Potterton Suprima firing up and shutting off immediately...

[JoelyP]

Hi there, I've just spent the last couple of hours trawling through the many threads regarding the lovely reliable suprima boilers!

I called a local gasman out t'other week to do a routine service on our boiler as we hadn't had it done since we moved in and it had been a year. Once he had finished he turned it on and it just kept shutting off a couple of seconds after firing up. After checking some connections to make sure he hadn't caused the fault he decided the pcb (which apparently is the new type) was at fault and changed it to no avail.

He then decided the fan assy must be faulty and got a new one, but unfortunately it was the incorrect part as it was for a smaller boiler (-40,50,60 iirc). he is unsure the model of my boiler as the data plate info wasn't updated when the new board was fitted(?).

He tried changing the air pressure switch which made no difference and said that if he purchased a fan assy and it didn't fix it, that i would have to pay as it was a rare part!? Also, he wasn't convinced that is the problem. this morning he tested the fan which was getting a supply up to the point of shutting down (which i guess it would) so it was inconclusive.

So now he has given up lol! he told me to call some1 else as he doesn't have a clue but he didn't check anything else. My question is, is there anything else i could check before calling some1 out? I've noticed that the water pump is running continuously at the mo which i guess could be related? I have also recently bled the system to clean some rads and filled it with fernox cleaner.

Any advice welcomed

Regards

Joel

 

[ismellgas]

sounds like the man might be a bit of a di... lol

try bleeding the pump by taking off the vent cap with a flat headed screw driver and give the pump a wee turn with the driver to make sure its moving ok.

hope that works mate its just a suggestion, as i myself am a bit of a....

 

[Agile]

The pump will not cause whats been described if a "couple of seconds" is just that.

Its most likely to be gas related but I cannot give advice on that here and in any case there are several possibilities and there is no point in guessing.

It will need a competent boiler engineer to diagnose.

Ideally the fellow who came should know someone he turns to to help him out but many dont so it sounds as if you may have to get someone in who knows what they are doing.

The question then arises as to who should pay for the repair. I know what I think but some of my colleagues dont like me to say that.

Tony

 

[JoelyP]

bit more info:

i've just timed it and its between 3 and 4 seconds... its is the same time every time.

once the boiler is reset, the water pump works normally. it spools up when the boiler is starting its firing sequence, then the boiler fires up... tick tock tick tock, shuts down and the pump stops.

it does this a few times then finally stops permanently, the red light on the boiler comes on but at this point the water pump continues to run, even with no hot water or heating selected and has to be turned off at the master switch.

 

[adlplumbing]

sorry edited no gas advice

 

[45yearsagasman]

Thats a flame detection/ignition fault and the boiler may make several attempts to light before locking out.I'd get a proper boilerman to sort that for you.If he finds it a problem to repair this fairly simple boiler then show him the door.

 

[hayesbhoy]

sounds like rectification probe fault/poisiton moved slightly or burner port underneath it partially blocked..... either that or reversed polarity but fault only new so .... case seals or flue blocked could cause flame lift slightly to lift above rectification probe if disturbed when boiler service? pump ok??

pump probably runs after een without hw or htg selected as has an overrun feature for a few mins etc...

is the aav cap tightened fully? just another quick check, shouldn't be fully tight and I know after a service on my once the engineer tightened it fully and boiler locked out.... but was longer period not just a few seconds

 

[adlplumbing]

sorry no gas advice

 

[Beerlover]

The new suprima board sparks for 5 seconds (even after flame detection). My best guess here is that the ignition lead is broken.A small break will allow the spark to jump it, but not allow flame sensing. To test - continuity test the lead.

Easily broken and cheap to replace (for the RGI)

 

[powell30]

What happened to no gas specific details being offered on here???

All the above suggestions bar a few require combustion box off.......sometimes we are our own worst enemies.

edit. rereading some i can see references to getting an rgi in but i still think you are being too specific with your suggestions. 'Ignition/rectification issue' should suffice

 

[Adi1530]

Boiler size is on the Fluehood Assembly

 

[adlplumbing]

opps i forgot sorry no gas advice

 

[Agile]

Whilst two of you have given inappropriate gas advice, I am surprised nobody has commented on whats the most relevant advice he needs.

Thats who should pay for this!

Tony

 

[adlplumbing]

the gas man should if he responsible if not the op should

 

[JoelyP]

update: another gas engineer came out today and after i gave him all the info and mentioning suggestions offered on here he found that the flame sensor/ignition connector had been pushed in too far, so as many of you mentioned on here, was close enough to arc and ignite but no continuity to send feedback in the flame sensing circuit, thus shutting down.

so thanks all for the help, turned a week of using the immersion and worrying about repair costs into a 2 minute fix!