frozen condensate pipe?

think yourself lucky my boiler condensate pipe is fitted to my outside downpipe,which also has a conservatory plummed into it also,so i have had several break downs with frozen condensate pipe,but also we had so much rain the other day the pipe couldnt take it all down so all the rain water came back up the condensate pipe back into the boiler and killed the gas part,insured but they say that you are not covered for condensate backup ,only changed 20yr old boiler cause they said no more spare parts if needed,,condensate boiler heap of shit,,worchester greenstar,,only anygood when it doesent rain or its not cold,,sack of shit

brad
December 2011

once your boiler is working again turn the thermostat on the boiler to max, this stops the boiler condensing as much stopping it from backing up into the boiler,

IA
December 2010

can i disconnect my condensate pipe to thaw it

dek
December 2010

32mm lagged pipes can freeze, best solution is to run internally althou to be fair I've seen those freezing too!

JLM Plumbing and Gas Services Ltd
December 2010

Same problem, and thanks to this site, my brother cut the condensate pipe near the boiler, fitted a elbow joint and some spare pipe to lead to a four gallon tank to collect the water. After this, the boiler fired up immediately. Long-term solution still to be decided.

However, the plumbing merchant said in the first year of these boilers, there were 30,000 call outs for this problem.

I definitely think there should be compensation. Watchdog recently reported power steering problems in the Vauxhall Meriva - and so Vauxhall paid for the repairs (thanks watchdog - you saved me hundreds), so it can be done for this too, I am sure.

Also disgruntled, from Chelmsford
December 2010

Trouble is it will freeze again unless you melt all the ice plug. I am going to make a wooden box with a sloping roof to fit over where the pipe emerges from the wall and fill it with rock wool. The pipe is currently lagged with polyethylene foam lagging but clearly this is not enough on its own. I think we should take out a class action against Bosch and British Gas for compensation. My builder said that either the installer [BG] was incredibly stupid to install an [then unlagged] external condensate pipe as it was GUARANTEED to freeze as soon as the air temp fell below zero. OR they see it as a fantastic money-spinner making a fortune out of innocent customers by charging them a hefty call out fee [and keeping them waiting without heating/hot water for up to a week] every time there's a cold snap.

Disgusted of Tunbridge Wells
December 2010

I have an item on ebay for sale to solve this problem
search using the words "Condensate pipe anti freeze insulator"

Chris
September 2010

Mine was fixed today in the same way suggested by BH. its very easy to pull the rubber pipe out of the condensate pipe and leave it to drip inot a bucket. Engineer did this for me and showed how to do it myself in future. The other suggestions re using a hair dryer or hot water also work as long as the pipe is not too frozen in which case go for the disconnect

VC
January 2010

we have spent all day boiling water and bashing the external pipe and defrosted the pipe of ice.
the boiler kept going off, we have just sawed the outside pipe off , got to the condensate pipe proper and got an extension and used a hairdrier through the hole back into the boiler, after ten minutes the boiler started up againm no idea how long this will last, but we have heat. its worth a try. hope this helps. x

nic
January 2010

On my boiler (a Vaillant) the condensate pipe coming out of the boiler is a push fit. With a container held underneath the boiler, simply pull off this pipe. The water which builds up in a small container in the boiler casing should flow out. This will allow the boiler to re-fire. I've cut the condensate pipe a few inches under the boiler and am collecting the water in a bucket. It comes in short bursts because of a siphonic action out of the container in the boiler, and should be a manageable amount which can be poured away each day. When the thaw comes, I will replace the output pipe aiming to get it better insulated particularly where it goes through the wall and outside.

BH
January 2010

try using a hot water bottle or heat wrap / wheat bag and hold onto pipe until it thaws then make sure you put lagging on

s m w
January 2010

I had the same problem this morning. While this solution will work for a short period, is there a longer-term solution to this?

David Harold
January 2010

Turn the boiler off Then go outside You probably have a 22mm white pipe coming out of your wall At the elbow joint take the pipe out and inside there will be a 10mm clear plastic pipe This is the condensate pipe Put a hairdryer on it until the ice cracks then re set the boiler

Baxibhoy
January 2010