Worcester Greenstar boiler: EA error code
Discussion
OK I've finally fixed my boiler!
After about 8 months with this issue and replacing most of the boiler it is now working perfectly after installing a new main circuit board (PCB)(p/n:87483005120).
My boiler is a Worcester Bosch Greenstar 35 HE Plus, I know slightly different to the OPs one, but having very similar symptoms, including EA fault code.
It began when my boiler suddenly started to give off a deep rumbling noise that felt like it was going to shake the house down or explode, I called a plumber out who found that it needed a new Fan Diaphragm (Worcester call it a 'Bearing Plate'), and sure enough it stopped the noise but then there was another issue. I was getting the EA code and the boiler was intermittently failing to ignite, I would press the reset button and could hear it go through it's cycle of opening the gas valve and firing off the ignition sparks then either failing or igniting with a pop or occasionally a bang, if it failed to ignite it would try again and after 4 fails would "sulk" with the EA code.
So I called a plumber out again who discovered the gas pressure was low, Transco came over, changed a regulator on the meter but then ended up digging up my drive and replacing the gas pipe. Still no change.
Plumber came out again and replaced the gas valve on the boiler, no change.
Another plumber, replaced electrode assembly, no change.
Bought and fitted an ignition lead, no change.
Now since the initial onset of the rumbling one of the digits on the led display had failed (making the EA code look like CA) so I thought it must've shaken and cracked the solder joint. I had tested to see if there was a spark by disconnecting the ignition lead from the electrode assembly and holding it close to the connectors, and there was, but thought perhaps the rumbling had damaged more solder joints or something else making the spark a bit weak. So I took a punt on a new PCB (found one on ebay still sealed in box for £60), fitted it and hey presto! It's been over a week now of pure bliss after it was failing or popping every single time prior to the new PCB.
So that's it, I've just got to get used to turning on the tap and getting hot water without having to run upstairs to reset the boiler. Happy days!
(for information only, don't mess with your boiler if you're not qualified. Also, Worcester do a flat rate repair for £262)
After about 8 months with this issue and replacing most of the boiler it is now working perfectly after installing a new main circuit board (PCB)(p/n:87483005120).
My boiler is a Worcester Bosch Greenstar 35 HE Plus, I know slightly different to the OPs one, but having very similar symptoms, including EA fault code.
It began when my boiler suddenly started to give off a deep rumbling noise that felt like it was going to shake the house down or explode, I called a plumber out who found that it needed a new Fan Diaphragm (Worcester call it a 'Bearing Plate'), and sure enough it stopped the noise but then there was another issue. I was getting the EA code and the boiler was intermittently failing to ignite, I would press the reset button and could hear it go through it's cycle of opening the gas valve and firing off the ignition sparks then either failing or igniting with a pop or occasionally a bang, if it failed to ignite it would try again and after 4 fails would "sulk" with the EA code.
So I called a plumber out again who discovered the gas pressure was low, Transco came over, changed a regulator on the meter but then ended up digging up my drive and replacing the gas pipe. Still no change.
Plumber came out again and replaced the gas valve on the boiler, no change.
Another plumber, replaced electrode assembly, no change.
Bought and fitted an ignition lead, no change.
Now since the initial onset of the rumbling one of the digits on the led display had failed (making the EA code look like CA) so I thought it must've shaken and cracked the solder joint. I had tested to see if there was a spark by disconnecting the ignition lead from the electrode assembly and holding it close to the connectors, and there was, but thought perhaps the rumbling had damaged more solder joints or something else making the spark a bit weak. So I took a punt on a new PCB (found one on ebay still sealed in box for £60), fitted it and hey presto! It's been over a week now of pure bliss after it was failing or popping every single time prior to the new PCB.
So that's it, I've just got to get used to turning on the tap and getting hot water without having to run upstairs to reset the boiler. Happy days!
(for information only, don't mess with your boiler if you're not qualified. Also, Worcester do a flat rate repair for £262)
Wish I read all this before buying a Wocester to replace a Wocester that lasted 8 years. Brand new boiler has lasted 20 minutes before flashing up the EA fault code. Will give Wocester Bosh one engineer visit and if the boiler still sounds like a hubbley-bubbley Sish pipe I will get something else.
