Frozen condenser drain pipe

[plotnine]

A friend has a compensating boiler installed 2 years ago which failed to fire up at the beginning of last week when the really cold weather started. To cut a long story short she has a maintainace contract with B Gas and their fitter solved the immediate problem with a kettle of water on the outlet elbow to melt the ice build up.

The line exiting the house becomes 20? mm plastic tube which drops 8 feet to a flat garage roof then a futher 10 ft across the roof to the gutter. This is tubing is "insulated" with what looks like the same material you would use on copper pipes under the floor! ie i think it must become saturated and then freeze offering no protection to the pipe.

Questions.

1 How much flow comes out of the pipe?

2 Some of my neighbours have just a copper elbow out thro the wall and nothing else what is there peceived wisdom? i think the set up as it is just asks for the pipe to become choked with ice and stop the boiler firing up again next time it gets really cold.

Short term solutions?

Cheers

Plotnine

 

[samwilko]

The copper elbow you mentioned is the pressure relief (turned back to the wall) not the condense, if thats all they have they must have an internal condense connection.

 

[Kip]

Or a not condensing boiler.

Not an aweful lot is gushed through, which is why it gets chance to freeze. Nothing you can really do with this unless you upgrade the pipe size to reduce the resistance or get a condensator pump which will increase the flow.

 

[payney1974]

even if you upgrade the size to 1 1/4 it will still probably freeze on the flat roof. you need a good constant fall on the pipe work .

 

[Tomas321]

I have a condense pipe that has been installed correctly (1 1/4" and lagged in its entirety) but did still freeze in the harsh weather. I have just received a condense trace heater that I bought from a boiler spares company in Cheltenham called Global Heating spares. Its perfect and was easy to install. This looks like the answer to frozen condense pipe lines.

I hope that everyone finds this useful, I would recommend this to anyone that had no hot water and/or heating due to the frozen pipes.

 

[roadrunner]

Hi there,
I have a problem with my condenser pipe freezing at the elbow of an L shaped 7 metre length. British Gas engineers suggested a trace heater but then when they came to check my system out so they could quote, have told me I cannot have one fitted as my boiler is more than a metre (actually about 4 mtres) from the outside wall. They say the thermostat that has to be connected to the bolier and then placed on the outside wall only comes with a standard metre length of cable..... Is this correct or are they way off the beam on this.

Mike

 

[globalheating]

The kit contains a connection box so that the internal cable can be lengthened if necessary. At the end of the day, the trace heater just needs a mains supply and it makes no difference if this comes from a permanent live within the boiler or a 13 amp powerpoint that just happens to be close to the condensate pipe exit.

 

[roadrunner]

Thanks for the reply. Looks like I will have to get back to Btritish Gas and tell them they can do it!

Regards

Mike

 

[huddster]

Thanks for the reply. Looks like I will have to get back to Btritish Gas and tell them they can do it!

Regards

Mike

not 100% on this but i believe they have said they cant install it due to the fact that if you install over 1m of cable you have to be part p, which most BG engineers are not

 

[roadrunner]

Huddster,

Just seen your response and hope you are incorrect. However, surely if British Gas fit a system for me that then fails every time the temperature drops below freezing they have a duty to do something about it. After all one of their own engineers suggested the trace heater as a way out but that it would cost me a couple of hundred quid to have fitted. When they installed my system a couple of years ago the installation team had to connect up some electronics and the cable was well over 3 metres long.........

 

[huddster]

an installer will have all the qualifications to put your boiler in safely and to standard, the your average engineer will not be part p. i would ring BG again and say you are unhappy they should be able to send another engineer who might be able to come up with a solution like routing the condensate pipe somewhere else or having another look at the trace heater option

 

[ajl281056]

I have 32mm pipe outside and this has frozen also the boiler failed to cut out as it has done in the past resulting in a leak inside the cupboard where the boiler is situated.I have spoken to the installer wh o tells me that because the cold is so intense it is taking longer for the boiler to cut out.

 

[roadrunner]

an installer will have all the qualifications to put your boiler in safely and to standard, the your average engineer will not be part p. i would ring BG again and say you are unhappy they should be able to send another engineer who might be able to come up with a solution like routing the condensate pipe somewhere else or having another look at the trace heater option

I am pleased to report British Gas turned up today to alter the angle offf my condenser pipe but ended up installing a trace heater. I was advised by the engineer that did the job they can do what they want electrrically provided the take the feed off the Boilers live and do not interfere in any way with the general house electrics. All I can say I am very happy and hope I will never have frozen pipes again..

Mike

 

[huddster]

good to hear you got it sorted, hope you have a warm winter