Boiler Failing to Fire-up

[dk1uk]

Hi - I have a gas fired Potterton Flamingo II boiler running my GCH and hot water.

The boiler is programmed via a Siemens control panel (pic attached). It's programmed to come on at 5am to 7am to run the heating and hot water.

This morning I noticed at 7am that the rads were cooler than they should have been - the boiler had come on at 5am and then failed after a period of time.

The pilot light is on. I have tried turning the boiler off and re-lighting the pilot light. I have reset the Siemens control panel, but nothing has worked. When I try to advance the heating/hot water on the panel, the markers on the LCD move to ON, but the red light indicating that the boiler has powered up do not come on.

I did have an engineer over last week plumbing the hot water to run off the boiler (before that the boiler only powered the heating).

Does anyone have any idea as to what might have made the boiler die half way through it's cycle this morning? Could the gas control valve perhaps have failed?

Many thanks

Untitled

• dk1uk
• 6 Oct 2012
• 2

 

[dk1uk]

Ended up booking an engineer - still intrigued as to why the boiler would die half way through programme. Wouldn't it be more common for the boiler to just not have started up at all at 5am? Rather than starting, staying on sufficiently long enough to warm the rads and water and then die?

 

[Terry7556]

depends, what if something that monitors temperature isnt working as it should?

 

[dk1uk]

Thanks - the thermostat on the cylinder was installed last week - but that would only control the hot water right? Not the rads?

Wouldn't both the room thermostat and the cylinder thermostat both have had to have failed for the boiler to not be working at all?

 

[rjm2k]

I did have an engineer over last week plumbing the hot water to run off the boiler (before that the boiler only powered the heating).

How did the engineer make it run the HW too? Is it the same engineer coming back out?

 

[dk1uk]

Yep sorry the photo is just side-ways - in my panic this morning, I realised too late that I'd posted it like that...

 

[Terry7556]

there are a number of things to look at to prove they are working or not as they should.as rjm asked is that stat fitted vertically and who fitted it?

 

[dk1uk]

The programmer is fitted the right way up - it's just the photo that's lop-sided.

The programmer has been there from before I moved in.

 

[rjm2k]

I wasn't asking about the sideways stat

How did the engineer make it run the HW too? Is it the same engineer coming back out?

Sounds suspicious that the problem started to occur after someone messed about with it. I assume they fitted a Hot Water cylinder and a valve??

 

[dk1uk]

Regarding the HW - the pipework was already connected to the HW cylinder upstairs. All he did was wire in the in a 3-way valve near the cylinder and added a thermostat to the cylinder. He also did some wiring near the boiler. Before this, the HW ran purely from the immersion setting on the cylinder.

No, it's not the same engineer - I'm sure he's a honest chap, but like you I'm a bit suspicious that it's failed after his visit.

 

[dk1uk]

The 3-way was already there BTW - it had just been unwired by the previous home owners...

 

[dk1uk]

Interestingly, the back-light on the LCD on the programmer at the time of taking the photo below was on...today it is off. By 'back-light' I mean that normally the display glows a soft green but today it's not - though it still displays the time.

Could this be indicative of the fault? Could my programmer be faulty?

Or am I clutching at straws?!

 

[dk1uk]

OK, have done more research - so could this just be a blown fuse at the feed?

I have a fuse switch next to my cylinder upstairs - I remember that when the engineer was here, he asked me to briefly 'shut-down' the power by flicking that switch. Could this explain why my programmer appears to potentially have no power going to it?

 

[dk1uk]

Right - IT WORKED! It was the fuse.

The fuse in the feed was a 3AMP - is this right? The fuse in the immersion switch is a 13AMP.

My worry is why the fuse blew in the first place - was the fuse too light (3AMP) for this type of feed?

Many thanks