The question is, what is the very best boiler money can buy?
The question is, what is the very best boiler money can buy?
Over the summer, I added a brief 15 minute "hot as you can" programme to the central heating so that it always came on early in the mornings, mainly to warm the towel rails in the bathrooms and dry the towels. I switched other radiators off around the rest of the house so as not to waste too much heat.
I had also hoped that the daily "exercise" might somehow prevent the EA code from recurring, come the autumn.
But it has recurred a handful of times over the last couple of months, so it doesn't appear to be prevented by regular use.
Starting to think I might just shrug my shoulders and live with the slight nuisance.
I had also hoped that the daily "exercise" might somehow prevent the EA code from recurring, come the autumn.
But it has recurred a handful of times over the last couple of months, so it doesn't appear to be prevented by regular use.
Starting to think I might just shrug my shoulders and live with the slight nuisance.
hi,mike i,m happy to report ours has not done ea yet this autumn but i dont think its gone away,i just think it could happen anytime soon,but i think that it is just the air flap thing sticking.I did request feedback from tony above,but no replies so his may or may not be solved due to it being removed,it would be helpful to ys all if he would let us know.
Mine has done it a handful of times through December.
I am convinced it is something to do with a particular combination of temperature and humidity that usually happens in autumn, but has happened later this year due to the unusually mild start to the winter. It seems to be temperatures in the range of 5 to 10 degrees, and perhaps higher humidity that causes it.
All very mysterious.
I am convinced it is something to do with a particular combination of temperature and humidity that usually happens in autumn, but has happened later this year due to the unusually mild start to the winter. It seems to be temperatures in the range of 5 to 10 degrees, and perhaps higher humidity that causes it.
All very mysterious.
You could be right Dr mike,it maybe the temp and humidity causing a sticky residue to form overnight on the flap causing it to stick,if we knew whether removing it solves it then we would know what to do!
Dr Mike Oxgreen said:
Mine has done it a handful of times through December.
I am convinced it is something to do with a particular combination of temperature and humidity that usually happens in autumn, but has happened later this year due to the unusually mild start to the winter. It seems to be temperatures in the range of 5 to 10 degrees, and perhaps higher humidity that causes it.
All very mysterious.
I am convinced it is something to do with a particular combination of temperature and humidity that usually happens in autumn, but has happened later this year due to the unusually mild start to the winter. It seems to be temperatures in the range of 5 to 10 degrees, and perhaps higher humidity that causes it.
All very mysterious.
gangnamstyle said:
Tony the key only turns about 45 deg ,then you pull it back out,make sure you turn the nut back to closed,1.5 bar no more as the system pressurises and if it goes over around 2.5 it can blow out of the pressure release outside,and they sometimes leak after that.a little water will drip from key when you take it out,but not much.
We've had the EA issue since the LE3 area had a bunch of power cuts Thursday night. Not been in long enough to really sort it out....but found this thread....& just on the pressure thing, we have always been told to have it set at 1.0 bar....It had lost our ancient timer settings...which probably just means a new battery (will sort that later), but it has got me thinking about replacing that.
I'm not too keen on getting a Nest/Hive or similar - always hear a few problems with that, & I do wonder if I really need that internet enabled....we also have a separate controller for some UFH in a sunroom, which I think rules a simple option out.
We are, however interested in a more remote RF receiver that would allow time setting and "extra hour burst" from downstairs. Anyone installed those and have any comments?
Thx
mikeiow said:
gangnamstyle said:
Tony the key only turns about 45 deg ,then you pull it back out,make sure you turn the nut back to closed,1.5 bar no more as the system pressurises and if it goes over around 2.5 it can blow out of the pressure release outside,and they sometimes leak after that.a little water will drip from key when you take it out,but not much.
We've had the EA issue since the LE3 area had a bunch of power cuts Thursday night. Not been in long enough to really sort it out....but found this thread....& just on the pressure thing, we have always been told to have it set at 1.0 bar....It had lost our ancient timer settings...which probably just means a new battery (will sort that later), but it has got me thinking about replacing that.
