One for the chemists

Would not have thought so.

But why don't you have a proper drain? In theory a GasSafe fitter could not have left it "dripping on the ground".

For an intermediate solution, stick a plantpot filled with chalk/lime/limestone under the drip - that'll neutralise it.

NO.

No. That pH range covers such common liquids as colas and fruit juices. Even if you puked onto the tyre it wouldn't do it any harm, and puke (i.e. stomach acid, pH 1) is about a hundred times more acidic. OTOH if your boiler condensate is dripping onto mortar or concrete, it will slowly attack it over a period of months, and ought really be piped to a more appropriate place.

on 20/12/2016, Munch supposed :

Thanks for your replies folks. It's just been a temporary problem with the condensate drain so no long-term damage/problems.

No but how long is it sonce you moved the car then? Brian

When we had our boiler installed, I asked the fitter to angle the flue down slightly, so any condensate in the flue would drip outwards onto the side path. It's been doing that since 1998. I haven't noticed any harm to the concrete. It also drips onto the wheelie bins, which don't appear damaged at all.

I don't know if this was a sensible thing to do? The boiler has lasted almost 19 years and still appears to be going strong, which I understand is good going for a modern boiler. Evinox, by the way.

Not sure why you would ask for your boiler flue to be installed incorrectly. The flue is meant to be angled up slightly to make condensate run back into the boiler and down the condensate drain.

Tim

Our old boiler was badly fitted with the drain pointing downwards. The condensate did corrode the concrete below it and created a lethal ice sheet in winter. it's replacement is correctly fitted.

Jonathan

It is a condensing modulating boiler. :p

Yes, I appreciate that. I thought it was an advantage for the boiler not to have this stuff running back through it. We've not been inconvenienced by having the water dripping on the path.

Why not simply plumb it into a waste pipe? There's usually one not far away from a boiler. In most houses.

Same here - Vaillant, 1999.

They weren't common in the UK domestic scene back then (and no UK manufacturers of domestic condensing boilers AFAIK), but they were already in use in EU countries which didn't have native gas supplies, where gas was more expensive. They were also in use for larger commercial boilers in the UK.

First UK manufactured ones were around 2002, when I was looking for one. They were really poor products - existing boiler models with an added condensing heat exchanger added, and non-modulating. They corroded to bits in no time at all - it was already happening and they hadn't been on the market for a year.

I went for a Keston Celcius 25. Keston had been making large commercial condensing boilers in the UK for years, and this was their first domestic product. Actually, this was not a Keston design - they got it by buying an Eastern European manufacturer, and it wasn't as reliable as their commercial boilers - a nice simple design with a high quality stainless steel heat exchanger, but with some rough edges elsewhere. They did improve some components during the time the boiler was on the market, particularly the internal flue piping which was prone to short life and leaking condensate in the original models. Mine still works fine, but this is unusual with most now having been condemmed due to condensate and other leaks internally corroding the case. I've been very careful with checking mine over regularly, and it also runs very cool (normally 45/35 flow/return due to designing the heating system for very efficient condensing operation).

The car is in daily use but the driveway is small and short, so it almost always ends up in the same place.

The condensate won't be good for steal bodywork/wheels, or the finish on alloy wheels.

I couldn't speak for the pH, but it's carbonic acid not nitric. Soda water to the man on the Clapham omnibus.

Andy

Your fitter wasn't very bright then. Certainly hadn't read the installation instructions. Flues for non-condensing boilers must slope down slightly (away from the boiler) to stop condensate going back into the boiler, where it would attack the heat exchanger.

Flues on Condensing boilers do the opposite so that condensate

Problems arise when a non-condensing boiler is replaced by a condensing one, and the same flue hole is used. From what I've seen many condensing boilers seem to have the central flue offset upwards inside the air inlet to compensate for the incorrect slope.

Most condensing boilers simply don't work in condensing mode anyway because to do so would require all the rads to be replaced with triple panel types to force the return temp below the dew point. Either that or run the rads at a much lower temperature that the average UK female would not be happy with.