If your Worcester boiler is leaking water, you should seek to get it repaired professionally as soon as possible to prevent any further damage to other components of your boiler and your home. There is also the risk that the leaking water could impact the electrical components of your boiler or those inside your home around the area where the leak is occurring. However, it is not likely to be too dangerous and there are things you can do to reduce the danger. In this article we will outline what you need to do and what the potential causes of the leak are.
What Should I Do If I Find a Leak from My Boiler?
If you find that your Worcester boiler is leaking water, the first thing you need to do is turn off your mains water supply, usually on the ground floor at the back of a cupboard. The leak could be coming from several different areas, but it is most likely to be coming from an internal part of your boiler.
Once you have turned off the mains water supply, you should contact a registered Gas Safe engineer to come to your house and inspect the boiler. The engineer should be able to identify what is causing the leak and recommend the necessary required repairs.
You shouldn’t remove any elements of the boiler yourself or try to remedy the leak by yourself unless you can see it’s just a loose nut, as you could end up causing more damage, and it could become more dangerous or cost you more to repair it in the long term. Your boiler will need to be serviced annually by a Gas Safe Engineer too, and it is not likely to pass the check if you have tampered with the boiler.
What Are Some Potential Causes of a Leak?
Your Worcester boiler may be leaking water for several different reasons. Modern Worcester boilers will have a screen on the front that will show you an error code, and this can help you diagnose the problem faster as the corresponding problem to each Error Code can be found in your manual or on the Worcester website. If you have an older system that does not have the screen included, you will need to diagnose the problem the old-fashioned way. Some of the most common potential causes for your Worcester boiler leaking water are listed below:
- The pipes that run into the boiler are made of copper and over time can corrode to the point that water is leaking from them. This is more common if your boiler has been installed for many years and the pipes have had time to erode.
- There is also the possibility of corrosion in other internal components of your boiler, and this is something a qualified Gas Safe engineer can identify for you. If your boiler is over ten years old, this is the more likely cause of the leak.
- There may be a loose nut or washer from one of the pipes that feed into your boiler system that may just need an extra bit of tightening with your spanner to resolve the problem.
- Another potential cause of your Worcester boiler leaking water is that there could be an issue with the heat exchanger in your boiler. This is also something that can be identified by your engineer, but it is likely to be a costly diagnosis. Due to the cost of replacing the heat exchanger, many people opt to simply replace the entire boiler.
- You can also check the pressure gauge on the front of your boiler. The pressure gauge should usually read at number 1. If it is higher than this, the boiler may be leaking to remove excess water and try to lower the pressure in the boiler. In this case, it may need ‘bleeding’ to remove excess water. You can do this yourself if you know how, but it is advisable to leave it for your engineer, and they may also need to investigate what is causing the excess water.
What To Do Next?
If you’ve discovered your Worcester boiler leaking, the best thing to do in the short term is identify where the leak is dripping from and place a suitably sized bowl underneath to catch the water, preferably on top of a towel. This will help keep the area underneath dry until a boiler engineer arrives. If your boiler is leaking right now, get in touch with Rowlen as soon as possible and we can have a qualified engineer to your property in no time at all. We cover all of London and Surrey too, so no matter where you are you can benefit from our boiler repair service.
