Druidic Dabblings and General Twaddle !!

[Stroppymonkey]

Ah yes now you mention it it is in fact a 10 year warranty and we used a G1 registered installer.
He was a little concerned when I supplied the boiler much cheaper than he could have done.
We used PlumbNation Wholesale.
The sweetener for the G1 Installer was the extra work for him with the bigger tank and S plan installation.
And yes it sounder lovely when running but no problem ‘cos it runs the side of the garage
Now how come you know all this useful stuff

It’s my day job. Designing and costing and installing and maintains heating systems. Don’t do much installing myself these days, but we have fitted a good number of oil boilers, and we look after 1000s of them. Prefer the ground works myself though.

 

[Routy56]

It’s my day job. Designing and costing and installing and maintains heating systems. Don’t do much installing myself these days, but we have fitted a good number of oil boilers, and we look after 1000s of them. Prefer the ground works myself though.

That’s useful to know - you‘d be our go to guy for advice
Yep installing and plumbing in general plays havoc on yer knees!
Over the years have always done the plumbing (except this last Grant)
Absolutely love plumbing and soldering etc. Goes back to my basic training years ago as a Radio Engineer with Marconi Marine.
Lived with a soldering iron in my hand. So always use ‘end feed’ on copper pipes.
And like you love ground works. When ‘retired’ in 2009 after 30 years service I went self employed.
The last 14 years with my digger and dumper has been all play for me, “It’s not work if you like what you are doing”

 

[V8Druid]

If you have a Grant Vortex Combi with relays it will be the 2006-2009 with 2 PCBs and 3 relays. Not the best design and Grant offer a reasonably priced upgrade to the newer control panel with single PCB. This has a pump over run for CH and is by far superior It’s been out for 14 years and the PCBs are not that dear. Also easy enough to wire in a timer on DHW which stops the burner kicking in when water being drawn, you will still get a couple of bowl fulls from the store, so I’d set up the timer to only be on for bathing times and a lunch too up. It’s quieter and kinder on the boiler. If you want to really get into it then you can fit a burner with fan post purge. If you wanted to get clever you could fit a decent stat on the pipework linked to DHW pump to give much longer pump over run, but you’d need a relay to still allow the DHW pump to cut out the CH. probably cheaper and better to just use a better room thermostat like the Honeywell T6 RHW which lets you fiddle with the hourly start times. Quite good for oil.

yeh late '09 ... installed about a year before I bought the place ... I'll bear the upgrade in mind if either of the PCBs goes down again ... seem to recall replacing one a considerable time ago .. the Computherm is pretty flexible on what you can do, program-wise ... it's the boiler end control that could do with improvements ... the thermostat, internal or external simply turns everything off - burner and pump

 

[Stroppymonkey]

yeh late '09 ... installed about a year before I bought the place ... I'll bear the upgrade in mind if either of the PCBs goes down again ... seem to recall replacing one a considerable time ago .. the Computherm is pretty flexible on what you can do, program-wise ... it's the boiler end control that could do with improvements ... the thermostat, internal or external simply turns everything off - burner and pump

Yours must have been right on the crossover. The first new version I fitted was November 09. Most oil boilers have similar set up with controls. We have started fitting EOGB sapphire boilers which work like a gas boiler where the controls talk to the boiler. Much more efficient but obviously more expensive.

 

[V8Druid]

Yours must have been right on the crossover. The first new version I fitted was November 09. Most oil boilers have similar set up with controls. We have started fitting EOGB sapphire boilers which work like a gas boiler where the controls talk to the boiler. Much more efficient but obviously more expensive.

