Hi
In my small house the hot water is heated via a balloon.
I do not have any CH system so no boiler.
I always turn off incoming mains water (and power) when I leave and then when I arrive vice versa.
I usually get water hot enough for a shower within an hour(ish).
Just arrived yesterday and although I didn’t use much hot water I noted during my shower today that water wasn’t as hot as usual.
I also noted some water dripping into the tundish. There doesn’t seem to to be an expansion vessel anywhere either.
I’m not at the house all the time but did notice in April that there was some dripping into the tundish but ignored it and it did seem to stop.
Anyway I’ve removed the bottom cover and found the thermo control which was set to 3 (of 5). I moved it to 5 to see if the water got hotter and it certainly did!
I’ve moved it back to 4 and will experiment to get the temp how I like it but now the dripping has started again.
I’m guessing pressure is building during heat phase but surely any expansion water is being replaced by incoming cold supply thus forming a (expensive) doom loop of heating water to only see it disappear down the drain?
Do I have a fault? If so where do you think it might be?
I’ve posted pics of model and tundish etc.
Any help or advice appreciated. I am competent with compression fittings if its just a case of changing the tundish fitting but know little of balloon systems.
Is there another valve inside the balloon possibly at fault?
Such a “groupe de sécurité” will drip whilst the water expands during heating, otherwise you have a small bomb in your house.
However, they can develop a permanent drip if the mechanism gets obstructed by a build up of calcification. This can often be cleared by operating the blue valve a few times, allowing it to spring back & thus knock of the deposits. You might need to do this a few times before it stops, & it could get worse before it gets better. The valve will only turn about 90 degrees before clicking to being permanently open, which you need if you’re ever draining down the system.
Hi Badger.
I have turned the blue release valve but did find it very sensitive - in that if I just press it then it seems to let by.
I’ll do what you say and repeat a few times to see if it clears.
I noted if I open a hot tap (bathroom or kitchen) even for a few seconds the dripping stops so suggests its working ok.
In theory then are you saying that once the water in the balloon has reached temp then the dripping should stop?
thx
I had to look it up, learnt something today . Normally in France 32 or 40 mm waste pipe is used so it doesn’t flood when you drain the tank (with a trap too to prevent any stink).
In the photo it shows 15mm copper elbow and then 15mm pipe which takes the water to the waste outlet behind the washing machine.
I’ve seen designs of this fitting where there is usually a small vessel that holds water before going off to the waste. I guess to stop foul smells travelling back up. I dont have that problem as theres a trap on the waste
. Normally in France 32 or 40 mm waste pipe is used so it doesn’t flood when you drain the tank (with a trap too to prevent any stink).