I'm not too keen on getting a Nest/Hive or similar - always hear a few problems with that, & I do wonder if I really need that internet enabled....we also have a separate controller for some UFH in a sunroom, which I think rules a simple option out.
We are, however interested in a more remote RF receiver that would allow time setting and "extra hour burst" from downstairs. Anyone installed those and have any comments?
Thx
'Party Mode' is a great feature. You set a temperature for a certain amount of time, when the time is up, it reverts back to it's original program.
Well, I've been putting off my tale of woe, but I am very close to the end of my tether over a sickly 8-year-old Worcester-Bosch Greenstar 30CDi that is in love with it's EA error code.....
We have a service contract with HES (Home Energy Services), who in general try their best but are rarely able to get an engineer when we want one and have failed on some promises along the way
The boiler has been misbehaving for a few weeks now: we think since we had a fairly lengthy (4-5 hours) power cut back on 13th July.
Up to now it trips out regularly with EA.....approximately on a daily basis.
Wouldn't be so bad, but we cleverly located it in the loft, so have to "down-hatch-up-ladder-reset-climb-back" each time!
Repair engineers have so far replaced a few parts:
First the electrodes (ignition switch thingy)....then (after phoning Worcester-Bosch during another visit) the bearing plate.....
Each of those worked for around 12 hours, then would again need resetting.
Roll forward a week....
Today the new engineer agreed it could be the PCB (although could also be one of 3 sensors according to W-B whom he again spoke with)......he duly changed the PCB.
4 hours later, whirring away again - EA
Only this time.....the reset FAILS, and here we go with EA again. Off completely. AAARGH!!
We are away for the weekend, which means the 8-1 or 1-7pm appointments HES offer is no use to us, and they cannot do Tuesday morning, so Tuesday afternoon is their next visit.
I guess they may try replacing the sensors next.....but seriously, I fear the b@st@rd thing may never work again
Next up is the underlying "threat" that if they cannot economically repair it, they will want to CHARGE US to replace it
Anyone got any bright ideas?
Or indeed highly recommended alternatives to Worcester-Bosch - I am sure there are hundreds or perhaps thousands of good ones out there, but after this experience I will NEVER pay for one again!!
Thanks for listening.....
We have a service contract with HES (Home Energy Services), who in general try their best but are rarely able to get an engineer when we want one and have failed on some promises along the way
The boiler has been misbehaving for a few weeks now: we think since we had a fairly lengthy (4-5 hours) power cut back on 13th July.
Up to now it trips out regularly with EA.....approximately on a daily basis.
Wouldn't be so bad, but we cleverly located it in the loft, so have to "down-hatch-up-ladder-reset-climb-back" each time!
Repair engineers have so far replaced a few parts:
First the electrodes (ignition switch thingy)....then (after phoning Worcester-Bosch during another visit) the bearing plate.....
Each of those worked for around 12 hours, then would again need resetting.
Roll forward a week....
Today the new engineer agreed it could be the PCB (although could also be one of 3 sensors according to W-B whom he again spoke with)......he duly changed the PCB.
4 hours later, whirring away again - EA
Only this time.....the reset FAILS, and here we go with EA again. Off completely. AAARGH!!
We are away for the weekend, which means the 8-1 or 1-7pm appointments HES offer is no use to us, and they cannot do Tuesday morning, so Tuesday afternoon is their next visit.
I guess they may try replacing the sensors next.....but seriously, I fear the b@st@rd thing may never work again
Next up is the underlying "threat" that if they cannot economically repair it, they will want to CHARGE US to replace it
Anyone got any bright ideas?
Or indeed highly recommended alternatives to Worcester-Bosch - I am sure there are hundreds or perhaps thousands of good ones out there, but after this experience I will NEVER pay for one again!!
Thanks for listening.....
I've had brand new Worcesters flagging EA fault days after installation. Most of the time a simple small amount of talcum powder...(Yes I was sceptical as well )On the bearing plate will cure the problem they stick due to condensation. Also you can adjust the fan speed HZ on start up and fan purge time to help out.
