Crud in calorifier

[umpire111]

Gunge out of calorifier- there is a drain pipe coming out the bottom of the calorifier. Opened it tonight into a bowl and out came brownish tint water with lots of black bits, is that normal or do I need to give it a good drain and clean.

[umpire111]

Gunge out of calorifier- there is a drain pipe coming out the bottom of the calorifier. Opened it tonight into a bowl and out came brownish tint water with lots of black bits, is that normal or do I need to give it a good drain and clean.

[PaulJ]

Assuming this murky water isnt coming from your cold water supply and that is clear. Brownish water does sound a bit rusty though?

I got a suprising amount of scale out the bottom of my (not that old) calorifier a little while back. I removed the immersion from the bottom and vaccumed it all out. If you are in a soft water area there is not alot you can do about it- its same as your kettle :-)

[nicknorman]

5 minutes ago, PaulJ said:

If you are in a soft water area there is not alot you can do about it- its same as your kettle :-)

Hard. But anyway, one of the problems with being a boater is that you pick up water from hither and thither, some hard and some soft. Our marina is near Tamworth - hard water. But we often go up to Birmingham - soft water stolen from Wales.

[PaulJ]

Just now, nicknorman said:

Hard. But anyway, one of the problems with being a boater is that you pick up water from hither and thither, some hard and some soft. Our marina is near Tamworth - hard water. But we often go up to Birmingham - soft water stolen from Wales.

Ooops. Yep thats what I meant really 

[ditchcrawler]

20 minutes ago, nicknorman said:

Hard. But anyway, one of the problems with being a boater is that you pick up water from hither and thither, some hard and some soft. Our marina is near Tamworth - hard water. But we often go up to Birmingham - soft water stolen from Wales.

Only if you move

[nicknorman]

3 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

Only if you move

True!

[Tony Brooks]

That sounds like the stuff you get in the bottom of radiators but the calorifier is not normally steel. Black bits could be from a steel water tank that have managed to pass the strainer on the water pump. Brown water I am not so sure about because the inlet is normally at the bottom and so the water flow would stir it up.

I feel a bit of history and confirmation this really is the calorifier cylinder and not a steel tank would help get a sensible answer because I am wondering if this could be engine coolant or central heating water that has leaked in via a coil failure but normally the pressure difference forces domestic water into the other systems.

Hang on - isn't Umpire111 the poster with the frequently  cycling water pump problem?

Edited June 14, 2017 by Tony Brooks

[umpire111]

34 minutes ago, Tony Brooks said:

That sounds like the stuff you get in the bottom of radiators but the calorifier is not normally steel. Black bits could be from a steel water tank that have managed to pass the strainer on the water pump. Brown water I am not so sure about because the inlet is normally at the bottom and so the water flow would stir it up.

I feel a bit of history and confirmation this really is the calorifier cylinder and not a steel tank would help get a sensible answer because I am wondering if this could be engine coolant or central heating water that has leaked in via a coil failure but normally the pressure difference forces domestic water into the other systems.

Hang on - isn't Umpire111 the poster with the frequently  cycling water pump problem?

Same OP, could there be a connection between crud and recycling pump?

[cuthound]

Not a hot water expert by any means,  but given the calorifier is fed from the water tank, AND assuming  that tank is clean, I would expect there only to be light brown limescale in the calorifier. 

Black bits can only come from a dirty water tank (and that and the pump should have filters to collect the large bits) or a perforated coil from the heating system.

[Tony Brooks]

There is a chance it might be if the crud has come from the cooling or heating system as I said usually those header tanks overflow when the pump is turned on.  Such internal leaks are rare so you must eliminate everything else.

While you are doing the plumbing as per the other thread fit a valve to the calorifier inlet. If the pump stops cycling with it turned off then you know the problem is on the hot side, including the calorifier.

Next step is to bypass the calorifier so cold water runs to the hot taps. Try to keep the PRV in circuit. If the cycling stops it indicates a calorifier internal leak.

If not its on the hot plumbing as as we have said the PRV is the most likely cause.

I notice you have not included any history so its all guesses based on not much info so not very reliable.

[Stormbringer]

Or maybe the black bits are from the pump internals, given the OPs other post? Although if that were the case, then surely there would be evidence in the water coming from the taps...

Just thinking aloud...HTH...

[WotEver]

Methinks the calorifier has a perforated central heating coil. That would answer both of OP's threads. 

[Tony Brooks]

1 hour ago, WotEver said:

Methinks the calorifier has a perforated central heating coil. That would answer both of OP's threads. 

May well be but he has not come back with any indication he has had a good look at the expansion tank. It would not surprise me if has a ball cock type with overboard drain. But if its a manual fill and don't overfill water should be leaking from a very full tank. If it's, as I have seen on some boats,, a sealed system that uses  an expansion vessel then I don't see why the pump should cycle once the central heating system was at pump pressure but the ones I have seen have a pressure gauge so if that goes up and down with the pump running it would confirm a leak.

[WotEver]

Once he gets around to fitting the gate valves I guess we'll start getting closer.