Ideal Classic boiler - fan removal
Discussion
So I have an Ideal Classic FF250 with a seized fan. Apparently a common problem on these things.
Symptoms were easy to spot; the irritating squeek from the fan assembly, that had persisted for the last month was gone, and the inability of the bolier to switch on the burners was a sure indication something was amiss.
A bit of WD40 on the fan bearings means I have heat at the moment, but I need to replace the fan.
But how the flip do I remove the fan/venturi assembly?
A replacement looks like this ( ebay piccy) and after taking off the boiler cover I can see it sitting on top of the combustion chamber.
But I can only see 2 screws holding the venturi (with fan inside) to the boiler. One on the front, mounted on a small tab and another at the back, securing the venturi outlet to the flue pipe.
Now I'm sure there's more as I can't lift the fan assembly off. Any pointers, indicators or general finger pointing regarding messing with boilers welcome.
ta
Symptoms were easy to spot; the irritating squeek from the fan assembly, that had persisted for the last month was gone, and the inability of the bolier to switch on the burners was a sure indication something was amiss.
A bit of WD40 on the fan bearings means I have heat at the moment, but I need to replace the fan.
But how the flip do I remove the fan/venturi assembly?
A replacement looks like this ( ebay piccy) and after taking off the boiler cover I can see it sitting on top of the combustion chamber.
But I can only see 2 screws holding the venturi (with fan inside) to the boiler. One on the front, mounted on a small tab and another at the back, securing the venturi outlet to the flue pipe.
Now I'm sure there's more as I can't lift the fan assembly off. Any pointers, indicators or general finger pointing regarding messing with boilers welcome.
ta
Thank you Ferg. I was hesistant to undo the nuts on the 2 ties rods as they looked fairly important.
As a nice picture is worth a thousand words, I think I need to
(After your post, I searched for an online manual, and the lovely folks at Ideal have it at: http://www.idealheating.com/downloads/manuals/1566... and I've nicked the picture)
As a nice picture is worth a thousand words, I think I need to
(After your post, I searched for an online manual, and the lovely folks at Ideal have it at: http://www.idealheating.com/downloads/manuals/1566... and I've nicked the picture)
Are you sure it needs a new fan? I can't remember which model I have but the blades shattered, I fired in some wd40 and it's been running fine without the blades ever since. The new kit doesn't seem to come with blades at all http://www.ukheatingparts.com/ideal-classic-fan-as...
Unless you mean that the whole thing has seized and then I have no idea
Unless you mean that the whole thing has seized and then I have no idea
I replaced the fan on my FF250 a few years back. It's no more complex than undoing a few nuts / screws and then doing it all back up again.
Word of warning though, during the death throws of the fan, I kept applying WD40 to keep it going. Then one day I'd run out of WD40, so used graphite penetrating spray. Don't turn the fan on with the cover off, unless you want a thin spray of graphite all over the kitchen walls, units, worktops etc!
Word of warning though, during the death throws of the fan, I kept applying WD40 to keep it going. Then one day I'd run out of WD40, so used graphite penetrating spray. Don't turn the fan on with the cover off, unless you want a thin spray of graphite all over the kitchen walls, units, worktops etc!
As well as the 2 front tie rods there's also a screw at the back of the combustion cover which is directly under the flue, undo the screw that holds the flue onto the fan and twist the flue and slide it towards outside (it's a small telescopic section that'll slide into the inner flue part going through the wall) then you can access the screw, also there's a sensing tube (white I think) that goes onto the back of the combustion cover, don't forget to put it back on before you fix the cover back down.
WD40 is no good on a fan motor, it gets too hot and evaporates pretty much straight away.
You can buy purpose made "Fan Lube", which is thicker and seems to work wonders, but is highly flammable!
The risk doesn't come from sparking (you shouldn't be working anywhere near a live fan anyway!) but from the heat of the fan. An old colleague of mine managed to burn himself when the lube ignited as he sprayed it onto a hot fan!
