View Full Version : Trianco eurostar boiler - pressure problems
Does anyone on here know anything about the Trianco Eurostar boiler. I'm having pressure drop problems and can't find how to get any more water in the system - it just doesn't seem to be doing anything :( I'm cold and fed up :( I'll get someone out in the morning but would be good if I was able to get it working tonight and have a nice hot bath :)
Thanks in advance!
I'm not sure about your individual boiler, but on others you often need a key.
Insert and turn the key, then turn the little knob further down the pipework to let water in. Don't go too high or you'll lift a relief (1.5b is normally fine).
Other systems without a key have 1 or 2 ball valves to let water in. (Sometimes - but not always - at either end of a flexible braided hose) Just open them up and watch the pressure rise
Theone - mine is the second type. Unfortunately when I do that nothing at all happens. I think there may be an airlock...
Theone - mine is the second type. Unfortunately when I do that nothing at all happens. I think there may be an airlock...
If that's the case the best thing to do would try manually venting the system. You might have a manual vent at the high point, or you can try each radiator in turn.
It does raise the question if your auto vent is not working.
Is your pump definately working?
Pump is whirring gently as normal but shouldn't it just fill by the external water pressure anyway?
Actually thinking about it you may have hit the nail on the head - there is a hissing out of one point (highest point) when you listen closely... If I left it on and hissing away would that just force all the air out eventually? It sounds like there is a lot of air... Or maybe it's a leak :(
Theone - mine is the second type. Unfortunately when I do that nothing at all happens. I think there may be an airlock...
If its a sealed system-no feed and expansion in the loft, all you need to do is pressurize the system to about 1.5 bar, there should be a dial for this on the boiler. There will be a on/off on the braided flex which is mains pressure to fill the boiler system. Just turn it on until you have 1.5 bar on the dial and then turn back off. If your loosing pressure you defo have a leak... somewhere. Good Luck.
Pump is whirring gently as normal but shouldn't it just fill by the external water pressure anyway?
Actually thinking about it you may have hit the nail on the head - there is a hissing out of one point (highest point) when you listen closely... If I left it on and hissing away would that just force all the air out eventually? It sounds like there is a lot of air... Or maybe it's a leak :(
You will still need to replace the air with water from the braided hose.
there is a hissing out of one point (highest point) when you listen closely... If I left it on and hissing away would that just force all the air out eventually? It sounds like there is a lot of air... Or maybe it's a leak :(
Do you mean the high point auto vent? Does the rate of airflow change when you open up the water fill valves? It should stop when the system is fill of water.
The auto valve should really only vent very occasionally. If you've got a constant flow of air, that's not a good thing, it's either choked and not letting enough air out or the system has a lot of air in it.
If air is getting in, water must be getting out. Sounds like you may have a leak somewhere! Check under your floorboard hatch if you have one. That said it might be a very slow drip that's just leaked over time.
If you can't get it to stop by filling with water for a couple of minutes maybe the safest thing to do would be to isolate the water supply for now (to stop feeding the leak) and wait until you can get a plumber. If it does stop, vent all your radiators and the system should be ok.
Do you mean the high point auto vent? Does the rate of airflow change when you open up the water fill valves? It should stop when the system is fill of water.
The auto valve should really only vent very occasionally. If you've got a constant flow of air, that's not a good thing, it's either choked and not letting enough air out or the system has a lot of air in it.
If air is getting in, water must be getting out. Sounds like you may have a leak somewhere! Check under your floorboard hatch if you have one. That said it might be a very slow drip that's just leaked over time.
If you can't get it to stop by filling with water for a couple of minutes maybe the safest thing to do would be to isolate the water supply for now (to stop feeding the leak) and wait until you can get a plumber. If it does stop, vent all your radiators and the system should be ok.
