potterton... so cold...
potterton... so cold...
Author
Discussion

edt

Original Poster:

5,239 posts

314 months

Thursday 29th December 2005
quotequote all
Right.. bad.. been away for a few days & shut the heating & water down. Back now.. boiler has been trying it's damdest to start for last 45 mins but no go..just clicking & failing. There's plenty of LPG in the tank in garden..cooker starts fine.
Is there anything that can be done to help it start ?! Boy my hands are cold typing soooo sloowwwwww

Ed

andy mac

73,668 posts

285 months

Thursday 29th December 2005
quotequote all
Is your sofa fireproof? if not, light it... And enjoy the sudden warmth, and glow it gives your lounge!

ZR1cliff

17,999 posts

279 months

Thursday 29th December 2005
quotequote all
My heating works great,...hmmmmmmm

sleep envy

62,260 posts

279 months

Thursday 29th December 2005
quotequote all
ZR1cliff said:
My heating works great,...hmmmmmmm


Edt

Original Poster:

5,239 posts

314 months

Thursday 29th December 2005
quotequote all
... hate you all .....

timsta

2,779 posts

276 months

Thursday 29th December 2005
quotequote all
If it's any consolation, our radiators are all hot but are doing a shit job at warming the house!

dilbert

7,741 posts

261 months

Thursday 29th December 2005
quotequote all
edt said:
Right.. bad.. been away for a few days & shut the heating & water down. Back now.. boiler has been trying it's damdest to start for last 45 mins but no go..just clicking & failing. There's plenty of LPG in the tank in garden..cooker starts fine.
Is there anything that can be done to help it start ?! Boy my hands are cold typing soooo sloowwwwww

Ed


This happened to mine. It's a common failure I think.

Broadly the sequence of events is as follows;

Switch boiler on.
Ignition spark repeats (that's the clicking).
Fan starts.
Once the fan has started, the gas valve for the pilot light opens.
Once the pilot is alight, the thermocouple heats up.
Once the thermocouple is hot, the sparks stop and, the main gas valve opens if the boiler thermostat is cold.
If the main gas valve opens then..... Whumpf.

You should be able to tell what the problem is from what actually happens.

With mine the fan wasn't starting because the controller was knackered. New controller was required.


>> Edited by dilbert on Thursday 29th December 16:44

>> Edited by dilbert on Thursday 29th December 16:45

Edt

Original Poster:

5,239 posts

314 months

Thursday 29th December 2005
quotequote all
It's : click, fan comes on (I think, from what you've typed) for about 2-3 seconds, click again.. fan off. Nothing. Repeat 10000 times .. and counting...

anonymous-user

84 months

Thursday 29th December 2005
quotequote all
I know it's no help but for future reference...you should never shut the system and water down if going away for just a few days. My plumber told me so as it often fu**s everything up. As the saying goes...if it aint broke, don't turn it off!!!

dilbert

7,741 posts

261 months

Thursday 29th December 2005
quotequote all
Edt said:
It's : click, fan comes on (I think, from what you've typed) for about 2-3 seconds, click again.. fan off. Nothing. Repeat 10000 times .. and counting...


Can't say for sure, but that sounds more like the thermocouple!

fido

18,918 posts

285 months

Thursday 29th December 2005
quotequote all

same thing happened to me (in summer fortunately).
plumber geezer took a while to fiddle with something... might have been the thermocouple,
and it's been working fine since.

ferg

15,242 posts

287 months

Thursday 29th December 2005
quotequote all
What model is it? I doubt it has a thermocouple. The clicking sounds like the high-tension coil for electronic ignition.

It sounds like it is more likely to be the pressure switch sticking and not proving the fan. Try tapping it or even blowing into the ports to get it to click. Test with meter if you have one....BUT make sure you know which terminals and which ports the tubes attach to.

>> Edited by ferg on Thursday 29th December 17:13

LRdriver II

1,936 posts

279 months

Thursday 29th December 2005
quotequote all
garyhun said:
I know it's no help but for future reference...you should never shut the system and water down if going away for just a few days. My plumber told me so as it often fu**s everything up. As the saying goes...if it aint broke, don't turn it off!!!

I agree.. the savings you made switching it all off will be negated by your thermostat working like crazy to heat everything up again. its like shutting down your car engine in idle and then restarting it..waste of fuel and not energy efficient. If I do anything, I will turn it down to 17celcius if away for a week, this ensures not all heat leaves your walls and house, keeps dampness at bay and keeps everything flowing.

Parrot of Doom

23,075 posts

264 months

Thursday 29th December 2005
quotequote all
Is the pilot light its normal size? If its smaller (and not heating the thermocouple) there could be a constriction somewhere. Similar thing happened to my gas fire (flueless unit), a gauze had fallen off an air intake at the bottom, and a load of cat hair got dragged in there

dilbert

7,741 posts

261 months

Thursday 29th December 2005
quotequote all
ferg said:
What model is it? I doubt it has a thermocouple. The clicking sounds like the high-tension coil for electronic ignition.

It sounds like it is more likely to be the pressure switch sticking and not proving the fan. Try tapping it or even blowing into the ports to get it to click. Test with meter if you have one....BUT make sure you know which terminals and which ports the tubes attach to.

>> Edited by ferg on Thursday 29th December 17:13


Did a bit of nosing, and it seems that you're right. The pilot isn't permanent, so there is no thermocouple. I'd say, as you have already, that the pressure sensor for the fan is suspect.

Edt

Original Poster:

5,239 posts

314 months

Thursday 29th December 2005
quotequote all
yup no pilot light no speak of (looking through the 'window' which is about the size of a 1p piece most useful).
Trying to track down an LPG man at the mo no luck though. Got electric heather on the go hands working again
Ed

Edt

Original Poster:

5,239 posts

314 months

Thursday 29th December 2005
quotequote all
LRdriver II said:
garyhun said:
I know it's no help but for future reference...you should never shut the system and water down if going away for just a few days. My plumber told me so as it often fu**s everything up. As the saying goes...if it aint broke, don't turn it off!!!

I agree.. the savings you made switching it all off will be negated by your thermostat working like crazy to heat everything up again. its like shutting down your car engine in idle and then restarting it..waste of fuel and not energy efficient. If I do anything, I will turn it down to 17celcius if away for a week, this ensures not all heat leaves your walls and house, keeps dampness at bay and keeps everything flowing.


I shall NEVER forget this...

ferg

15,242 posts

287 months

Thursday 29th December 2005
quotequote all
Parrot of Doom said:
Is the pilot light its normal size? If its smaller (and not heating the thermocouple) there could be a constriction somewhere. Similar thing happened to my gas fire (flueless unit), a gauze had fallen off an air intake at the bottom, and a load of cat hair got dragged in there
I don't want to teach anyone to suck eggs, but this is why boilers (particularly conventionally flued boilers) should be serviced once a year. Lint in burner intakes leads to incomplete combustion which leads to CO problems.......... Pet owners beware.

ferg

15,242 posts

287 months

Thursday 29th December 2005
quotequote all
dilbert said:
Did a bit of nosing, and it seems that you're right.

Edt

Original Poster:

5,239 posts

314 months

Thursday 29th December 2005
quotequote all
phew man on his way 9 a.m. tomorrow.
Now I've noticed all the pipes are frozen up too.. no water coming through into the bathroom & kitchen. Just love a cold winter, me

Ed