Absolutely wonderful (formerly absolutely useless) housing association

[Dave7]

Açcy......my nickname is (honestly) Mr Bean due to my cockups over the years. My system loses pressure and cuts out.....I don't know why as 2 different engineers have checked the whole system.
As others have said.........you will have at least one, maybe two (black plastic) taps on the system.
Turn them both.......watch the pressure build up THEN TURN THEM OFF AGAIN. There should be a reset button......one press should do the trick.
Good luck.

 

[Deleted member 26715]

If you can't find the reset button then just use the fused spur/isolator switch & power it off, give it 10 seconds & power it back up again.

Take a picture of your pressure gauge

 

[cyberknight]

My pressure keeps dropping and i have to top it up every day , when i phoned up british gas they said they wont come out during lockdown if i can keep topping it up even though i have homecare edit managed to get one in for 9th march so maybe they are hoping were out of it by then

 

[Pale Rider]

i have to top it up every day

That's worrying.

The top up water is going somewhere, probably escaping through a leak in a concealed pipe.

Might not be too bad if it's under the ground floor, but if it's upstairs it could lead to a large repair/decorating bill.

 

[oldworld]

Thanks! I do have a fan heater for such emergencies. My small living room is now 68 Fahrenheit and i have a thick wool overcoat on,so i'll survive.👍

We very rarely see our living area reach 68 deg. The house is heated by a wood burner and we keep this going all day but because the house is old and has a weird layout without a wall between the downstairs and the upstairs it really struggles.
We do have electric wall heaters, 12 of them in fact but the one week we used them the amount of electricity consumed was frightening.
I got to know the previous owner and he told me all his wages would go on electricity bills.
I really don't like the cold so winters are always a struggle.

 

[cyberknight]

That's worrying.

The top up water is going somewhere, probably escaping through a leak in a concealed pipe.

Might not be too bad if it's under the ground floor, but if it's upstairs it could lead to a large repair/decorating bill.

its been like it for over a month and i haven't seen a leak yet

 

[Deleted member 26715]

its been like it for over a month and i haven't seen a leak yet

Yes we clearly have a leak on our system, it's quite strange though, sometimes it will last weeks, others only days, it must be downstairs somewhere as currently we have no leaks upstairs, I say currently as I think we've had 3 in the last 3 years.

 

[Lookrider]

I can't quite see it from your picture, but I reckon your first port of call ought to be the system pressure gauge. I have a Worcestor Bosch - similar vintage to yours - and on mine, it looks like this:

View attachment 573852

If yours is basically the same, there'll be two pointers - a red one and a black one. The red one shows you where your water pressure needs to be, the black one shows where it actually is. If that black needle is way below the red one, you need to let more water into the system. Somewhere close to your boiler you'll find the water pipes connected to it. Mine look like this:

View attachment 573853

Find that tap - yours will be similar - and turn it anti-clockwise, while you watch the dial. The black needle should start moving up. When it's level with the red one, or just a tad below, turn the tap off. (Do this carefully...the pressure can change quickly.) Then use the reset button, as per irw's diagram above, and if you're lucky, you might be in business.

None of which changes the fact that the housing association should not be leaving people calling an emergency number for an hour.

Sorry for interfering with your helpful advice and hope he gets sorted
Just to make you politely aware

The 2nd " screwdriver valve" on your photo should always be closed off as well ....reasons being
It can prevent air going into the boiler
It is a double check valve but regulations donr allow any chance of central heating contaminated water getting into the main system ...both valves can possibly fail that will allow this too happen ( but highly unlikely)
If your drying towels in there etc it may be possible that you can actually knock the hand valve open and water can trickle into the boiler causing over pressure and boiler damage
Filling loops are meant to be disconnected each time by the finger tight wings ...the open end then capped off with the disk that is supplied and attached to the filling loop ( I know nobody does this...but that is the rules )
Thank you

 

[ColinJ]

Filling loops are meant to be disconnected each time by the finger tight wings ...the open end then capped off with the disk that is supplied and attached to the filling loop ( I know nobody does this...but that is the rules )

I do, which is why I posted that earlier in the thread...

I don't leave the loop in place after repressurising because I read somewhere that you are not supposed to in case contaminated water leaks back into the domestic supply.

 

[Accy cyclist]

I've managed to loosen the tight screws to get the cover off. Do any of these photos help?

 

[postman]

I was going to tell you about my little diy task today.Outside in the cold biting wind.The condensation pipe froze.So ladder up kettle of WARM water then a hairdryer took about 20mins of faffing,,but I won't tell you cos Accys is more serious,can you see if your pipe has an icicle attached to it.

 

[Lookrider]

I do, which is why I posted that earlier in the thread...

Yes I'm sorry about that ...I noticed your post after I sent mine
I guess posts were arriving whilst I was still typing...I think that sort of delayed cross over happens

And hopefully you get sorted
B

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

The refilling taps and loop are not visible on those images

try looking underneath - post a photo if possible - literally look at it from below if possible

 

[lane]

My combi is on its last legs, no hot water but we do get heating. Got an electric shower so managing. Pressure keeps dropping so have to top up. If we have boiler on high then pressure goes too high and have to let some out of the radiator. Going to be about £2k to replace.

 

[fossyant]

The filling loop will be below the boiler. If it's disconnected, you connect it - be aware the little grub screw will need loosening if turning the 'lever' on the loop doesn't increase pressure as it's effectively an additional valve.

We've got a similar boiler at our caravan.