I'd say that was about right ... ppl I bought this place off spent a fortune on completely re-furbing the place ... she broke her arm in the snow in '09 - got cabin fever after six weeks cooped up and wanted out .. had been on an internet agent's site a week when I found it and bought stole it .... they'd only been here 18 mth.s ... from memory the Grant went in here July/Aug. '09
I'd much prefer a more conventional boiler with storage, but locating a tank would be a major issue, space-wise, so pretty well stuck with a combi. Might consider going to propane as/when I have to replace the Grant, but hopefully it'll outlast me

 

[V8Druid]

and you thought your thread had gone off on a tangent @Routy56 ..... 's all good info though

 

[pettsy]

Sorry @V8Druid, haven’t had chance to get on the forum much. Logics can be a bit dodgy on the pressure gauges, I’ve replaced a few that either don’t read any pressure or still show system pressure when the boiler is empty!

 

[V8Druid]

Sorry @V8Druid, haven’t had chance to get on the forum much. Logics can be a bit dodgy on the pressure gauges, I’ve replaced a few that either don’t read any pressure or still show system pressure when the boiler is empty!

that's a bit alarming it did rise as I filled it, but was showing a bar when I started, so gauge could well be at fault and would make sense .... system was stone cold .. could soon tell if I drain it down some and the gauge doesn't drop below a bar .. could well be hung up - could plumb a gauge into a bleed port and see how they compare - system pressure is system pressure no matter where you read it from

 

[Stroppymonkey]

that's a bit alarming it did rise as I filled it, but was showing a bar when I started, so gauge could well be at fault and would make sense .... system was stone cold .. could soon tell if I drain it down some and the gauge doesn't drop below a bar .. could well be hung up - could plumb a gauge into a bleed port and see how they compare - system pressure is system pressure no matter where you read it from

We always make sure a system has 2 guages and never just use the crappy gas boiler ones, some of the models rely on a pressers sensor to give a digital display, but the sensor is mildly magnetic )I think) so collects sludge which then knackers it.

Regarding pressure being pressure , yes and no. Height of head in the system will make a difference. A 3 floor house with a boiler in the cellar can have 1bar at the boiler but 0bar at the top floor. 9.8metres = 1 bar roughly. Not something you’d notice much in a bungalow. Gauges are pretty cheap s**t these days. If you put 2 on a system next to each other chances are your reading will be different.

 

[V8Druid]

We always make sure a system has 2 guages and never just use the crappy gas boiler ones, some of the models rely on a pressers sensor to give a digital display, but the sensor is mildly magnetic )I think) so collects sludge which then knackers it.

Regarding pressure being pressure , yes and no. Height of head in the system will make a difference. A 3 floor house with a boiler in the cellar can have 1bar at the boiler but 0bar at the top floor. 9.8metres = 1 bar roughly. Not something you’d notice much in a bungalow. Gauges are pretty cheap s**t these days. If you put 2 on a system next to each other chances are your reading will be different.

yeh appreciate what you're saying, but could read at an upstairs rad, which is at the same level as the boiler, virtually

 

[V8Druid]

Pam away for the weekend with Vicki and the kids in Plymouth ... just got sent these .. no prizes for guessing where they are then

trust Clara to find this ...... know what she'll be wanting for their new garden next .... could just park the Micron there and ration her on motion lotion deffo not ISO set up

 

[Steve]

That was Bodelva sand plant before they put them greenhouses there.

 

[V8Druid]

well she may have been 160 miles away in Plymouth, but didn't stop the can you justs rolling in

phone call yesterday lunch time ..
" we're just sitting having a coffee in ?????? and Vicki tells me she has a wet patch on the floor in Harper's bedroom - no signs of water coming in anywhere - can you just pop and have a look ? "

so that was the very wet afternoon dealt with
sure enough, no signs of water ingress anywhere, but it sure was damp - and no Harper wasn't to blame. Quick suss about, as I'd thought as I'd been mulling it over on the way in ...

