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safety valve


Jackie
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There is a silver coloured safety valve at the bottom of our electrically heated water tank. I cannot remember the French name for it but it was something like Groupe de Securite I think. Clearly not that as searches fail to find anything about this. The knob, blue in fact, when turned causes it to release water and I am sure it used to spring back when released, does not do that now, keeps flowing until you turn it back. I suspect it is faulty as it tends to drip all the time now and blows off if a running tap somewhere in the house is turned off quickly. Water pressure is sitting at about 4.5 Bars according to a pressure gauge fitted to the house cold water system. What think you folks and what is it called in French please.........John not Jackie
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Hi

you are right about the name : Groupe de Securite .

We have had exactly the same problem and changed one of them 3 times in six years. I thought the drip that arrived after a few months was due to calcaire. My tame plumber told me that, that was only partly true. The water pressure, increased by the expansion caused by heating the cumulus, was resulting in too much pressure.

I was sceptical, but installed an adjustable pressure valve, and it seems to have sorted the problem. Even better, the reduced pressure isn't noticeable in the shower.

Peter

 

 

 

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No expert plumber but, when I had a plumber round once he noticed that my system did not have a pressure limiter installed and he said that it certainly should have (and he installed one a few days later which was not expensive). It was a small device that was put in the main water in pipe (before boiler and anything else) and limits the pressure to 3 bars. I believe it is important to “protect” the boiler and that most water devices are based on a max pressure of 3 bars (e.g. loo thingys, etc.)

I don’t think I was “taken for a ride” as the guy has more work than he can do and I was charged very little for it. Maybe somebody with French plumbing knowledge can comment on the importance (or otherwise) of such devices. After it was installed, everything worked just the same.

I mention it only as I not that you said you pressure was up at around 4.5 bars.

Mine water tank also has such a device (but the lever is red) and it always drips when the water is heating (as I guess the water expands as it heats-up). I actually got the plumber to change the same thing on my boiler (at the same time) but the pressure limiter did not solve the drip.

Ian

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The GdS is set at 7 bar. As the C-E heats, the GdS is designed to drip off pressure to accommodate the expansion of heating water. And only then. They have a finite life of some 3-5 years.

3 bar is the relief pressure on a sealed central heating system. This should never drip. Neither should the valve be used to drain water - it will often malfunction afterwards and drip.

A 4.5 bar mains supply pressure is normal. 

 

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The groupe de securité will not only "let by" or drip when it is heating the water, but will also drip continously if the water pressure is too high. There are no benefits to having water pressure higher than 3 bar in a normal domestic situation. A good idea is to fit a water pressure reducer. The Groupe de securité's often sold in brico's and or fitted by amateurs are mass produced and not always good quality. I always buy and fit a GDS with "siege inox" (stainless steel) type. If you look for these words on the box, these are more proffessionel, last longer and are less likely to fail early through scale or corrosion build up.

It is also worth mentioning that di-electric connectrors should be used at the connections to the Chauffe eau to stop chemical reactions to dissimilar metals. these are readily available off the shelf.

The drain valve on the GDS should be actioned once every three months or so to stop it clogging and will also help free up the calcaire. This is often written in the instructions. very few people do it, but it could prolong the life of the valve.

Paul

 

 

 

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