Calorifier still leaking

[alisdair4]

Bizarrely, after I had removed my calorifier, had it pressure tested, and re-installed it , I now find the damn thing is still leaking. In line with this thread, http://www.ybw.com/forums/showthread.php?t=315757&highlight=inverting+calorifier I had installed the calorifier inverted. It seemd to work for a about an hour, and then the seal (if there is such a thing) around the immersion seemed to give way. Result - water pouring out when the water system is pressurised. Any suggestions, apart from the obviosu one of "buy a new Calorifier". What made this particularly galling is that the weather in Kiel this W/E was excellent...

 

[vyv_cox]

All the immersion heaters I have known screwed into a fitting brazed or soldered to the tank. If the leak is where you say it sounds like some sealant on the thread would fix it. However, i suggest that if water is pouring out the leak may well be something else.

 

[alisdair4]

LEAK!

Viv,

I guess it is possible that the tank is ruptured somewhere else inside its jacket, and the water is merely escaping via that part of the calorifier which is not insulated? It (the leak) certainly seemed worse than before. Looks like I will have to stump up the readies (or rely on a kettle for the rest of the season!).

 

[chasroberts]

Didn't you say you had it pressure tested? If the pressure test was OK there shouldn't be a leak from anything other than what you have connected up, should there?

Chas

 

[boatmike]

Bizarrely, after I had removed my calorifier, had it pressure tested, and re-installed it , I now find the damn thing is still leaking. In line with this thread, http://www.ybw.com/forums/showthread.php?t=315757&highlight=inverting+calorifier I had installed the calorifier inverted. It seemd to work for a about an hour, and then the seal (if there is such a thing) around the immersion seemed to give way. Result - water pouring out when the water system is pressurised. Any suggestions, apart from the obviosu one of "buy a new Calorifier". What made this particularly galling is that the weather in Kiel this W/E was excellent...

I didn't read your original thread but do you have a pressure relief valve fitted and does it work properly? If not then exessive pressure is building up in the calorifier due to heat=expansion which would explain why it's OK for an hour and then not... If you turn on a hot tap in the galley does the leak stop?

 

[alisdair4]

Pressure relief valve

I do have a pressure relief valve fitted, and I had assumed it was working correctly. However, maybe not! I will have a look this weekend. Presumably, the valve can be made more sensitive ?

In answer to another reply, as far as I can see, there is no leak either from the cold feed, the hot out, or the two hoses from the heat exchanger. These things are never in a sensible location, of course!

I do have confidence that REME engineer who pressure-tested it and said it was OK, is a good guy (ie, he has nothing to lose by stiffing me for work, as could be the case in a different scenario

 

[boatmike]

The pressure relief valve fitted to most calorifiers is an item that often gives trouble. They are not adjustable but they can break springs, corrode, jam and either leak or block. If your system is getting over pressurised it has to go somewhere! I would suggest this is a likely source of your problem. ASAP stock replacements. Might be a good idea to fit a new one anyway to eliminate this as a problem. you may need to make a new seal on the heater now it has blown but the pressure should never get high enough to blow seals in the first place. This is what the PR valve is there for.