next to bath room and right next to bath outlet, so confidently fought the bath panel off - -was a hell of a lump - don't make 'em like that an more, -- expecting to see a leaking waste ......
NOPE !!
so jammed myself down into the corner where I could see wet, which was obviously tracking next door, to find a leaking soldered elbow, feeding the cold bath tap ..
looked a partially 'dry' joint ...
no gear with me, but Chris was home - " Got any plumber mates you can call on Chris? " ...
none off the top of his head, so I'm laid there in the corner seeing what else I can pull off .....
two choices ...
trek home, get me gas bottle and Bullfinch blow lamp, etc. ....
and hope to get it to take better ...
or hack out the elbow and bang in a compression elbow ...
couple of bends in the upstand to the tap that I thought I could probably straighten out a bit to get some more length, to cater for what'd have to come out,

so shot off down the merchants (got loads of elbows at home ) and grabbed a 15mm one ...
then got meself as comfortable as I could manage, jammed in the corner and spent 30 minutes cutting the upstand with a junior hacksaw, Chris had rummaged up -
but no spare blades -
hence the very careful cutting time, on a pipe that was dancing about with every stroke

He'd also found a 15mm pipe cutter - little round one - but I didn't want to lose too much length, keeping away from the elbow with it, so had to be the junior for the upstander
the horizontal run was a POP with the little circular pipe cutter - not used one like it B4 .. all mine are a fair chunk at that size pipe and above ...

didn't take any pix before, ....
or of the very tight spot to work in, but you can imagine I was well pleased to get it all dogged up, a fraction of a turn at a time ..
nigh on impossible to get two hands in there ...
and extricate myself from under there .....
thank God it wasn't at the other end of the bath or I'd have been ripping it out, to get at it

the offending elbow ..... God knows how long it'd been misbehaving, or why it had suddenly decided to? ....... carpets were fine and dry when we moved her in there, so possibly the kids've disturbed it, whilst in the bath, but all pretty solidly secured - typical jobbing plumber's mess under there (sorry pettsy/stroppy monkey - present company excepted) - leave it where it drops.

I have had a joint do the same here a few years ago - took some bloody finding and a lot of floor boards up to locate it ... drained the system down and managed to get the joint to reseal with the Bullfinch, Bakers' fluid and some more solder -- old Bakers' is a lot better than the usual paste flux on an existing bit of pipe ... just gotta make sure you clean it off well afterwards................
And Harper's just woken up ......
time for round two of the day

 

[Stroppymonkey]

well she may have been 160 miles away in Plymouth, but didn't stop the can you justs rolling in

phone call yesterday lunch time ..
" we're just sitting having a coffee in ?????? and Vicki tells me she has a wet patch on the floor in Harper's bedroom - no signs of water coming in anywhere - can you just pop and have a look ? "

so that was the very wet afternoon dealt with
sure enough, no signs of water ingress anywhere, but it sure was damp - and no Harper wasn't to blame. Quick suss about, as I'd thought as I'd been mulling it over on the way in ...

next to bath room and right next to bath outlet, so confidently fought the bath panel off - -was a hell of a lump - don't make 'em like that an more, -- expecting to see a leaking waste ......
NOPE !!
so jammed myself down into the corner where I could see wet, which was obviously tracking next door, to find a leaking soldered elbow, feeding the cold bath tap ..
looked a partially 'dry' joint ...
no gear with me, but Chris was home - " Got any plumber mates you can call on Chris? " ...
none off the top of his head, so I'm laid there in the corner seeing what else I can pull off .....
two choices ...
trek home, get me gas bottle and Bullfinch blow lamp, etc. ....
and hope to get it to take better ...
or hack out the elbow and bang in a compression elbow ...
couple of bends in the upstand to the tap that I thought I could probably straighten out a bit to get some more length, to cater for what'd have to come out,

so shot off down the merchants (got loads of elbows at home ) and grabbed a 15mm one ...
then got meself as comfortable as I could manage, jammed in the corner and spent 30 minutes cutting the upstand with a junior hacksaw, Chris had rummaged up -
but no spare blades -
hence the very careful cutting time, on a pipe that was dancing about with every stroke

He'd also found a 15mm pipe cutter - little round one - but I didn't want to lose too much length, keeping away from the elbow with it, so had to be the junior for the upstander
the horizontal run was a POP with the little circular pipe cutter - not used one like it B4 .. all mine are a fair chunk at that size pipe and above ...

