"Peter Johnson" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 19 Dec 2009 07:48:36 -0800 (PST), cynic
wrote:

snip
We had very severe frost last night so I enquired if there was an ice
plug in the condensate outlet. Neighbour got ladder out to look and it
turned out there was. Soon neighbour had kettle out and a warm house
soon after.
An hour later my phone rang and a friend told me he had no heat or hot
water. Jokingly I said it would be an ice plug in the condensate line.
Ten minutes later he phoned back to say it had been just that and
promised me a pint.
It seems there is a distinct lack of appreciation of the effects of
frost on condensate pipes by installers or are we afflicted worse than
others in our area?

Not long before I reading this yesterday one of my sisters, resident
in Humberside, reported on Facebook that her ch had packed up. Reading
this, I rang her and suggested that she checked the outlet. She phoned
a few minutes ago and said that she hadn't been able to sort it out
last night, it was too dark and getting too cold, but this morning,
after removing the right-angle bend from the end a plug of ice fell
out, so she had the heating back on before the plumber she'd phoned
yesterday turned up. He said that he had seven more similar calls to
attend to after hers. [Sister had had this problem before but didn't
know what had caused it.]
So thanks from brother in Leicestershire for the tip that helped
sister in Humberside.

In the past few days I saw a lump of ice stuck to the pavement about 1.5
inch thick. I was dangerous. Above was a dripping condensing boiler flue.
The flue was fitted incorrectly and facing down giving a constant condensate
water drip.

I have also seen this with dripping pressure discharge pipes, where the
homeowner just changes the dial back up to 1 bar by turning the filling loop
tap. Sealed boilers can be a nuisance and also condensing boilers. They
are a nuisance in blocks of flats where our Eastern European friends and the
average Corgi (Gas Safe) cowboy has been at work.

In modern flats with high insulation values they only fit electric heating,
and quite right too, as all these pipes and flues look a mess on the side of
blocks.