Boiler Fault Potteron Envoy 50: Flashing "E." Erro

[gavk]

Hi

I have a Potterton Envoy 50 Boiler in my home.

Intermittently over the last year it has stopped heating and the LED Display shows a Flashing "E." Error / Fault Code.

The Manual says

"Control Failed - Replace Control"

Not very useful info in my opinion, I found that pushing and holding the Reset button worked to reset the boiler and it would fire up again, working for anywhere between a few months or a few hours before the same error occurred again.

Sadly the same fault appeared last night and reset trick no longer works, the E just stays up flashing after the button is released.

I found an old post on this site

http://www.fixed4free.com/answers.php?id=25599

The poster who replied says that it is due to a fan failure and suggests a little dismantling of the boiler to clean and lube the fan.

The opening poster doesn't reply to say if this was a success, before I get out of my depth and take the boiler appart with potentially dangerous consequences has any of you kind souls got any further advice.

Can anyone confirm if it is likely to be

Control Problem
Fan Problem
Another Problem!

And if this is something that a DIYer with no boiler experience but a bit of common sense and a garage full of tools should tackle?

Many thanks for any suggestions offered

Any help most appreciated

Gavin

 

[Agile]

The simple answer is that it could be almost anything. That model has a reputation for being unreliable.

As a DIYer you should NOT be touching the fan or any other components that are involved in gas combustion.

You could change the PCB but at about £200 that would prove very expensive if its not couased by that.

A potterton or British Gas fixed price repair might be the best option.

If you do call an independent do ask him first if he is familiar with that model and agrees to come on a no-fix no-fee basis otherwise he will just come, say it cannot be repaired and quote you a high price for a replacement boiler as a distressed purchase.

Tony

 

[gavk]

Hi Tony

Thanks for your response.

I had a look at the boiler before I saw your reply and it was very simple to remove the fan and check condition, it seems very clean and moves freely so there is no need to clean or lubricate it as suggested in the post i referred to.

I followed your advice and went on to call British Gas and Potterton (Heateam).

Unbelievably Heateam will not touch the boiler since it is over 10 years old, even though it is a model manufactured by them....hows that for technical support!

BGas have a couple of options from:

Repair: £79-£350ish labour PLUS parts

Repair + Contract: £99 to fix 1st fault plus £20 per month for 12 months

The second option sounds appealing except if they find more than 1 fault with the boiler then the cost could quickly escalate.

I could always get a pcb from ebay and see if that fixes it for £145

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI....Category=42234&_trkparms=algo=LVI&its=I&otn=1

Really don't know what to do for the best

Any further advice greatly apprciated