didn't take any pix before, ....
or of the very tight spot to work in, but you can imagine I was well pleased to get it all dogged up, a fraction of a turn at a time ..
nigh on impossible to get two hands in there ...
and extricate myself from under there .....
thank God it wasn't at the other end of the bath or I'd have been ripping it out, to get at it
View attachment 54213View attachment 54211


the offending elbow ..... God knows how long it'd been misbehaving, or why it had suddenly decided to? ....... carpets were fine and dry when we moved her in there, so possibly the kids've disturbed it, whilst in the bath, but all pretty solidly secured - typical jobbing plumber's mess under there (sorry pettsy/stroppy monkey - present company excepted) - leave it where it drops.
View attachment 54209
I have had a joint do the same here a few years ago - took some bloody finding and a lot of floor boards up to locate it ... drained the system down and managed to get the joint to reseal with the Bullfinch, Bakers' fluid and some more solder -- old Bakers' is a lot better than the usual paste flux on an existing bit of pipe ... just gotta make sure you clean it off well afterwards................
And Harper's just woken up ......
time for round two of the day

No offence taken, I use pressfit wherever I can. Less skill required! Next time you get caught short down there.... I am based about 1.25 hours north of Plymouth. Closer than you are and I daresay a lot more plumbing kit!

 

[Lancs Lad]

No offence taken, I use pressfit wherever I can. Less skill required! Next time you get caught short down there.... I am based about 1.25 hours north of Plymouth. Closer than you are and I daresay a lot more plumbing kit!

I was going to drop the push fit bomb

 

[pettsy]

No offence taken here either, come across many that don’t seem to own a dustpan and brush! I’m more of an everflux fan to be honest, stings like a b*Tch if you get it in any cuts though!

 

[V8Druid]

No offence taken, I use pressfit wherever I can. Less skill required! Next time you get caught short down there.... I am based about 1.25 hours north of Plymouth. Closer than you are and I daresay a lot more plumbing kit!

The problem wasn't in Plymouth Stroppy ...
Vicki's new house in Abergavenny - 5 miles from me ...
never seen pressfit for copper ..
assume it's o ring and gripper blades? ...
TBH I don't know whether I'd trust summat like that in such an out of sight location and deffo not on a first try .....
have seen Hep2o etc., but never used it ..
quite capable of soldered copper, but wanted a reasonably 'quick fix', in a bitch of a spot. Will remember the pressfit for next time though
Might get some and have a look at it ..
is it re-usable?

 

[pettsy]

Pressfit, copper fittings with a rubber o-ring. Use a special “gun” (£1500ish) to crimp the fittings onto the pipe. Various profiles of crimping jaws depending which brand of fitting, V/M/U. Some fittings water only, some gas, some do both. I’ve got a selection of fittings but on domestic work I don’t really see the benefit unless you’re in a situation you can’t stop the water fully to solder.

 

[Stroppymonkey]

The problem wasn't in Plymouth Stroppy ...
Vicki's new house in Abergavenny - 5 miles from me ...
never seen pressfit for copper ..
assume it's o ring and gripper blades? ...
TBH I don't know whether I'd trust summat like that in such an out of sight location and deffo not on a first try .....
have seen Hep2o etc., but never used it ..
quite capable of soldered copper, but wanted a reasonably 'quick fix', in a bitch of a spot. Will remember the pressfit for next time though
Might get some and have a look at it ..
is it re-usable?

Not reusable. We have been on it for 15years. It’s near on 99.99% reliable. Only get catastrophic leaks if Misjawed when making joint. The press tool is about £1500 so not for faint hearted. You can work on wet running pipes with it though, so has its uses.

 

[Lancs Lad]

Not reusable. We have been on it for 15years. It’s near on 99.99% reliable. Only get catastrophic leaks if Misjawed when making joint. The press tool is about £1500 so not for faint hearted. You can work on wet running pipes with it though, so has its uses.

Quality system that, watched a Milwaukee fanboy using his, isn't it the only system you can use on certain jobs now?