*Links to the tools I use everyday here:* www.amazon.co.uk/shop/plumberparts Plus, follow my *Vlog “TimesWithJames”:* kzfaq.info

Got a friend of mine an 'Old School' Plumber to replace a expansion tank , his trick of checking the tank if it was gone was to top the Water side of the tank with a screwdriver handle and you would hear a dull sound ...and then the 'Air' side if both were similar... then the Bladder had leaked water into the Airside, I now check my new expansion vessel every few months as the Water side of the vessel you hear a thud sound and the Air side, Rings like a Church Bell...Lol ...Great upload...

Would love to learn the entire trade from someone as knowledgable and as fun as you 😉 the guy I'm working for is hard work to say the least! But cheers for all the vids I'm learning more from you in these vids than the last 2 years with him!! Very much appreciated mate

Great video mate. Managed to stop the constant overflow leak by recharging the expansion pre-charge after watching. Well done to you!!

Your videos are absolutely brilliant mate!

Useful series you've got. Just bought a house so now im interested in all this! Appreciated

another great video, great work mate

thanks a lot for the information, keep on the great thing you are doing

really good video. Learned loads

My students think your videos are great. They hold their attention and present the info in a fun way. Keep up the good work. Plumbing teacher.

Very good tip about the water coming out the valve. Thank 😊

Great video. Thank you

Brilliant, great information, 👍👍👍

Thanks. You've really helped me out with this video. Brilliant

Thank you great video

great video !!! very helpfull ,

Gr8 vid m8, good on ya!

You are such a great guy 👍

Perfect, thanks!

Hi :) I'm a computer engineer, love electrics and computery stuff and know how to do a ton of other stuff but know absolutely jack about plumbing (as in can manage to bleed a radiator and that's it).! I have a mate who takes care of that for me and I do his electrics in exchange as he's afraid of the "killler" electric type stuff. I'm nervous of flooding the place so it works out ;) By the way electricity wont soak your carpet! Set fire to your house maybe but definitely won't soak the carpet :) Having said the I've just spent a couple of hours watching your vids and there are three things I've have to say: 1. The plumbing diagrams you do mirror electronic ones (I keep explaining to my mate that both are very similar in the way the work but he's s not buying it ;) ) For instance your symbol for a one way valve is the same one as for a diode which does pretty much the same thing only with electricity. And the radiator symbol is the same as for Resistors which again do something similar, (i.e. dissipate heat). 2. I'd actually give this plumbing thingy a go! Learned a ton of stuff the past few hours. 3. I did the tighten the bleeder valve on my heating system when we moved in three years ago because I never had a pressurised system before, been bleeding a radiator once a week in the kitchen and kept wondering why. Just loosened it a few minutes ago :) One thing I've seen on you tube is people who pipe up and complain about something or other trivial which is unfortunate but I've learned more from you tube than I ever learned in school and collage and I learned it quicker. Keep up the good work and thanks for taking the time and effort to do the vids. They mean a lot to those of us who know the value of them :) Now I'm off to buy a rowing boat, just in case I need to row from the sitting room to the kitchen should it all go horribly wrong ;)

You videos are brill. Thanks.

Nice one...bought an expansion vessel to use in a ram pump for an off grid water system, fed by a stream. Good to know what's inside, and how to check if it's working properly.

Very nice brilliant videos

Can we have a video a day please James. Oh go on, giz one a day... Great vid as always.

Great video for dummies - love that. Cutting open the tank and seeing the inside is totally fab, who else will do this - nobody. Would perhaps like to see a bit more serious dialogue on what to look for if this has failed, can you blow up the tank with a bicycle pump via the Scharaeder valve? Is this wise etc?

Every time you say HOLD TIGHT! it reminds of garage music lol 😂

Thanks for that. Great!

Great video, very helpful. Do you have to bleed the air out of the water side of the expansion vessel after installing?

Great video, thanks! Can anyone tell me if they get particularly hot? Saw one in a property the other day that was in contact with fibreglass insulation, should I be concerned?

Brilliant, thanks so much. Enjoyed the cricket gear humour.

