Winter freeze
A bad winter freeze can cause a variety of issues when it comes to your central heating system. View our tips below to find out how to deal with any problems that may pop up.
Freezing condensate pipe (How to keep your boiler operating).
Here’s what you need to know to prevent your Worcester Boiler’s condensate pipe from freezing.
How to tell if your boiler's condense trap/discharge pipe has frozen?
Step 1
It’s possible that your boiler’s condense trap/discharge pipe has frozen if all 3 of these statements are correct.
- The temperature outside is currently, or has recently been, below freezing.
- Your boiler is displaying either an EA fault code, a D5 code or is displaying a flashing blue light (for 26CDi boilers you may see a flashing red light instead).
- You have a Greenstar gas boiler, or a 26 CDi.
Step 2
If all of the above 3 are correct, you should now try to reset your boiler. This can be done by holding in the reset button (this can be found on the boiler control panel) for 10 seconds. Once you have released the button, wait 2 to 3 minutes to see if the boiler re-fires.
Step 3
If the boiler does not re-fire and is producing a gurgling sound, then it is just about a giuarantee that your condensate is frozen. If you can’t hear a gurgling noise, you should check your condensate pipe.
Step 4
The condensate pipe is a plastic pipe (black, white or grey), coming from the bottom of your boiler. If this pipe is less than 32mm in diameter and runs outside of the property or through a non-heated area then it should be fully insulated with waterproof lagging. When it is not fully lagged and the 3 criteria (in step 1 above) apply then it is likely that it is frozen and needs to be thawed.
How can the condensate pipe be thawed?
It’s always important to be extremely careful when attempting to identify and thaw a condensate pipe.
You should only ever attempt to thaw a condense pipe that is at ground level and which is easily accessible to you. You should never attempt to thaw a condense pipe which is at height, without the assistance of a professionally trained engineer.
A hot water bottle or heat wrap (like the ones that can be used to ease muscle discomfort) are the easiest and safest ways of thawing the condense pipe. Hold the hot water bottle or warmed heat wrap around the condensate pipe to thaw it.
Once thawed, you’ll need to reset the boiler. This can be done by holding the reset button in for 10 seconds and then waiting 2 to 3 minutes for the boiler to refire.
If all else fails, our expert gas & heating engineers at Gas2Heat are more than happy to help with any and all issues brought on by a winter freeze. Get in touch here.