Why Does Your Boiler Shut Down in Freezing Conditions?
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Many people have been in the unfortunate position over the freezing winter periods where the boiler has just decided to shut down.
Clearly in such weather conditions having a fully functioning boiler is vital to keeping the house warm and preventing ill health with could even lead to fatal conditions with the elderly and infants.
WHY DOES THIS HAPPEN?:
The majority of reasons why this happens can be explained and fixed quite simply.
Below is an image of a typical efficient condenser boiler:
As you can see from the image below there is a pipe leading out of the bottom of the boiler, this is known as the condensate pipe:
The condensate pipe is used to drain away steam created from the boiler to prevent the boiler from overheating:
The pipe leads through the wall and is extended to the nearest drain (in most cases):
In the harsh winters we now have the water is freezing along this pipe from the drain upwards. This continues until the entire pipe is frozen solid, backing up the system and preventing the excess steam to be released which causes the boiler to overheat and shut down.
In the image above the pipe froze from the drain and into the white pipe causing a section having to be removed as you can see.
THE SOLUTION - STOP ICE:
Stop Ice is a constant wattage plug and play heating cable that comes in a number lengths (2 metre, 5 metre, 10 metre and 18 metre) that can be simply wrapped around the pipe to prevent this from happening.
The heating cable comes complete with a high quality thermostat that will regulate the cable temperature between 3 and 10 degrees C and a 2 metre cold cable extension with a plug attached.
When the cable reaches 10 degrees C it will turn itself off and when it reaches 3 degrees C it will turn itself back on again.
Because of the quality of the thermostat this solution will last many years and many harsh winters.
In order to install the Stop Ice it is advisable to measure the length of the condensate pipe, the length of the condensate pipe below was 2.85 metres so a 5 metre length of Stop Ice was required. Using this as a benchmark it is possible to guesstimate how what length you need by multiplying the length of the pipe by 1.75:
Inside the box you will get the specified length of with a 2 metre cold cable extension with a plug on the end as well as an adaptor if required.
The thermostat end is then pushed through the gap between the pipe and the wall to the other side. If there is no gap, one will have to be created:
Once the thermostat has appeared through the wall pull the remainder through gently so not to damage the cable (although it has a tough sheath) until the cold cable reaches the hole entrance on the inside:
Do not pull it all the way through as the black cable attached to the plug is a cold cable and does not heat up:
Now simply wrap the Stop Ice around the pipe using all of it until you reach the end:
You may need to pull it tight as you go round:
Try to wrap the Stop Ice evenly across the pipes leaving no excess but a slight overhang for the thermostat at the end:
Now to hold the cable in place ideally use a multi-purpose aluminium foil tape available from any B&Q store for less than £10:
Use the tape at regular intervals along the pipe:
Finally run some pipe lagging along the pipe for protection. Hold in place using cable ties. Ideally use pipe lagging that is pre cut otherwise you will have to make an incision yourself:
The lagging comes in specific lengths so as you can see here I am having to join two together:
Once the first half is round the pipe I secure it with cable ties and then complete the second half in the same way:
Don't worry if there's an awkward area that you can't get to:
To tidy up, cut the excess ends off the cable ties:
That's it! Now simply plug directly into the socket or timer switch and turn on to use.
To purchase Stop Ice please click here