Wednesday 5 January 2011

Central Heating Test

On new years day I filled the CH system with water and bled it up as you would do in a domestic system The only difference here was the boiler was not in the system.  Ideally I would have liked to used a water pressure pump to load the system but couldn't beg borrow or steel one so I used compresses air instead.

Loaded to 3bar

I knew this would go down as the air dissolved in he water and the system stretched. After a couple of days it settled down to 2 bar and this morning when I started work on the boat it was still at 2 bar.
Satisfied the system was not leaking with this reading and that no water stains were found I am confident the system is sound.  Hopefully this will be so when its hot.

After draining the system (well blowing it out with compressed air at 150psi) it was quicker! I decided to see if the Calorifier would fit.  I had it made to the maximum hight I had available so it was time to see if I'd been over confident.  I must admit I was concerned.  

It just fitted in....... really JUST!

Please ignore my disgusting engine bay area.  I have repainted it once but as my decking is temporary its not fully self draining.  I am trying to get a firm to come out an make a pram hood but they just won't come this far out.  I am resolved to leave it until the weather warms up but it needs sorting before the engine goes in.

With the calorifier in place I marked up for the cold supply and hot out pipes.  I have now plumbed this up.



6 comments:

  1. What is a pram hood ?

    Thank You

    Bill Kelleher

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  2. Hi Bill

    Have a look here its a cover over the stern similar to the one in the artical

    http://www.piperboats.com/images/CB-%20MAY-10.pdf

    Kevin

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  3. Hi Kev,

    Make sure if you have a back cabin done it's made out of marine grade material like ours. Also make sure the support bars are made out of solid steel (not aluminium) & proper fasteners instead of poppers. It costs a lot more but it well worth it as the plastic ones fade away & become thin thanks to the weather.

    We used Canvasman, this is what ours looks like before & after. I gues we're lucky cos we have a wooden screen up front which makes it quite unique. See here the transformation from old cabin to new:
    http://takeytezey.blogspot.com/2009/09/big-day-what-transformation-oh-we-need.html

    Heth

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  4. Having a test on your central heating system is important. Substantial energy may be leaking out form your pipes. But even while laying out the pipes for central heating, you should have them insulated in some areas, to have it energy efficient.

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  5. So that's how you'll know if the system is bleeding or not! Thanks for the info!

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  6. Really nice information and thanks for post the method of central heating test..
    Underfloor Heating Installing

    ReplyDelete