I know you have had lots of parts changed and various fitters around but have the basics been checked it's all to easy to go into deep.
-Gas pressures at meter & boiler at max rate
-Earth resistance
-Meter governor sticking
They are generally good reliable boilers and trouble free dare I say it, but I always go for vaillant myself.
Best of luck
I know you have had lots of parts changed and various fitters around but have the basics been checked it's all to easy to go into deep.
-Gas pressures at meter & boiler at max rate
-Earth resistance
-Meter governor sticking
They are generally good reliable boilers and trouble free dare I say it, but I always go for vaillant myself.
Best of luck
Just out of interest, those who are having EA fault codes. How old looking is the regulator on your gas meter?
The thing on the left of the meter, with the corrugated pipe attached to it. I ask because I had to call out Wales and West to a boiler I was servicing, as it was shot and only operating at 10mbar working pressure at the meter.
The boiler, which was an old conventional type, was only running at 4mbar and stinking of gas when running. I got chatting to the guy from Wales and West and he said that if I ever install a combi and the meter doesn't have a shiny new regulator, to call up and request it to be changed. The old ones apparently don't take too well to high demands from combi boilers. Same goes for semi-concealed meters too apparently.
The thing on the left of the meter, with the corrugated pipe attached to it. I ask because I had to call out Wales and West to a boiler I was servicing, as it was shot and only operating at 10mbar working pressure at the meter.
The boiler, which was an old conventional type, was only running at 4mbar and stinking of gas when running. I got chatting to the guy from Wales and West and he said that if I ever install a combi and the meter doesn't have a shiny new regulator, to call up and request it to be changed. The old ones apparently don't take too well to high demands from combi boilers. Same goes for semi-concealed meters too apparently.
Rickyy said:
I got chatting to the guy from Wales and West and he said that if I ever install a combi and the meter doesn't have a shiny new regulator, to call up and request it to be changed. The old ones apparently don't take too well to high demands from combi boilers.
That's interesting - when I had the boiler replaced at my daughter's house the guy took one look at the meter / regulator and said "I'll be getting them out to change that". But he didn't. 
Rickyy said:
Just out of interest, those who are having EA fault codes. How old looking is the regulator on your gas meter?
In our case, when the house was built around 1989....Thx for the words of advice to check: we have HES due Tuesday and will ask more searching questions.....cheers
Quick update.....still awaiting a day or two to pass before cheering, but todays engineer found the last one either hadn't put one of the three "ignition leads" back on properly, or perhaps it was dislodged when he put the case back on....should have got him to fully power off and back on at the end of the last visit!
Anyway, he felt it was perhaps the easiest job he's been to this week.....
Sounds okay so far & appears to be good now.....let's see what the next few days bring (crosses fingers!), hopefully the PCB replacement did the trick....
& almost 24 hours in and it does indeed look like the PCB replacement may have done the trick: purring quietly away up in the loft, hot water on demand etc etc.....phew wow wot a scorcher!
With thanks to JimmyBuckRogers for the inspiration ;-)
Anyway, he felt it was perhaps the easiest job he's been to this week.....
Sounds okay so far & appears to be good now.....let's see what the next few days bring (crosses fingers!), hopefully the PCB replacement did the trick....
& almost 24 hours in and it does indeed look like the PCB replacement may have done the trick: purring quietly away up in the loft, hot water on demand etc etc.....phew wow wot a scorcher!
With thanks to JimmyBuckRogers for the inspiration ;-)
Edited by mikeiow on Wednesday 24th August 11:47
mikeiow said:
gangnamstyle said:
It had lost our ancient timer settings...which probably just means a new battery (will sort that later), but it has got me thinking about replacing that.
I'm not too keen on getting a Nest/Hive or similar - always hear a few problems with that, & I do wonder if I really need that internet enabled....we also have a separate controller for some UFH in a sunroom, which I think rules a simple option out.
We are, however interested in a more remote RF receiver that would allow time setting and "extra hour burst" from downstairs. Anyone installed those and have any comments?