Thanks for your help. Would the old tank effect the new expansion tank when system is correct pressure. By not getting the right pressure cause the old one is still attached

great video mate! Have to point out that maybe not in domestic properties, this type of vessel is now no conforming to legionella control guidelines. We are seeing plumbers fitting these on commercial sites incorrectly causing all sorts of problems for customers so worth bearing in mind for new installs.

What is pressure I need to pump the air valve to please? My rads have been Luke warm recently and I have to top up water in the pressure tank once a week or so. Cheers

Brilliant videos, thank you! One question from me regarding filling my (unvented) system with inhibitor. My mains water fill point for the CH system is goes into the expansion vessel via flexi hose. Is it possible to disconnect the flexi hose from main and inject rapid dose inhibitor at this point? Will it mix through the whole CH system? Thank you and keep up the effort - very informative!

Top Man

From instructions I've read you need to invert the vessels with the air valve on the top so that any sediment does not gather in the water side of the device, also they say to place on the return side just before it gets into the boiler.

You sound like you're on the mend James...Nice video.

The ecotec pro 28 what should the pressure be in the expansion container. Thanks.

What would have if my expansion vessel was too small for my system? I have an integrated one on a greenstar 24i system that feeds 15 rads, 3 of which are doubles. Since the last one got fitted, I get a slow pressure loss, to the point when it goes to zero when cold and not running. When it kicks in again next day, it goes up to about 1 bar. No leaks on system anywhere that I can see.

I can't decide whether to get a Makita or Tesco angle grinder ? Would appreciate your advice James. Would get quite a few club card points with the Tesco one.

We have gravity fed system and have had no end of problems since having work done on our system - header to CH keeps overflowing thru vent. Plumber recommends this expansion system in tandem with gravity fed system so it will replace header. Sound OK?

Was it a bad installation because the air was located below the water? On those tanks, do you occasionally need to attach an air hose to put more air into the tank?

the sports equipment was funny!

Hi, great videos, can you help with the white one on the right please? What is it? What is it for? Thanks.

Hello can you do a video on anodes,cheers.

Hey mate I’ve got a pressurised hot water system that makes a terrible banging noise in the morning sometimes when the heating kicks in too. Is it likely to be an expansion issue? The inlet/pressure reducing valve has been changed as was thought to be an issue with this, but no change

Luv, luv, luv it. Fun and factual. Brilliant. One of my faves on YT. One quick question, 1700 sq ft, single floor apartment with underfloor heating. How do I size the expansion tank?

Hi I am moving a couple of radiator pipes when I drain down will I have to re pressurise the expansion vessel inside my combi boiler .

I have a combi boiler to replace an old baxi back boiler. I still have my indirect water tank in the loft. Because I cannot get enough hot water from the new boiler is there a way of connecting the indirect tank to the radiators to get hot water in the tank. Will the tank take the pressure from the closed system?

Ah, when you put that helmet on I knew why everytime I watch your videos you look familiar - you are actually Ian Ward's long lost twin!! #separatedatbirth

The 18 litre expansion vessel on my CH system started to pull the supporting bracket off the wall. I found it was incredibly heavy. Does this indicate the vessel has failed and is totally filled with water? A pressure reading shows 2,9 bar.

Whats the little white tank to the right near the end of the video?

I love the furry bath matt in the airing cupboard, is that used for pipe insulation? lol

Hi mate, I have an existing expansion system that's been in place for about 10 years which is no longer holding the pressure and I kero having to top it up to 1 bar. Are they easy enough to swap out like for like?

Interesting... I have 2, one white and one red. Do they perform the same role?

Hi... I top the pressure of my Expansion vessel but when i was bleeding the radiator upstairs i noticed that the pressure is escaping again on this radiator what is the possible reason? the expansion vessel is fine there is no water mark on it. and if re-presure the expansion vessel once again do i need to empty the sytem ?or can i pressurize again buy turning off the system. and do i need to bleed the all of my radiators? comments & Suggestion very much appreciated.Tnx

