Boiler problem

[emin-j]

Hi all, we had no hot water or heating last evening so had a look at the boiler this morning (it's in the loft ) expecting to find the pressure had dropped and knocked out the pilot light ( vaillant vcw 240h combi ) but the pressure was only just under 1 bar but the pilot light had gone out,
thinking the wind may have blown it out I relit the pilot and fired up the heating.
After the heating had been running for about 20 mins it reached temperature and knocked off, at that point the pilot light went out
I relit the pilot and it seemed to stay lit but unsteady ?
Some points I noted when relighting the boiler at first failure.

1. when boiler fired up it sounded like there was a couple of drips of water dropping onto the flames making a pssst sound,this came from the back of the boiler,this did not continue after the first instance.

2. with the pressure set at 1 bar the pressure steadily rose to 1.9 bar with the heating on.

This boiler has been running since about 1989/90 and has given excellent service, so is it time to renew or could it be a simple repair.

thanks.

update; the boiler is still working after 2 hours.

 

[PlumbGas]

Sounds like you have more than one problem, call in a Pro and they can give you an honest opinion, Not British Gas though as they'll just condem the boiler and try to sell you a new one, get a few opinions

 

[ianmcd]

you havent given a lot of information to be honest and your boiler is quite old but it sounds as though you have a pump or circulation failure and your boiler is overheating and the safety device is correctly cutting out your pilot light

 

[Agile]

Quite apart from the EXV problem which the OP would have realised if only he had read the FAQ as advised before posting.

Tony

 

[emin-j]

you havent given a lot of information to be honest and your boiler is quite old but it sounds as though you have a pump or circulation failure and your boiler is overheating and the safety device is correctly cutting out your pilot light

Thanks' ianmcd, the heating came on with the timer this afternoon as per normal and hot water seems fine so the pilot must have stayed lit the second time,would you still reckon on a pump/circulation problem ?

 

[emin-j]

Quite apart from the EXV problem which the OP would have realised if only he had read the FAQ as advised before posting.

Tony

Thanks' Agile I have had a search around the forum and it seems the Thermocouple could be 'going down' , I did replace this years ago when the pilot refused to light I didn't realise it could work/not work when failing.

 

[emin-j]

Fitted a new thermocouple a couple of weeks ago and all seemed well
went into bathroom this morning and no hot water
checked boiler and found pilot light out again,when re lit I noticed that the pilot light looked ' lazy ' and seemed to be pulsing slightly and have since read the pilot might need cleaning and wondered if this unit needs replacing

Untitled

• emin-j
• 22 Apr 2013
• 1

 

[Bunnyman]

That's a gas safety device u should not be messing with that! The pilot could be goin out for several reasons an all linked to safety! If you value your family get a Vaillant pro in, it's givin SYMTOMS of blocked main ht exch please get this unit serviced checked ASAP

 

[emin-j]

That's a gas safety device u should not be messing with that! The pilot could be goin out for several reasons an all linked to safety! If you value your family get a Vaillant pro in, it's givin SYMTOMS of blocked main ht exch please get this unit serviced checked ASAP

Ok will do,thanks