Thx
I had one of these put in a few months back. Went for the Comfort II RF as I, too, wasn't keen on relying on an internet service to keep my boiler working. I'm not too keen on getting a Nest/Hive or similar - always hear a few problems with that, & I do wonder if I really need that internet enabled....we also have a separate controller for some UFH in a sunroom, which I think rules a simple option out.
We are, however interested in a more remote RF receiver that would allow time setting and "extra hour burst" from downstairs. Anyone installed those and have any comments?
Thx
It's brilliant. Don't need to bother advances, just twist the knob to dial in the temperature you want and push it in to set it. It will stay at that temperature until the next change point in the programme. Or until you twist and push the knob again.
Something else for ‘EA fault’ sufferers to check
My Greenstar combi condenser boiler has taken to occasionally tripping with ‘EA’ indicated on the display, as described by the original poster of this thread and others.
Think I’ve found the cause in my case. The end of the condensate drain trap vent tube can be obstructed, or suck water instead of air.
Anyone who has cleaned the condensate drain trap will be familiar with the vent tube. It’s the very small diameter tube that lives inside the condensate drain hose, and is withdrawn with the trap for cleaning and has to be reinserted into the drain hose when refitting the trap. If you disconnect the hose that came as part of the boiler from your drain pipework and look up it, you should see the end of the small diameter vent tube.
This vent tube is about the same length as the drain hose. On my boiler there is quite a thick, grey rubber connector fitted to the internal diameter of the drain hose. The end of the vent tube is the right length to touch the top of this rubber fitting, either sealing the end of the tube or allowing it to suck up any small amount of water trapped on top of the rubber connector. Either of these could cause the condensate trap to overfill with water on occasion and trip the boiler, depending on how much water is flowing along the drain hose and how easily the vent becomes choked.
If you have run out of other things to check, I suggest you remove the condensate drain, clean it, blow through the vent tube and if there is any possibility of the above on your installation, cut the last inch or so of the vent tube off before reassembly. Cut it at an angle.
Keep warm
Richard
My Greenstar combi condenser boiler has taken to occasionally tripping with ‘EA’ indicated on the display, as described by the original poster of this thread and others.
Think I’ve found the cause in my case. The end of the condensate drain trap vent tube can be obstructed, or suck water instead of air.
Anyone who has cleaned the condensate drain trap will be familiar with the vent tube. It’s the very small diameter tube that lives inside the condensate drain hose, and is withdrawn with the trap for cleaning and has to be reinserted into the drain hose when refitting the trap. If you disconnect the hose that came as part of the boiler from your drain pipework and look up it, you should see the end of the small diameter vent tube.
This vent tube is about the same length as the drain hose. On my boiler there is quite a thick, grey rubber connector fitted to the internal diameter of the drain hose. The end of the vent tube is the right length to touch the top of this rubber fitting, either sealing the end of the tube or allowing it to suck up any small amount of water trapped on top of the rubber connector. Either of these could cause the condensate trap to overfill with water on occasion and trip the boiler, depending on how much water is flowing along the drain hose and how easily the vent becomes choked.
If you have run out of other things to check, I suggest you remove the condensate drain, clean it, blow through the vent tube and if there is any possibility of the above on your installation, cut the last inch or so of the vent tube off before reassembly. Cut it at an angle.
Keep warm
Richard
Edited by Richardthe675th on Tuesday 4th October 13:23
Thanks for that: sadly not the cure for us...
The August Grand Parts Replacement by HES had looked good in the end.....5 visits, new electrodes, bearing plate, PCB (& one to reattach a lead that had come off - ?!!)....then they raised their annual renewal by 30%, so we said "okay, thanks, bye".
but that was the kiss of death. 6 weeks later, our old nemesis EA returns with a vengeance. Now having to reset 1-3 times each day. Usually works first click, but has taken 5-7 attempts on occasion......which is a nuisance as it lives in the loft...
Our friendly trusted engineer is back early next week to check gas pressure (maybe something blocking it somewhere....who knows, sounds unlikely but I'll take any straws!).
Someone mentioned earlier in this thread that WB can send their engineer with an "almost" guarantee they will fix it - anyone here used that offer?
