I have a Vaillant VC15/1 T 3 WDH boiler which is about 20 years old now. It has developed a number of problems.
Firstly, to fire the boiler, the thermostat in the lounge needs to be turned on and then the heater control turned on and the boiler pump then starts and the boiler appears to start but does not fire up. To get it to fire I need to press and hold for about five seconds a black rocker switch at the bottom of the boiler behind the panel which opens to show the pressure dial.
The boiler then works until the demand is met and then switches off. When the house gets cold and the demand is needed again, the boiler appears to go, but again does not fire up and required you to press the switch.
I do not know if, when the boiler is apparently doing something if it is releasing gas or not. Pressing the black rocker switch does not cause a clicking sound. The pilot light is always lit, so I don't believe it is putting out gas unless I push the rocker switch which I'm guessing is a reset switch. It is not shown on the manual I have for the boiler. This is the main problem I have with the boiler.
The other two issues I have is firstly the boiler looses all pressure over a period of around one week. It then needs to be refilled from the filler tap to bring the pressure up to one bar again. Probably the over pressure value needs replacing or there is a leak somewhere.
The second issue, which is I believe because the value for the HW/CH needs to be replaced is that we always get both hot water and central heating no matter what is selected. I believe the value is stuck. Trying to change it manually via the level inside the box on the valve does not do anything, so I assume it's just broken and needs replacing. This causes us to have VERY hot, hot water. I'm concerned leaving the boiler on too long will cause the hot water to get too hot and boil, but I don't know if this will happen or not.
It's the first issue, the one where I have to keep on pushing the button which causes the most trouble as it means I can't leave the system on at night as the house gets too hot. So therefore I need to turn it off at night and thus the house gets quite cold.
Can any recommend what is wrong with the system? Are these problems repairable? Can someone recommend someone in the Essex (Basildon) area who could fix the boiler, without having to replace it? Thanks.
Firstly, to fire the boiler, the thermostat in the lounge needs to be turned on and then the heater control turned on and the boiler pump then starts and the boiler appears to start but does not fire up. To get it to fire I need to press and hold for about five seconds a black rocker switch at the bottom of the boiler behind the panel which opens to show the pressure dial.
The boiler then works until the demand is met and then switches off. When the house gets cold and the demand is needed again, the boiler appears to go, but again does not fire up and required you to press the switch.
I do not know if, when the boiler is apparently doing something if it is releasing gas or not. Pressing the black rocker switch does not cause a clicking sound. The pilot light is always lit, so I don't believe it is putting out gas unless I push the rocker switch which I'm guessing is a reset switch. It is not shown on the manual I have for the boiler. This is the main problem I have with the boiler.
The other two issues I have is firstly the boiler looses all pressure over a period of around one week. It then needs to be refilled from the filler tap to bring the pressure up to one bar again. Probably the over pressure value needs replacing or there is a leak somewhere.
The second issue, which is I believe because the value for the HW/CH needs to be replaced is that we always get both hot water and central heating no matter what is selected. I believe the value is stuck. Trying to change it manually via the level inside the box on the valve does not do anything, so I assume it's just broken and needs replacing. This causes us to have VERY hot, hot water. I'm concerned leaving the boiler on too long will cause the hot water to get too hot and boil, but I don't know if this will happen or not.
It's the first issue, the one where I have to keep on pushing the button which causes the most trouble as it means I can't leave the system on at night as the house gets too hot. So therefore I need to turn it off at night and thus the house gets quite cold.
Can any recommend what is wrong with the system? Are these problems repairable? Can someone recommend someone in the Essex (Basildon) area who could fix the boiler, without having to replace it? Thanks.
