Central heating boilers/radiators

Ironic Namesake · 12 May 2008 at 18:58

So last week we just got a new boiler fitted, as our old Servowarm one was around 20 years old and packed up.

Took 3-4 days to get a new one fitted , worked fine for a couple of days , then as usual things started to go wrong

One of the radiators was making a loud banging noise and shaking (this one was never really used in the last 15 years).

So. someone turns up to inspect, and apparently our radiators are too old for the new boiler and all of them have to be replaced - this one radiator actually more than doubled in size - looks like it's about to explode !

Surely they should have known this and included in the initial quote that we will have to change all our radiators? Seems like an obvious thing to check / notice ... is this a common problem? Have done a search on google and didn't really bring up much.

Cosmic182 · 12 May 2008 at 19:00

you sure there isnt just air in the rad??? try bleeding it....when rads start knocking they usually have air inside, when the plumber filled back up he probs never bled the rads, never heard of that codswollop crap about rads too old !!

Ironic Namesake · 12 May 2008 at 19:01

We're waiting for the guys to come around again - they fully flushed the whole system etc. when they fitted the new boiler.

No way am I turning the central heating on again, that radiator looks like it will blow, about double in size already !

daz.wallace · 12 May 2008 at 19:03

That doesn't sound good :eek:

I know we had to change the valves on the bedroom radiators when we changed our boiler but that was it.

Ironic Namesake · 12 May 2008 at 19:17

Just to give an idea of size difference :

Normal Radiator

Bloated Radiator

Ironic Namesake · 12 May 2008 at 20:11

Cosmic182 said:
you sure there isnt just air in the rad??? try bleeding it....when rads start knocking they usually have air inside, when the plumber filled back up he probs never bled the rads, never heard of that codswollop crap about rads too old !!

Hmm the rads are around 40 years old apparently .. but I'd assume they were still tested under pressure back then :confused:

Jez · 12 May 2008 at 20:13

What the hell @ the blowing rad :eek:

Turn the heating pump off now that looks rather serious.

As for them being too old, they are simply radiators, as long as suitable pump is in place any radiators should in theory work with any boiler, it just pumps warm water through them.

Ironic Namesake · 12 May 2008 at 20:18

It's been turned off for the last 2 days now ....

The radiator seems like its expanding more ... its now got so big that its pulled itself of the wall and pushed the chest of drawers in front of it forward slightly (which is pretty damn heavy!) plumbers have been called and will be here shortly (I hope!)

Werewolf · 12 May 2008 at 20:20

That really doesn't look good, i'd assume there is something fairly serious going on there as the pump shouldn't be putting them at that much pressure - unless the rads have corroded really badly on the inside.

Definately turn the heating off completely, at the boiler (there should be a switch near it to turn it, and the pump off).

Cyanide · 12 May 2008 at 20:22

Just had a combi boiler fitted? If it was 20 years old it'd have had a <0.5bar open system before. You'll now have a 1.5bar sealed system, greatly increasing the stress on already old radiators.

Ironic Namesake · 12 May 2008 at 20:22

The boiler is completely switched off, hence why we also haven't had hot water over the weekend .. so I don't see how more pressure could be getting to it.

The plumber came around on Saturday as well and the rad didn't seem to be bulging like that then :confused:

Ironic Namesake · 12 May 2008 at 20:24

Cyanide said:
Just had a combi boiler fitted? If it was 20 years old it'd have had a <0.5bar open system before. You'll now have a 1.5bar sealed system, greatly increasing the stress on already old radiators.

We had a Vaillant EcoTec 624 fitted if that means anything to you ...

When the boiler was on, the reading was at 3 Bar

Jez · 12 May 2008 at 20:24

Cyanide said:
Just had a combi boiler fitted? If it was 20 years old it'd have had a <0.5bar open system before. You'll now have a 1.5bar sealed system, greatly increasing the stress on already old radiators.

Radiators unable to take 1-1.5 bar? :confused:

Well i guess clearly not looking at that bulging one :/

Cyanide · 12 May 2008 at 20:24

OoOverclockaoO said:
The boiler is completely switched off, hence why we also haven't had hot water over the weekend .. so I don't see how more pressure could be getting to it.

It'll be a sealed system. The boiler will be off but the pressure will still be there. As the radiator has already started to fail it'll be weaker and thus the pressure will act on it even more. It needs draining before it explodes.

Ironic Namesake · 12 May 2008 at 20:26

Aha ok , thought there was no pressure as the boiler is turned off and shows 0 Bar as pressure

Well lets hope the plumber gets here before it blows

Jez · 12 May 2008 at 20:26

Not to mention that 3 bar (just read that post) seems very high. I have only experience of fitting a couple of systems, but we have ran those at 1-1.5, at most 2 bar.

Cyanide · 12 May 2008 at 20:27

OoOverclockaoO said:
We had a Vaillant EcoTec 624 fitted if that means anything to you ...

When the boiler was on, the reading was at 3 Bar

Jez said:
Radiators unable to take 1-1.5 bar? Well i guess clearly not looking at that bulging one :/

3 BAR?!?! No heating system should ever be allowed to run that highly, they've either filled it up too much or not connected an expansion vessel. Call them back to fix it and replace the radiator.

Rads can usually take decent pressure, but if they're old and have been used with an open system before, which would cause internal rusting, they can fail when properly pressurised.

Ironic Namesake · 12 May 2008 at 20:28

I might have read it wrong on the boiler .. will double check.

The needle was towards the end of the grey bit, but not in the red

Cob · 12 May 2008 at 20:29

OoOverclockaoO said:
Bloated Radiator

Holy ****

Ironic Namesake · 12 May 2008 at 20:34

I was being thick .. there is no numbers on the bar needle on the boiler .. don't have a clue where 3 bar came from in my head

Here's a pic to show the progress, coming off the wall