£262 or £25pcm for a year. If our fella remains stumped after another couple of goes, I may have to consider that....although frankly it feels like we ought to consider replacing the pesky thing - have to say the experience means I would not pick a WB again. although I am not sure which ones may be reliably better.....
The August Grand Parts Replacement by HES had looked good in the end.....5 visits, new electrodes, bearing plate, PCB (& one to reattach a lead that had come off - ?!!)....then they raised their annual renewal by 30%, so we said "okay, thanks, bye".
but that was the kiss of death. 6 weeks later, our old nemesis EA returns with a vengeance. Now having to reset 1-3 times each day. Usually works first click, but has taken 5-7 attempts on occasion......which is a nuisance as it lives in the loft...
Our friendly trusted engineer is back early next week to check gas pressure (maybe something blocking it somewhere....who knows, sounds unlikely but I'll take any straws!).
Someone mentioned earlier in this thread that WB can send their engineer with an "almost" guarantee they will fix it - anyone here used that offer?
£262 or £25pcm for a year. If our fella remains stumped after another couple of goes, I may have to consider that....although frankly it feels like we ought to consider replacing the pesky thing - have to say the experience means I would not pick a WB again. although I am not sure which ones may be reliably better.....
Just to round off this for us: we had a final check today....the gas pressure is fine (at mains and boiler).....but still our boiler will now not start at all
So we have decided to call it a day on the ~9 year old Worcester-Bosch we have, due to this painful EA saga. We could try the "pay WB £262 to send someone out & they will likely/maybe fix it"...but given our engineer has spoken directly with them a fair bit, I doubt they will know what else to check....& I am loathe to spend good money after bad chasing ghosts.....
I am sure there are many hundreds of happy WB customers out there, but we won't be replacing it with another. Once bitten, etc.
Our engineer recommends Ideal or Baxi, with a definite leaning to Ideal - he has installed quite a few, rates them very highly. We are pretty sure the house had an Ideal when we replaced it 8-9 years ago (with some major work we had), and that Ideal had likely lasted 20 years!
I can see Vaillant get reasonable reviews on here, but our chap says they have too few 'standard' components and wouldn't ever recommend them..... so it looks like we will go with the new improved (http://idealnewlogic.com/the-boiler/) Ideal Logic+ 30kW System Boiler with it's 7 year guarantee.
We see there is the Vogue unit with a 10 year guarantee (& an option to go to 32kW), but given it appears fairly new, fairly few reviews & our chap had not seen any, plus it looks perhaps £3-400 more, we will likely go Logic+.
Going to be 10 days without heating.....good job the forecast is to warm up towards the weekend....not so keen on the cooler weather next week though
Thx for all the tips along the way!
So we have decided to call it a day on the ~9 year old Worcester-Bosch we have, due to this painful EA saga. We could try the "pay WB £262 to send someone out & they will likely/maybe fix it"...but given our engineer has spoken directly with them a fair bit, I doubt they will know what else to check....& I am loathe to spend good money after bad chasing ghosts.....
I am sure there are many hundreds of happy WB customers out there, but we won't be replacing it with another. Once bitten, etc.
Our engineer recommends Ideal or Baxi, with a definite leaning to Ideal - he has installed quite a few, rates them very highly. We are pretty sure the house had an Ideal when we replaced it 8-9 years ago (with some major work we had), and that Ideal had likely lasted 20 years!
I can see Vaillant get reasonable reviews on here, but our chap says they have too few 'standard' components and wouldn't ever recommend them..... so it looks like we will go with the new improved (http://idealnewlogic.com/the-boiler/) Ideal Logic+ 30kW System Boiler with it's 7 year guarantee.
We see there is the Vogue unit with a 10 year guarantee (& an option to go to 32kW), but given it appears fairly new, fairly few reviews & our chap had not seen any, plus it looks perhaps £3-400 more, we will likely go Logic+.
Going to be 10 days without heating.....good job the forecast is to warm up towards the weekend....not so keen on the cooler weather next week though
Thx for all the tips along the way!
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