Help - System losing pressure after oil boiler was replaced

[G M]

@SJB060685 @Best I've spoken with the manufacturer and you are both correct. They said no, that fire board shouldn't be there. It's supposed to be in the base of the combustion chamber. What's likely happened is that it has become dislodged in transit. I'm awaiting a response from the installer to see if either I can push it back down into place, or he can come look at it.

On another note, I had the heating system in for a while there (before I found out about this fire board) and the pressure actually increased slightly. I've not noticed any increase in pressure at all since I noticed the fault, unless I manually did it via the filling loop. I'll keep an eye on how much it drops over the next hour or two, then I'll try draining the system and checking the expansion vessel properly. Thanks again!
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Registered gas engineer is no good for an oil boiler! Unless they do both.
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Was your old system open vented or sealed?

It was sealed. The only thing in the system that has been replaced is the boiler/burner. Everything else has remained the same. The boiler it replaced was extremely old and very hard on oil. This new(er) boiler is miles more efficient. Probably 3-4 times more I'd say.

 

[SJB060685]

You should have a refractory base in boiler bottom yes but there seems to be fire board on all three sides of chamber, like I said the only reason I can think of is to repair or mask a problem. Do your checks and let us know in an hour.
PS. You've mentioned several times about how much more efficient it is but I'm willing to bet the guy who installed it probably didn't commission it properly either, you might find theres more to be had yet but this requires an engineer.

 

[G M]

You should have a refractory base in boiler bottom yes but there seems to be fire board on all three sides of chamber, like I said the only reason I can think of is to repair or mask a problem. Do your checks and let us know in an hour.
PS. You've mentioned several times about how much more efficient it is but I'm willing to bet the guy who installed it probably didn't commission it properly either, you might find theres more to be had yet but this requires an engineer.

Thanks @SJB060685 I don't know if I'll get it done in an hour. It's absolutely lashing outside

Yes I'm sure you are correct about the efficiency. There's probably more to be had. For example, there's no insulation on any of the pipework. I'm sure that doesn't help. There's also a giant hole where the old boiler flue was. It has been very much patched up. There's a small run of about 3-4 inches of copper pipe from the back of the boiler house to the garage that is exposed to the elements too. None of this can help the efficiency surely.

Yes, sorry to keep banging on about it, but we didn't realise how rubbish the old system was. It cost a clean fortune to run the heating system. Once we get these issues sorted, I plan to put insulltion round all the pipes at least from the outside, into the garage loft until it gets to the house wall (it's an attached garage). None of the pipes are tied down either, so they rattle around a lot and they are very easy to lift. I'd like to secure them somehow, but all that will come later.
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Ok, so I've inspected the boiler again and it seems that part of the surround has come loose. I've pushed it to the bottom for now, so the top is a bit exposed. Not sure of the short time significance of this, but guessing I'll need to secure or again to the top somehow.

Incidentally, the pressure has dropped rather fast from 1.5 bar to about 0.75 bar in the last 1-2 hours. Not sure if me messing about with the oil burner has made this worse than normal.

I'm going to drain the system later today if I can and do as @SJB060685 said about checking the vessel. Thanks!

Roof of combustion chamber:

 

[SJB060685]

For now let's just find the cause of the pressure dropping without the boiler running. The boiler is something you need to get an engineer out for, I appreciate this close to Christmas you don't like that idea but from what I can make out from what little I can see in photos it shouldn't be fired up.

 

[G M]

For now let's just find the cause of the pressure dropping without the boiler running. The boiler is something you need to get an engineer out for, I appreciate this close to Christmas you don't like that idea but from what I can make out from what little I can see in photos it shouldn't be fired up.

Thanks. I don't think I'll be able to do without the boiler over Christmas with the sub-zero temperatures we're getting, but if it does fail then I'd be expecting some help from the installer. I have emergency home heating cover with my home insurance in case it does fail completely. I'll let you know how I get on with draining the system. The pressure has almost dropped to zero now. It has dropped very rapidly in the past few hours.

 

[SimonG]

I would be really surprised if your home cover, covers an oil boiler. Seen many a customer in the past with 'cover' to find out they're not!

 

[Stigster]

Hi,

This is not a DIY job, you must consult 'Registered Professional Gas Engineer' plumber for this issue.

It's an oil boiler matey.

 

[G M]

I would be really surprised if your home cover, covers an oil boiler. Seen many a customer in the past with 'cover' to find out they're not!

I don't see what choice I have really. There's just no way I can leave the heating off until after Christmas. I'll try and get it checked before Christmas, but it seems unlikely.

 

[SimonG]

The more you put on here the more Mickey mouse the install sounds.
Second hand boiler, un insulated pipes outside, installer not getting back to you.

Any pics of the outside of boiler and new pipework?

Might be worth trying to get hold of a decent oil guy and go from there. Bin off your installer.

Its either the ev or leaking underground pipes. But theres also something not right in the combustion chamber.

 

[Brambles]

The quickest way to test this is to drain the system and fit isolation valves to the boiler flow and return. Thereafter pressure test the boiler. From the photos you have posted, to me, it all points to boiler feed water leaking into the combustion chamber. The surfaces you have photographed should look like a slightly singed digestive biscuit - not like a barnacle encrusted hull of a boat.

Whilst I can understand that you want to continue to try to use the boiler - if the exchanger is leaking, unless the boiler is on load 24/7 (evaporating the leak at source), it will quickly fail to a point where it is unusable. The damp refractory linings / protection boards will disintegrate allowing the flame / heat to attack the inner then outer casing.