipe hence the name make sure the emmersion is not on and also check if the water is coming out of the pipe hovering above the tank in the attic and if you have 2 pipes hovering over the tank indicate which on is pitching and if its from the cylinder then its more then likely the emmersion but if its pitching from the heating expansion well then there could be a blockadge or the pump setting could be to high hope this helps
 
BD , we rarely use emersion to heat the water so dont think its overheating , stat on boiler seems ok too so no overheating there , one expansion pipe hovering over tank in attic and no water coming out that to fill and over flow storage tank , ballcock working fine so no excess water coming in there.
Am i right in saying that the only other cause is the one Davyjones indentified , hole
in coil in hot water cylinder ?? and have to replace ??
 


Firstly we need to establish how your heating system is topped up with water.

It may be a "semi sealed" system, this is an Irish way of doing something that breaks a whole lot of by laws (story for another day).

Semi sealed is where the heating water is taken from the same source as the plumbing water I.E your two large tanks. If this is the case then you probably don't have a hole in the cylinder, as in a hole in the cylinder would not cause the tanks to over flow as the system water (heating and plumbing) would balance without a need to rise.

However if you have a set automatic filling unit filling your heating it will automatically fill when water leaves heating system. this could cause the tank to over flow and would mean you have a hole.

So, do you have a gauge at the boiler?
Do you have a big brass valve somewhere with a gauge and black knob attached?

Do you have a sliver fexlible hose connecting to pipes together in hot press or at boiler(there is valves with normally black handles)?

It is likely it is the ballcock, keep an eye on it.


I know it's alot of information and if you feel I could explain it better please ask.
 

Davyjones , no gauge at boiler , brass valve to rear of cylinder with guage
going up to 4 bar with red and black needles.Red needle seems to be constant at 2 bar , black just above zero.Thought that black needle used to move when heating was on but could be mistaken.
No sign of any silver flexi hose anywhere that i can see , as bad as ever this evening.
 


Ok, that could be an automatic filling valve. Is there a black wheel type handle.

If so close it. Rightly tighty, lefty loosely!
 
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