If its a sealed system the boiler wont fire when the pressure drops too low anyway and being sealed no water can re-enter until you pressurize the system again-If you have a hot flow pipe from the boiler and a cold return, you may have air in the pump casing, undo the big nut on the pump centre with a screwdriver to expel air and see if the return warms up.
This could be lots of things-faulty 3 or 2 port valve, thermostat etc.
If its a sealed system the boiler wont fire when the pressure drops too low anyway and being sealed no water can re-enter until you pressurize the system again.
Yip, that sounds like the problem, but if they're hearing a lot of air coming out and the pressure isn't coming up when they try to top it up, the water must be going somewhere else!
Yip, that sounds like the problem, but if they're hearing a lot of air coming out and the pressure isn't coming up when they try to top it up, the water must be going somewhere else!
They'd surely see the water somewhere in that case. You'd normally repressurize it in about 10 secs. If they cant hold the pressure for a good while they must have a fairly major leak somewhere!
They'd surely see the water somewhere in that case. You'd normally repressurize it in about 10 secs. If they cant hold the pressure for a good while they must have a fairly major leak somewhere!
Many moons ago my neighbour had a leak that filled the space below their floorboards 3 foot deep. They only noticed when water started coming out the air brick into the garden!
Do you mean the high point auto vent? Does the rate of airflow change when you open up the water fill valves? It should stop when the system is fill of water.
Yeah that one :) Hisses more with the valves open but doesn't seem to stop. Maybe there's a lot of air in it???
If air is getting in, water must be getting out. Sounds like you may have a leak somewhere! Check under your floorboard hatch if you have one. That said it might be a very slow drip that's just leaked over time.
Yeah... The radiator in my lounge never gets very hot - could be the problem...
If its a sealed system the boiler wont fire when the pressure drops too low anyway and being sealed no water can re-enter until you pressurize the system again-If you have a hot flow pipe from the boiler and a cold return, you may have air in the pump casing, undo the big nut on the pump centre with a screwdriver to expel air and see if the return warms up.
I'll have a go at that one thanks :)
They'd surely see the water somewhere in that case. You'd normally repressurize it in about 10 secs. If they cant hold the pressure for a good while they must have a fairly major leak somewhere!
It's an old stone farmhouse with the pipes running under the floorboards - there could well be water underneath and I'd never know without taking the floorboards up :(
It's an old stone farmhouse with the pipes running under the floorboards - there could well be water underneath and I'd never know without taking the floorboards up :(
Is the boiler actually firing on demand from room stat? is it if firing then going into lock out? Do you have a pressure guage on the boiler? If so wots it reading? Is it a combi?
Try topping up for a longer period of time, but if it's not fill in a couple of minutes max I would suggest stopping until you find the leak, you'll only feed it and cause more damage.
If all the radiators are fill of air you're going to have to spend a while topping the system up, venting radiators, topping up again etc.
Try topping up for a longer period of time, but if it's not fill in a couple of minutes max I would suggest stopping until you find the leak, you'll only feed it and cause more damage.
If all the radiators are fill of air you're going to have to spend a while topping the system up, venting radiators, topping up again etc.
2 minutes and the house will be full of water-trust me-been there, got the t shirt!! And it was wet!!
2 minutes and the house will be full of water-trust me-been there, got the t shirt!! And it was wet!!
Haha!
The only thing I was thinking was if the auto vent is slightly blocked with a bit of crud or whatever it might be letting the air out very slowly, thus taking longer to fill.
Haha!
The only thing I was thinking was if the auto vent is slightly blocked with a bit of crud or whatever it might be letting the air out very slowly, thus taking longer to fill.
Well we have 5 bar here at the mains- I filled our system for the first time for around 45 secs, a compression fitting had failed and there was water everywhere!! 22mm pipe at 5 bar equals a lot of water!! I still have to repressure the system once a fortnight from a small leak on the boiler makers pressure guage.
