29-12-2011, 03:10 PM
Hello Mike, yes, in an oil fired or gas fired boiler the oil/gas supply can be shut off more or less straight away in the case of a boiler overheat situation, so far as I am aware the onus is on the oil/gas fired boiler manufactures to include fail safe systems in their products to that effect, if the boiler uses coke/coal/wood then the heat source ie: the fire, can not be shut down / extinguished straight away, this can lead to thermal runaway for the water now trapped in the boiler if the primary flow route has been blocked ie: jammed solenoid valve, manual shut off valve that the kids might have played around with, power failure etc it can turn to steam in the boiler resulting in pressure being built up until something gives and that's where the danger arises.
With my own installations using wood/solidfuel boilers I have always followed the manufactures installation instructions and in all the ones I have done they all say no valve of any type or reducers whatsoever in the primary flow and expansion circuits including the heatleak radiator/towel rail flow.
Again to anyone that might read this, satisfy yourself as to suitabilty/safety when fiddling with such systems. So far as gas goes, if I had a gas installation I would not attempt to service any part of it whatsoever myself except user recommendations in the user operating manual, this stems from the fact that my Mum used to work for the Gas Board and used to come home with some real horror stories sometimes.
Lawrence.
With my own installations using wood/solidfuel boilers I have always followed the manufactures installation instructions and in all the ones I have done they all say no valve of any type or reducers whatsoever in the primary flow and expansion circuits including the heatleak radiator/towel rail flow.
Again to anyone that might read this, satisfy yourself as to suitabilty/safety when fiddling with such systems. So far as gas goes, if I had a gas installation I would not attempt to service any part of it whatsoever myself except user recommendations in the user operating manual, this stems from the fact that my Mum used to work for the Gas Board and used to come home with some real horror stories sometimes.
Lawrence.