Hello mate wondering if you could give me some advice. I have a Sanyo heatpump and one of the red heat xchangers that you just cut up. Today instead of being on 1 bar , its dropped down to o bar. I had some advice to open up 2 air vents on the pipes that lets out a little water and pump back up to 0,5 bar but I think it should be pumped back to the 1 bar which I did and the dial just slowly goes back down to no pressure. We are in a house and it is heated floors ,no radiators. I noticed last night that the floors were cold and the house was only 19 degrees, Which seemed strange that it was not the usual 21. But the heat eventually started to work last night a few hours later. It was very cold outside and now today no pressure. Why is the water obviously drainging out of the expansion chamber, Hence loosing all pressure. Appreciate a quick reply if poss. Kind Regards Kevin

Some help / advise, on a system, cold it's 1 bar, when hot it's 3 bar, it starts to rise from 2 to 3 bar over a short time, a few days, its a combi boiler, unvented, when I release some pressure, when hot, it then goes really low? Like 0.5 bar? The system is from 2008, its a heatline boiler, 15 mm rad pipe work, I cannot see a expansion tank,

Do you have a water tank in the loft when you have a fitted expansion vessel?

HELP REQUIRED PLEASE. I have noticed the system pressure on my Combi boiler goes quite high, nearly to 3Bar. I have checked the expansion vessel, charged to 1Bar at zero system pressure. No water comes out the vessle, so i assume it's ok. Start heating, the pressure goes up to 2.5 to 3 Bar. Also noticed that the expansion vessel and flexi pipe stay just warm as if no water is getting to the vessel from the manifold unit. Any ideas?

Why is it installed with the air valve upright, as you will trap a pocket of air under the diaphragm ?

Hi, Ideal mini s24 diverter valve which has a pin that pushes out when the water is switched to activate the boilers ignition switch is coming out. If I take the switch off and turn the hot water or central heating and I push the switch with a screw driver manually it will fire the boiler up. Ive had a boiler engineer out who wants to sell me a boiler and not fix the issue, he's cleaned out the pipes and replaced the diaphragm behind the switch pin but its still not working. Yes put 2.5 bar of pressure in there so thats not the issue. What can it be???

Hi, on a few occasions I’ve noted the same problem on my system, gas engineer comes out and uses a foot pump to recharge the system, can you advises what he’s doing. It’s a combi boiler btw.

The pressure went low on my eCombi Ariston boiler last week so I opened up the l/h valve, turned the r/h valve until the pressure almost reached 1.5 and then turned off the R/H valve followed by the L/H valve. The pressure was then 1.5. The system continued to work but today I noticed the pressure was almost at 2.0. How do I lower the pressure so the pressure does not continue increasing or until it stops working.

We have had a problem with Water pressure at 2 bar but low water flow. I have found that by letting air out of the expansion vessle the water flow (taps) has improved. I have let all the air out of the expansion vessle is this a problem ?

If location of prv Is not near vessel can it go on the flow near boiler instead

I suspect the expansion provided within my boiler is not big enough. How can you work out if it is or not?

What was the second, white tank shown in your video here: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/o5eimNOcyZeseJc.htmlm28s ? My system has two, just like the one you show (and the installation looks *really* bad). The white one has no pressure gauge and has just started dripping (and no air seems to come out when I press the valve on top).

mate, thanks for the video, not sure if you are too fast, or its me who's too slow hehe.

Tesco make angle grinders?

I recently had a gas inspection pass. After testing the heating we noticed a puddle starting to form in front of my flat. Water was coming from the overflow pipe. The engineer asked if I had to refill the pressure each time and I told him I did. He said most likely the expansion vessel has filled with a lot of water and needs to be replaced? Could you explain why this happens?

Really enjoyed video.Don't know whether you help with advice.I have expansion vessel on our heating system which is pumped through to our bathrooms.Every time pump is called into action, theres a strange loud farting sound coming from pump/vessel area.Do I need to replace vessel?Or is there air in the system somewhere?As funny as it sounds, not sure my plumbing should be guffin' 20 times a day.

PS brilliant video for us non-techie types!

Really like the video - very useful and interesting I am a small developer and come across bodge jobs all the time. The existing installation really does not look right to me but not really sure why so could you possibly list what is wrong with it as I am sure a lot of your followers would be interested - thanks a lot.