You can buy purpose made "Fan Lube", which is thicker and seems to work wonders, but is highly flammable!
The risk doesn't come from sparking (you shouldn't be working anywhere near a live fan anyway!) but from the heat of the fan. An old colleague of mine managed to burn himself when the lube ignited as he sprayed it onto a hot fan!
(4 year bump!)
Just had our 20-year old FF260 serviced and the only comment was that the fan is a bit noisy so bearings may be on the way out.
(We don't think it's noticeably noisier than it's ever been but he says he's very familiar with Ideal Classics)
The engineer said it would be illegal for me to replace the fan as that involves "breaking the case seal".
Could I do it legally if I deem myself "competent" but obviously not Gas-safe registered?
Just had our 20-year old FF260 serviced and the only comment was that the fan is a bit noisy so bearings may be on the way out.
(We don't think it's noticeably noisier than it's ever been but he says he's very familiar with Ideal Classics)
The engineer said it would be illegal for me to replace the fan as that involves "breaking the case seal".
Could I do it legally if I deem myself "competent" but obviously not Gas-safe registered?
Nimby said:
(4 year bump!)
Just had our 20-year old FF260 serviced and the only comment was that the fan is a bit noisy so bearings may be on the way out.
(We don't think it's noticeably noisier than it's ever been but he says he's very familiar with Ideal Classics)
The engineer said it would be illegal for me to replace the fan as that involves "breaking the case seal".
Could I do it legally if I deem myself "competent" but obviously not Gas-safe registered?
Our 16 year old Ideal classic started to get very noisey about 6 months ago, and a heating engineer diagnosed it as the fan and replaced it, been fine since. Think ours is an FF280.Just had our 20-year old FF260 serviced and the only comment was that the fan is a bit noisy so bearings may be on the way out.
(We don't think it's noticeably noisier than it's ever been but he says he's very familiar with Ideal Classics)
The engineer said it would be illegal for me to replace the fan as that involves "breaking the case seal".
Could I do it legally if I deem myself "competent" but obviously not Gas-safe registered?
Hope it's not illegal....
Yes but can I legally do the replacement work myself. Obviously a registered Gas-safe engineer can.
- Never mind. GS engineer quote is only £40 plus part (a bit more than cheapest I've seen, but not excessively), so it's not worth the hassle.
Edited by Nimby on Friday 15th September 12:35
Hi all,
So I replaced the fan on an ideal classic ff230, though that screw at the back was sent to torment me.
All seemed to go back together ok though replacement fan electrical connections weren't exactly in the same position, but clicked on ok.
Problem is , when I went to restart boiler, fan doesn't seem to work or is not being requested to work.
Two odd things i noticed , first the fan I was sent as the model replacement has it as a 33W on the label but the one I removed has 45W.
Second, the little black tab that electrical connections were on seemed to be on a flexible hinge which seemed a bit odd.
An engineer looked at it a couple months ago and sprayed WD-40 on fan and got it going, (for £190!!!!) and I used the same trick for a while, until it seems the fan was seized. To be fair the engineer said the fan would need replacing at some point.
Anyway, any ideas why the new one isn't working? Thanks
So I replaced the fan on an ideal classic ff230, though that screw at the back was sent to torment me.
All seemed to go back together ok though replacement fan electrical connections weren't exactly in the same position, but clicked on ok.
Problem is , when I went to restart boiler, fan doesn't seem to work or is not being requested to work.
Two odd things i noticed , first the fan I was sent as the model replacement has it as a 33W on the label but the one I removed has 45W.
Second, the little black tab that electrical connections were on seemed to be on a flexible hinge which seemed a bit odd.
An engineer looked at it a couple months ago and sprayed WD-40 on fan and got it going, (for £190!!!!) and I used the same trick for a while, until it seems the fan was seized. To be fair the engineer said the fan would need replacing at some point.
Anyway, any ideas why the new one isn't working? Thanks
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