It's a closed system so isn't filling. I can sort of encourage it to fill be keep trying to fire it, then stopping, then starting again. Pressure has gone from 0 to just below 0.5 and now the hot water is heating. Hopefully when it's hotter it should bring the pressure up high enough to trigger it to start and then it will fill quickly... Fingers crossed :)
Thanks for all the advice :)
Right while typing this the water has been heating and the pressure went up enough for the pressure in the radiator to be high enough to vent the air (1 bar). So vented all the radiators and now it is back down to rubbish again... Water in the tank is hot so I'm guessing the pressure won't go up any more? Hmmm what now? Hopw to get the pressure high enough for it to kick in and start sending the water round - should fill up in no time then? Right?
Now you've let the air out the radiators you'll need to top the water up again.
You might have to do this several times. Vent air, fill water, vent air, fill water.
Once you've got all the air out, if the system keeps losing pressure, you definately have a leak that needs to be found.
Edit: When you say water in the tank is hot - do you mean you you have a hot water tank in a cupboard somewhere?
Now you've let the air out the radiators you'll need to top the water up again.
You might have to do this several times. Vent air, fill water, vent air, fill water.
Now there is no air in the system it doesn't seem to be pulling any water through :(
Edit: When you say water in the tank is hot - do you mean you you have a hot water tank in a cupboard somewhere?
The hot water part of the boiler I mean... Don't have a separate tank...
Off to find a number for a plumber I guess.
Now there is no air in the system it doesn't seem to be pulling any water through :(
The hot water part of the boiler I mean... Don't have a separate tank...
Off to find a number for a plumber I guess.
Are you sure your actually turning on the filling loop? Sometimes the plastic on/off can spin on the valve body so appears to be turning but isn't actually moving the valve body. You can take this off and use a spanner to turn the valve.
Problem was that I was venting the outflow valves :( I was turning the two valve but the wrong two valves. The 2nd valve tap I should have been using wasnt actually there and was a screw instead. I felt like a right plonker!
The reason the pressure was being lost is that every radiator has a thermostat on so when temp gets up and radiators turn off the boiler is still firing. Pressure then rises too high and it vents. Radiators come back on and then the pressure falls... I need to either get a room thermostat to turn the boiler off when the temp gets to the set value, or take the thermostat off one radiator to keep the flow going - expensive option. So looks like I need a room thermostat :)
or get a faulty thermostatic radiator valve!
Look on the bright side - no leaks!
Look on the bright side - no leaks!Very true!
Problem was that I was venting the outflow valves :( I was turning the two valve but the wrong two valves. The 2nd valve tap I should have been using wasnt actually there and was a screw instead. I felt like a right plonker!
The reason the pressure was being lost is that every radiator has a thermostat on so when temp gets up and radiators turn off the boiler is still firing. Pressure then rises too high and it vents. Radiators come back on and then the pressure falls... I need to either get a room thermostat to turn the boiler off when the temp gets to the set value, or take the thermostat off one radiator to keep the flow going - expensive option. So looks like I need a room thermostat :)
You could fit an auto bypass valve between the flow and return which most boilers need to have fitted.
You could fit an auto bypass valve between the flow and return which most boilers need to have fitted.
That's probably the best idea.
http://www.ajbh.co.uk/22mm-auto-by-pass-valve-for-central-heating-systems-891-p.asp
http://www.screwfix.com/p/honeywell-straight-auto-bypass-valve-22mm/34127
Been looking at the boiler and there is already one of those on (3 bar). Doesnt seem to be working though it seems...
Been looking at the boiler and there is already one of those on (3 bar). Doesnt seem to be working though it seems...
Are you sure you're looking at the right thing and not the system relief valve (which will lead to drain)?
3 bar is WAY too high for an auto bypass. 0.3b is more like it.
The auto bypass should go between the supply and return 22mm pipes from the boiler.
Been looking at the boiler and there is already one of those on (3 bar). Doesnt seem to be working though it seems...
Or just fit normal radiator valves on the bathroom radiator. Not as good as an auto bypass but a good compromise.
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