Run boiler -cover off

[Yvonne]

Vaillant EcoMAX Pro that was installed late 2004 has developed a steady drip.

At first I thought it might be a leak from the outer sleeve of the flue that was getting into the boiler housing but found no evidence of that.

The drips comes from the bottom of the main casing - just behind where the control panel hinges are located.

Whilst the boiler was turned off, I took the inner casing panel off to have a look but couldn't see the source of the leak.

My first question is .... is it OK to run the boiler with the inner casing panel removed?

Secondly, what would the most likely source be and what would the likely cost implications be?

Thanks for assistance

[Cod Roe]

Well reasonably ok, I know of no reason why it would affect the boilers operation, but be aware of the possibility of little fingers being stuck in where they shouldn't.

I'm no expert, but I had a very similar problem with my Baxi Eco80 when I brought this house. It was the diverter valve assembly that was leaking, a small pin is pushed out by a diaphragm to activate a micro-switch when demand for hot water occurs (i.e. you open a tap). The leak was round the pin, which I fixed with an appropriately sized o-ring and some silicon grease. I'm not saying you have the same thing, but be aware it might only leak when a hot tap is on, mine did. So try observing it running for a while, also worth trying with the central heating on. If you do spot a leak, the manual should have several diagrams identifying the various parts for you.

[geoff]

Well, for a start, it depends on whether it is a positively or negatively pressurised boiler (whether the fan blows or sucks)

Ecomax is IIRC neg so should be OK in that regard

Yeah, that's about all you can do

Leaks can occur wherever there's a joint, base of the heat exchanger is a fave place, but you have to look - you're there,nobody else is

Cost depends on what it is and whether you just need to tighten a joint up something else trivial

[Ed Sirett]

OK. In reality apart from being a little noisy, the slightly exposed mains voltage connectors and the possibility of getting dirt into the air intake not a lot. By the book, at law, and with any sort of responsibility the answer to this question is definitely no. Competent testing and diagnostics might require the operation of the boiler with the cover removed, briefly and when you are in attendance.

You need to find the source of the leak. What it will take to put right will depend on what is leaking. It could be pence for an O-ring up to serious money for the heat exchanger (which happily it does not appear to be).

Fortunately the Eco tec is nothing like a Baxi Eco80 they are not in the same league.

[Yvonne]

Thanks for the help guys.

Much appreciated.

[Cod Roe]

The instruction manual says the boiler is room sealed, so how is the presence of the cover relevant to this?

[geoff]

It isn't then, is it ?

[Ed Sirett]

Just about every (fanned flue) boiler model operates at negative pressure. However the Pott. Netaheat and Pott. Profile are notable exceptions. These models won't start with the casing removed.

[geoff]

YEah - had someone with a Nht with that problem (well, a CO meter which went spare ..) the other day, which is what made me think of it

Add the thorn olympic (pre mod) to the list

[Yvonne]

OK, I took the inner casing panel off and it runs OK with no problem.

The drips were coming off the bottom of the heat exchanger ie about 2 inches below the igniter electrode -suggesting that a gasket might be on the way out. Or worse still maybe the heat exchanger/burner interface is warped??

What is odd is that the flow varies from nothing up to a steady two drips per second. I havn't seen a pattern yet which would identify the parameters which affect the frequency of the drips.

The only hint so far is that the drips are rare immediately after the boiler has started up but increase when it has been running for a couple of hours. Might this be after most of the TRV's have closed when they are up to temperature. Here I would advise that there is a bypass valve installed so the TRV issue might be spurious.

If it is a simple gasket issue, where do I get a gasket from? I'm in London.

[geoff]

In message , Yvonne writes

I'd just try tightening up the nut first

[Ed Sirett]

Maybe you have one of the units that is up for a new seal on a safety recall! Phone Vaillant (number on the back of the manual).

If the primary system pressure is hold up and it's not leaking when not in use then the drips are likely condensate (have they already discoloured anything they have fallen on?).