A valve (made in China) for underfloor heating that was installed 8 years ago just started leaking enough to create a small puddle below the boiler. Have routed it to a bucket and collect about 1 gallon per day.
Water dripping from valve. Apparent source of the leak at the top of the valve.
The input side is threaded onto steel pipe that tees off of a supply manifold. There is no shutoff valve between the boiler and the manifold so I will have to shut off all zones to isolate the manifold and slightly drain the boiler to remove it. The output side is threaded onto steel that goes to copper that I can cut for removal.
Since we are well into the heating season, I would like to postpone this repair until next spring. I can continue to empty the bucket and will deal with any air introduced into the system by the makeup water as needed. The makeup water valve is usually closed but I have opened it for now.
Looking at the source of the leak, i think I can loosen the bonnet and install additional or new gasket material. If that solves the problem then I will not have to replace the valve (with a ball valve.)
Would it be possible to not remove the bonnet completely but loosen it enough to insert some graphite string or sealant into the joint?
Any ideas about a temporary fix to stop the leak until a more appropriate time to fix or replace?
I already tried to tighten up the bonnet but it is as tight as it will go.
I'm not sure if it is related to the leak but when I discovered it the boiler pressure was low (makeup valve closed), there was some very slight water residue in buckets under both the boiler safety valve and the input water safety valve. I relieved pressure in the air tank (bladder style) and drained it. The tank air pressure was lower than I usually keep it so I repressurized it.
A temporary quick fix might be to wrap it with band of rubber or soft gasket material and tighten worm gear hose clamp around it. And maybe first coat area with some kind of sealer.
Interesting place to leak. Looks like a nylon washer which usually don't go bad which leaves a casting issue. Have seen a lot of casting issues with Asian plumbing fittings.
I like your thinking on the graphite bonnet packing. That's something I certainly would try.
Might need a wrap or so on either side of the nylon washer. Tighten gently so as to not force it out.
Make sure the system is cool before trying it and shut off the water fill.
A small strip of roofing membrane that has a sticky rubber-like sealant that expands when it gets hot, a strip of soft rubber gasket, and a hose clamp.
Will the Honeywell RTH221 programmable thermostat activate at low temperature (36 Degrees?) if it fails. This morning the thermostat display was blank and I do not think there was a call for heat. (I should have checked at the boiler to see if the zone was active but in my haste to get the heat going I did not.) A separate thermometer in the room (a greenhouse) read 36*. The thermostat is set for and provides 55* overnight.
I rotated the batteries and the display came on in start mode, i.e. needed to have time reset. Shortly after the display dimmed and went blank again so I replaced the batteries with new ones. The old batteries tested 3.5 (4.0+ is normal) on the meter tester. That is low but not enough to trigger the Lo Batt flag.
The thermostat started up again needing the time to be reset as it should when replacing batteries.
I have removed the thermostat temporarily and am checking it from time to time. The display is staying on.
I am concerned that if the thermostat fails again overnight I will wake up to 200+ dead plants. My low temp alarm (a separate thread) also failed to operate last night and it was a close call this morning.
I was wondering if someone can provide some insight on this brand on boilers? Viessmann Vitodens 100-W specifically.
I'm currently looking to replaced my boiler and it's second time a contractor brought this brand as one their preferred brand. I'm not familiar with it at all. And there are literally 2 posts that come back in search here.
So I worry about it being a bit of an exotic brand in US and having issues with maintenance and repair down the line.
Is this regarded as a reliable boiler? Easy to maintain, repair, etc?
It seems like it has an integrated pump (grudnfos 3 speed). I'd rather have it outside with isolation valves for ease of service.
The manual seem to strongly recommend using low loss headers instead of closely spaced tees. Cost aside, any preference for one or another?
12-23-20, 12:50 PM