If I was a boiler I'd want you to service me. Hahahahaha

I see how it helps with heat expansion but why is it that when the pressure on the water side is low the heating systems can start to not work so well? Also if i only have an instant gas water heater for a shower not for central heating can i install without an expansion tank as when the water is heater it is escaping via the shower / tap.

i have a question for you. my baxi 105e keeps on loosing pressure and have refill everytime it comes on, also noticed that keeps on chuking out water from the over flow any ideas?

I pressed down on the air release valve to check now it won't shut, have to put the cap back on 😔

ah funny stuff maing

Why does the air in the expansion vessel need to be pressurised?

Hey Mate, are you being held captive in someones attic? Thanks for the breakdown in layman's terms. Good stuff!!

Hi. Where i should instal expansion vessel in megaflo 300l ? flow or return? Thanks

Is it possible to install the expansion vessels, that are suitable for potable water applications on central heating systems ? Is it the result the same or there is any difference ?

When your recharging one of these you have to drain heating system fully right????

I recently had my Ariston Clas 30 system boiler's expansion vessel repressurised - it was way down. Shortly afterwards I've been finding that several of the downstairs rads in one particular area are only lukewarm - that's all of the rad not just the top or bottom. Could the engineer have introduced air into the primary circuit when he repressurised the vessel thus causing airlocks? I've done my best to rebalance the rads - turning down the upstairs one as per another of your videos - checked the TRVs etc but nothing works. Can you advise if airlocks might be the problem?

IN YOUR SKETCH OF THE SYSTEM YOU HAVE WATER ENTERING AT MAINS PRESSURE.PLEASE EXPLAIN !

Hi great Video..... I've a sealed oil heating system connected to a boiler stove heating 14 rads ..... Everything is working perfect (power cut we dampen down the fire)..... The Pressure Gauge is at 1bar..... after 10 days of use it drop down to 0.8-0.9 and i re fill again to 1 bar.... During the summer we loose no pressure..... Checked for leaks none..... Any idea wat is causing this

Do I need to drain the central heating system to re pressurise the expansion vessel?

My Keston 80 has just had its expansion vessel replaced by a well-known energy company due to collapsing pressure at cold and having to refill. Now the pressure just collapses to 0.4 bar when the heating goes off. The gas bloke said it was ok. So I don't recharge, just turn the heating on, the pressure rapidly climbs to 2.3 bar then when it cycles off it reduces to 1.0 bar in about 10 mins then fires up again and heads off to 2.3 bar. At the end of the evening, everything goes off and the pressure goes back to 0.4 bar. It never used to do this. So, was the new expansion vessel duff, or maybe it hasn't been pumped up properly? I'm no expert and I think the well-know firm is reluctant to come out again! Should I just switch everything off and go electric?

I have a white colour varem extravarem 12 ltr, on it it says max 6 bar, then a sign showing 3.6 bar, what should I pump the pressure to, at the moment it is zero

i have shed envy

Mate, you forgot the gum shield ear muffs and fire extinguisher

when are you going to show us how to strip down a boiler and rebuild it naming all the parts ?

Good video, but incorrect eye protection worn.

I make hanging baskets out of mine and i use the rubber as a bucket to catch water when 3 port 2 port valves are changed. or somtimes as a hat. i then look like an american biker from the film with right turn clide

Nearly had a heart attack man!!! :()

Yea why was it a bad installation?

You refer to a lots of poor and incorrect installations, as you have just said in your video about expansion vessels. (Do they need to be a certain way up ?)It would be really useful if you could explain why and also do a video of all other whist not necessarly dangerous or instaled in a way they wont work, but show or explain the best way and correct way they should be installed, with working examples of an poor or incorrect installations. You did this on one of your videos showing a little vessel for removing air in the system you said this should be installed before the pump which makes sense. You then showed us one installed after the pump. On another matter can you show a doemestic hot water system (for the taps) and heating, with a combi, without a emersion heater ?Hope that makes sense. cheers Bob.Have you got a book out ?

My next question is, would I have to remove the old expansion vessel ( which is still attached to the combi boiler ) to make the new one work properly? Thanks for help in advance

I wonder if the vessel would work without the membrane if you just put the vessel upright with the nitrogen on the top side...