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The bubbles in my pipes seem to be only in the hot water circuit, as the heating can run for ages without any squishy noises.
So how the jeff do you bleed the hot water circuit?
It's mains pressure system (I think) - no header tank in loft.
Go and ask on DIYnot.com
check for an air point on the flow pipe from the boiler to the HWC. if there's not one, you could* crack the nut on the upper connection to your cylinder coil. this will be the high point on the hot water circuit from the boiler. boiler&pump should be off for this.
*this could be messy - very messy if you cant nip it back up again quickly enough or knacker it as you crack it open, or strip the seal on the coil connection as you twist it. the connection is likely to be a compression one so you'll need two grips to avoid stressing the seal at the coil.
There are twisty drain knobs on the cylinder, but they only seem to bleed water not air. There are no other bleed points that I can see on any exposed pipe work.
for petes sake dont be undoing stuff on your cylinder..
if you believe you have air in your 'hot water pipes' only you are wrong .. its the same water just taking a different route. there could well be air trapped at a high point in the circuit though it would be rare as the water gets hot it expands and squeezes the air usually moving it around.
i might expect to see an auto air vent in a modern system but thats only a might.
if not id consider draining the hot water circuit and having one fitted.. probably an hours job plus 15 quid for the part possibly £65 all in. ( rochdale prices)
for petes sake dont be undoing stuff on your cylinder..
if you believe you have air in your 'hot water pipes' only you are wrong .. its the same water just taking a different route. there could well be air trapped at a high point in the circuit though it would be rare as the water gets hot it expands and squeezes the air usually moving it around.
i might expect to see an auto air vent in a modern system but thats only a might.
if not id consider draining the hot water circuit and having one fitted.. probably an hours job plus 15 quid for the part possibly £65 all in. ( rochdale prices)
On reflection, I'd agree with total about cracking the connections!
The twisty thing at the base of the cylinder is a drain, not an AirPoint.
its the same water just taking a different route. there could well be air trapped at a high point in the circuit though it would be rare
Ok so what happens is as follows:
If the heating is on but not the water - no bubbles.
If the hot water is on, then the pump starts and it sounds fine until 30 seconds or so have passed and I start to hear bubbles, and it gets worse. Eventually it sounds like froth in there.
There are two air vents on long vertical pipes and I have been able to bleed some air from those periodically by sticking a pin in them. A fair old pfft of air comes out, but not enough to have filled up all the pipe that leads to them, so that air I let out must not be circulating.
I have bled the air vent things a few times and more air does seem to accumulate in them, and also at the top of the towel rail which is the highest point. So I suppose that given what you say about it being the same water, I should just keep on doing what I am doing.
Still doing it. Squishy froth sounds when the hw is going but not the ch.
Tried bleeding the pump but just got scalded hands.
ok so when the hot water is heating yo have a frothy noise.. is that audible at the cylinder or some where else in the system.. or is it perhaps the diverter valve that is making the noise?
as noted air will rise and will end up in the highest radiator so bleed it
If it only happens when your hot water is on I am struggling to understand why you care?
Its not ideal but it is not doing anything either
Does it happen with JUST the hot water and no heating
the noise might just be increased flow through the system rather than air
or do what the plumber said
If it only happens when your hot water is on I am struggling to understand why you care
It's noisy. Airing cupboard outside both used bedrooms.
Totalshell - at the pump.
When the hw finished for then afternoon and it was all off, I turned the drain valve (red knob) and got a load of air out. Let's see how that goes. Also, realised that because the loop above the pump is the highest point of the hw loop, I can leave the fill taps open and the drain valve and mains water will flow through the pump and out of the drain taking air with it.
I fitted a Pegler air separator to our system, although it's an open system, so you'd need something different.
[url= https://c4.staticflickr.com/4/3836/14185077619_5027a431d3.jp g" target="_blank">https://c4.staticflickr.com/4/3836/14185077619_5027a431d3.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/nBuenM ]PEGLER Ventair Air Separator[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/brf/ ]Ben Freeman[/url], on Flickr
ok.. frothy pump syndrome...have you bled the pump ( you cant bleed all makes) do it with the pipes cold and the pump off.. simples.. oh hang on the pump is before the diverter assuming you have a three port valve the same water circulates whether you are on ch or dhw or both... but dont let that unsettle you.. bleed the pump and set the speed to the lowest that will ensure the rads all get hot.
Bled the pump, nothing happened. However I think the drain valve has done the trick, seems fine now. Some factor of the system design allows air to collect in a certain part of the system then not somehow get circulated easily into the rads.
Bubbles are back.
ok turn the boiler down (lets say its set on 6 of a 1-6 range) set it on 3.
does that still bubble?
if it does turn the pump down to setting 1.
does that still bubble?
Bubbles keep coming and going....?
Also indicated pressure on the dial is not consistent. I mean it's steady, but sometimes it goes down to 0.5bar from 1bar.. can't figure out when it does this. Heating's on and off through the day in this weather. It was 1bar this morning, then first time I heard bubbles today it was down at 0.5bar, now a few hours later on the next run it's crept up to about 0.8bar.
Weird.
When I've seen it down at 0.5 I've added more water.
Bubbles seem to be trapped in the pump rather than coming through the pipes.
Boiler turned down, but nothing changing currently.
Is the three port valve working correctly?
It sounds like your cylinder is kettling, or as my basic understanding interpreted it as either it's not getting enough water, or the thermostat on the cylinder has stopped talking to the boiler, or control unit.
Like I say, rudimentary guesses from enough knowledge to be dangerous...
Essentially, my disclaimer 😉
Assuming this is on a pressurised system, have your expansion vessel checked as the bladder may have pinholed or split causing air or bubbles to be released into the heating system water.
Don't have a three port valve, just two two-port ones.
Expansion vessel - the system has positive pressure in it, so not sure how air could get *in*.. surely water would get out? The gague is on top of the system so should show the lowest pressure.
It did have a leak a while back and the Mrs did let it run down til it was knocking - so there could have been air in it then. And perhaps bubbles are still coming out and getting lodged in the pump. Somehow though they don't escape from the loop near the pump when it stops, so the pump just draws them back in again.
Don't think anything major is wrong because the system works well - comes on and off properly and all rads pump out loads of heat.
Research expansion vessels or get an expert in to check yours - they have a bladder in (similar to a football) which should have an air charge matching cold-fill pressure of your system, it's an obvious culprit if your pressure dances around a fair bit during the day.