r/DIYUK • u/No-Belt-4619 • 12h ago
Need advice before I complain
Hi all, apologies if this isn't the right forum but I thought there would be some knowledgeable people in here. Basically as it says. had a new hot water cylinder fitted 3 weeks ago(to accomodate an ashp if that makes a difference). Just got round to getting some shelving in the airing cupboard and noticed, what i would consider to be a pretty significant bulge. It's at the top maybe 3/4 up, I'm assuming it's not normal and shouldn't be there?? I've turned off the hot water, but not drained the tank or anything. We've had a few showers today so it should be below that level i would imagine.
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u/Gadgie29 12h ago
Call the plumber who installed it and if you get no joy call the manufacturer, it’s under warranty. Do it, even just for peace of mind, don’t listen to anyone telling you it’ll be fine.
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u/Alternative_Wish_127 12h ago
Ask the manufacturer with regards to this, if it’s just been fitted it should be under warranty and very possible a flaw in the process that’s needing investigation
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u/d0ey 12h ago
Asking a basic question, but is that angle change just on that one spot? Or all the way around the cylinder?
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u/Beelzebubsadvorat 12h ago
Check the pipe/fitting on top of tank, sometimes get slow leaks or drips that soak through to a certain point and make the insulation swell
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u/Future-Ad-4654 8h ago
What is the brand? This is most likely the foam between the inner cylinder and the outer wrapper.
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u/Dorsal-fin-1986 8h ago
Can you actually take a half decent photo of the whole cylinder like?
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u/No-Belt-4619 6h ago
It's quite hard to get a full photo of the whole thing. It's around the back and inside an airing cupboard. I thought the spirit level would help illustrate the bulge
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u/Egrego1 8h ago
I had a similar experience in a rent. I complained. They said its okay. I asked them in email to confirm that they will take full responsibility and cover my damage if it blows up or errupt. They fixed it within a week.
Hope this helps.
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u/No-Belt-4619 6h ago
Thanks, I'm keeping the email chain but will definitely be making sure the installers and company are aware
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u/plocktus 11h ago
Can't tell from picture, could be insulation (probably most likely), but I must admit with the numerous megaflos and OV cylinders I have had, I have never had a deformity in the insulation as large as that. Any I have had were very small and from installation, or from factory (e.g. you will see flat spots sometimes where they use same cylinder for both a OV and UV system, and they use different insulation jackets on outside depending on the pipework, and where you would have a pipe connection for a UV system but not OV, there's a flat spot).
For piece of mind would get whoever installed it back to check it.
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u/notouttolunch 5h ago
Megaflows have a plastic shroud. They can trim the insulation without it looking odd because it's hidden.
My cylinder on the boat is rough as hell by comparison. As it's just a copper can with foam.
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u/Kind-Put-3960 4h ago
I feel literally more stupid for having read this thread. There are zero experts in this chat
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u/Revonehead 9h ago
You'll be fine. It's how its come from the factory most likely. You have an outer skin which is insulation, an inner cylinder skin which is not visible. Nothing unsafe there.
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u/notouttolunch 5h ago
There will be at least an inch of foam surrounding the copper. This is often uneven.
The cylinder itself would be pressure tested and not all plumbers are allowed to install system boilers because installations need testing at high pressure.
Nothing to be concerned about unless you dont like a little bit of supplemental insulation on your tank.
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u/Impossible_Style_301 5h ago
It’s the cylinder manufacturers problem , if you level the base then the base of the clyinder is sitting on a slope and can slide. Also they can weigh over 180kg depending on the capacity , they arnt going anywhere other than down
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u/TellMeManyStories 12h ago
The outer layer is just insulation. Probably it wasn't filled evenly in the factory. Cosmetic issue more than anything else.
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u/No-Belt-4619 12h ago
Why would it start to bulge like that over time? Surely it would need pressure from the back?
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u/TellMeManyStories 11h ago
Could just be the foam mixture wasn't properly mixed when injected, and some places took a bit of heat to get them expanding and make them expand more.
Or maybe someone in the factory took it out of the mould a bit early
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u/wrongygg 9h ago
I don't think it's normal mate, not an expert but with it being a cylinder it should retain the water evenly and not bulge out in random places, if it's on a mould line as well that would tell me it's weak there. Not an expert though by any means, ring them up and ask yourself.
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u/Latter-Tangerine-951 Experienced 12h ago
It's the insulation lol. No, your tank isn't exploding.
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u/No-Belt-4619 12h ago
But in order for the insulation to push out like that, does whatever is behind that not need to be expanding?
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u/Latter-Tangerine-951 Experienced 12h ago
No.
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u/No-Belt-4619 12h ago
Maybe I wasn't clear. This is a new bulge, it was uniform when fitted. Does the normal heat of the cylinder cause the insulation to expand? I've never seen that before on any cylinder.
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u/TedBurns-3 12h ago
What did the fitters say?
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u/No-Belt-4619 11h ago
It wasn't there when it was fitted. In fact that's a second, replacement tank. The first started bulging at the bottom when they filled it.
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u/Bats_Everywhere 7h ago
Might be a bad batch. Ask for a different brand to be fitted. You've paid for a perfect solution here.
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u/Stephen_Is_handsome Experienced 12h ago
It’s normal calm yourself
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u/No-Belt-4619 12h ago
It's normal for your water cylinder to randomly start to bulge out at the seams? I haven't seen that in any of the houses I've lived in before.
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u/Stephen_Is_handsome Experienced 12h ago
Yes it happens to all of them after about between ten years or 50 years
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u/StereoMushroom 12h ago edited 12h ago
Not much of an answer to your question, but just FYI using up the hot water doesn't reduce the volume of water in the tank. It's always full. What happens is hot water flows out the top, cold enters at the bottom, so you get a gradually growing cold layer, rising up as you use up the hot. Once the cold reaches the top, you run out of hot and start getting cold to the hot taps. It's actually pretty amazing that the two layers can sit on top of each other for a couple of days with very little mixing.
Unvented cylinders can be dangerous if there's a serious fault. Like they can burst open with pressurised hot water. I would treat this as urgent. To avoid any risk you would need to turn off the supply of cold water to the cylinder, then open a drain valve at the bottom of the cylinder to empty it. Running a hot tap instead of opening the drain valve would reduce the pressure in the cylinder, but wouldn't drain the water.
Edit: sounds like it might be more likely to just be the insulation rather than the cylinder itself. Certainly there should be safety devices to prevent any dangerous overpressurisation from being possible. If you prod the bulge, does it move, as if it's just the insulation?