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Had a question in my city and guilds gas paper. What happens if the coil in the calorifier splits?? Not knowing the answer I guessed that pressure would be lost. Other potential answers were leaking water from it, water from the blow off and something else. Ive never heard of a calorifier. Its not in my books and a quick google search doesnt help. Can someone explain what it is and indeed if I answered the question correctly. Thanks
 
If the question said ' What would happen if the coil in a hot water cylinder split?' what would you of answered?
 
the calorifier is the coil inside an indirect cylinder. on an open vented system if this splits and the header tank is higher than the storage tank ,then the water from the header tank will pass through the cylinder and fill the storage tank and eventually cause it to overflow. adversley if the header tank is lower then this will overflow due to the storage tank being higher and therfore the pressure greater.

tudor rose
 
How can the calorifier be the coil inside the cylinder if the question read ' What happens if the coil in the calorifier splits? ' A calorifier is simply another word for hot water cylinder! Am i correct? somebody please correct me if i am not
 
The calorifier is something in the boiler, not the cylinder as it was a gas paper.
 
hi so solar,
new to this forum lark so do not want to argue and upset folk i'm sure we are all here to help each other however have just found definition on google and this is what it said.
Calorifier - An apparatus used for the transfer of heat to water in a vessel by indirect means, the source of heat being contained within a pipe or coil immersed in the water.

however, maybe i did get the definition wrong but the outcome of the problem is right i think. wha are your thoughts
 
Its the secondry heat exchanger in a combination boiler (where the hot water is indirectly heated). The blow off will kick in as pressure will rise in heating circuit via the mains.
 
Yep, Its the Domestic Hot Water Heat Exchanger in a combi-boiler. If leaking internally it will cause the pressure gauge to rise and blow off the pressure relief.
 
a clorifier is a unit that heats something up indirectly

I have had the pleasure of working on a 500 ft clorifier,that dried out pigments used for plastics and paints
It was a basicaly two long tubes ,one inside another,the inner hot gas,s passed through,on the outer the wet pigment mixture that needed drying out,went in one end wet and out the other a powder
a cylinder is a clorifier,water in the bottom passes through a indirect heat source and comes out hot
A plate heat exchanger is a clorifier,in cold out hot indirect heat used
however question stated what would happen if coil split,so can assume item in question is a hot water cylinder and although header tanks may over flow the main answer would be contamination
going for another pint now :eek::):eek:
 
Hmm!

It seems usual to think of a calorifier as an industrial indirect cylinder.

It does of course pass water around heated coils so the Google description is correct.

A boiler heat exchanger is I suppose technically the same, except it usually gets its heat directly from the burner.

In other words they both seem correct. Its just that its usual to call industrial sized indirect cylinders, calorifiers, not heat exchangers. And the book is talking about indirect combi boilers, which usuallu have as far as I know, a mini indirect cylinder inside, which stores hot water for high use situations.

And you probably would not call an indirect cylinder a heat exchanger yet it is.
 
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This is a paragraph from a book called Central Heating, Combination Boilers, Fault Finding & Repair by John Reginald:-
Indirect Combi Boiler (Water to Water Heat Exchanger)
Indirect combi boilers are so called because the domestic hot water is not heated by the flue gases. Remember the main burner flame never plays directly onto the heat exchanger - heat is always transferred to the water in the heat exchanger by the hot gases passing around it. The domestic hot water is heated by absorbing heat from the primary water heated and circulated in the main heat exchanger to the domestic hot water heat exchanger, also called a CALORIFIER. Hence, the term 'indirect' or 'water to water heat exchanger'. There are two types of indirect water to water heat exchangers or calorifiers; the older and now less popular cylinder type and the now more popular plate type.

Its a good book this, i would recommend to all.
 
when serving my time i was forever cleaning out calorifiers! big industrial hot water cylinders! guess if i had sat that exam i would of failed!
 
This is a paragraph from a book called Central Heating, Combination Boilers, Fault Finding & Repair by John Reginald:-
Indirect Combi Boiler (Water to Water Heat Exchanger)
Indirect combi boilers are so called because the domestic hot water is not heated by the flue gases. Remember the main burner flame never plays directly onto the heat exchanger - heat is always transferred to the water in the heat exchanger by the hot gases passing around it. The domestic hot water is heated by absorbing heat from the primary water heated and circulated in the main heat exchanger to the domestic hot water heat exchanger, also called a CALORIFIER. Hence, the term 'indirect' or 'water to water heat exchanger'. There are two types of indirect water to water heat exchangers or calorifiers; the older and now less popular cylinder type and the now more popular plate type.

Its a good book this, i would recommend to all.
not all combis are indirect some use direct heat
 
Aware of that Steve thanks! The paragraph was from a book to help the OP understand what a calorifier is based on his exam question.
 
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I'm just bumping this thread for no particular reason. If it isn't a current topic, don't worry about it, just ignore it and it'll move off the forum list before long. If it is a topic you'd like to reply to though, go ahead. :)
 
You'll find more up to date threads than this in the main Pluming Forum. But I'm reply to this so we bump it up the list and get the pages indexed correctly because of the new update we've had. So just ignore this if it's all old news.

If you do reply, keep it polite and professional. You can disagree with the above posts, and just be professional with your reply.
 
I was taught that calorifiers are indirect means of heating/storing hot water. We have industrial cylinders at work the guys refer to as calorifiers, in combis the plate to plate heat ex is called that too.
 
Calorifier is a hot water vessel with indirect means of heating, as said by everyone.... I think the most sensible answer is... The domestic hot water will become contaminated by the heating water..... The other answers are good.... but tell us symptoms of how it will become apparent that there is a failure.
 
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