Ferroli 77FF burner lighting problem

[scottyjohn]

Hi all,
Im new to the forum so be gentle!

I have a Ferroli 77FF combi boiler and have a problem which Im hoping someone can give me an idea of what might be wrong?

The boiler normally works fine, however in the last few weeks, its started ocasionally running cold water when hot water is demanded, and then it will fire as normal, and then the burner cuts back off, and this continues. If I turn off the tap and then turn it back on, it can either be fine, or continue in the same cycle. During this cycle, when the burner switches off, the LEDs on the board show the green LED for "Air pressure switch on" and yellow LED for "Gas valve energised" both go out. As well as this issue with the DHW side, the boiler sometimes does a similar thing when CH is asking for heat, and when this happens, there is a surging noise, as if the fan is starting up, and then gets halted, then starts then gets halted, and this goes on and then eventually it will fire up.

All these are intermittent, and my Gas engineer, asked me to detail exactly what was happening with the LEDs when we had issues, and hes coming back in a few days to have a look. Just wanted any opinion as to what it could be in the meantime?

Any help much appreciated.

 

[Agile]

Well I know the possibilities but firstly I dont guess at faults I have not seen and secondly we dont give advice on gas/combustion issues here.

Why dont you have confidence that your engineer knows his job? ( Does he even exist? )

Tony

 

[scottyjohn]

What is it with internet forums that bring out the **** in some people? Nothing useful to say then why say anything at all? I am an intelligent person who has a mechanical engineering background, and have the sense to not touch a boiler at all, but was asking a question out of interest thats all.

And we are not all as sad as to have to make people up on the internet mate. Ill leave that to idiots like you.

 

[Breesey]

Calm down mate, it is a fair comment. Your touchy reaction may suggest that Agile is correct, either way a slightly less aggressive approach on your part is in order I think - particularly as you are, by your own admission, new to the forum and want to be treated gently yourself!!

 

[scottyjohn]

I am calm mate, but point taken. I asked a polite question and that doesnt give people like agile the green light to call someone a liar. I have a 2 year old daughter in the house and under no circumstances would I be touching the boiler myself. Gas is a risky business, but so are many other engineering fields, and I wasnt asking for step by step reair instructions, only a rough idea what might be at fault to give me an idea what to expect.

My gas engineer is quite new to me, but has done a sterling job with various jobs I have asked him to do. I always research all repairs to anything I own, not that I dont trust the people doing it, but it doesnt pay to walk into a situation with your trousers down either!

Looking at Agile's forum activity, he doesnt seem to have much of a helpful word for anyone, but hey, guess thats how he gets his entertainment!

 

[Agile]

When you started posting here you are deemed to accept the forum rules!

One of them is that we are not allowed to give advice on gas/combustion matters to DIYers.

That seems a very sensible rule to me.

Regardless of your intentions and abilities, this forum is read by many people and some of them will have very limited capabilities.

You also seem to imagine that its possible to diagnose faults with complete accuracy following vague descriptions given by owners. The only way to diagnose a fault is by observation and testing in front of the appliance!

Saying something like "What is it with internet forums that bring out the **** in some people?" does not seem very sensible to someone who might have the knowledge which you are seeking and gives their time to help people free of charge!

Sometimes I wonder why I bother!

But then I remember the many people who are very thankful when I am able to help them and I forget the others!

Tony

 

[scottyjohn]

Look mate, I dont really have the inclination to argue the niceties of forum etiquette with a random pedant who has nothing really to contribute to the situation.
You are clearly not willing to part with any of the the extensive "knowledge or experience" you seem to constantly reference, either to me or any of the rest of the well-meaning people who request help on this otherwise very useful and informative forum. So whats the point in even putting finger to keyboard really?
If you read the original post properly, I wasnt asking anyone to conclusively diagnose my boiler issue based on some anecdotal detail observed and detailed by myself. I know enough about systems and technologies to understand that it would be practically impossible to do this.
All I was after was a rough idea, based on helpful people's experience, as to what the possible cause of my boiler's symptoms may be. There is nothing wrong with doing some research as to the possible outcomes of any repairs which get carried out by the boiler engineer when he visits. All other industries have to understand that previously technically ignorant customers, may come to the table with a little knowledge of the subject, and I, along with my boiler engineer, dont think thats a bad thing really. The only people who dont embrace this concept, are the people who would normally have been used to fleecing customers anyway. I dont really know enough about you to work out which camp out of these you may fall into.
My usual reaction to people who call me a liar is quite a negative one, as having placed themselves firmly into the "unhelpful" category, I dont have any cause to hold back now do I?
Anyone who deals with me in a fair and normal manner will see the normal, reasonable side of me, others wont.

And as to your question as to why you bother.... I have been asking myself that question since your first post.

 

[Agile]

Why, if you are an intelligent person as you claim, do you seem unable to understand the forum rules do not permit us to give advice on gas/combustion issues?

As I give advice on forums free of charge its surprising that you are so critical of me.

Now you are apparently rating me as a cowboy! I dont see how doing repairs for a fixed price advised transparently in advance can be cowboyish compared with those who charge an hourly rate so that the customer pays more if they take ages to find the fault.

Tony

 

[scottyjohn]

I think to be completely accurate, you called me a liar outright, whereas I stated I didnt know enough about you to determine how you operate in a professional capacity.

I was just trying to get help, you use the word cowboy, not me.....

 

[Agile]

Why dont you have confidence that your engineer knows his job? ( Does he even exist? )

Tony

Thats what I said. We have a lot of people asking about banned subjects who think they will get an answer pretending that they have an engineer.

We just tell them to wait for their engineer.

Many, like you too, still keep on asking the questions.

Why are you unable to accept the forum rules that we dont give gas advice?

Even if we did then I dont see any point in just listing all the possible parts which could cause the fault. OCB, Gas valve, fan, APS, etc. That will not help you to fix it yourself if thats your aim.

So when is the engineer coming?

You suggested I fleece customers, those who do that are refered to as cowboys!

Tony

 

[scottyjohn]

I didn't say you fleeced customers, I was making an observation about behaviour in many service industries.

And I think you will find that I have asked one question. I haven't re-posted multiple times, I have asked one question, once, singular.

The rest of the time has been spent taking some sad pedant to task about his rudeness on a public forum. I have been keeping this going in the hope that someone with somewhat better people skills than yourself would come along with some kinder responses, as I can see has happened in the many threads where you have flamed people in the past who were asking reasonable questions.

I'm not going to respond to your antagonism any further, as "A", I have work to do, and can't sit around on a forum all day long. Unlike your good self. By the way, working on those people skills may get the work flowing in a little quicker if you know what I mean. Devil makes for idle hands and all that!
And "B", because feeding you unhealthy addiction to being a forum super god will only make your situation worse. Thanks for the entertainment though, haven't had this level of intellectual challenge since primary school!

 

[45yearsagasman]

And all this started with what I consider to have been a perfectly valid question. That was until some people lost the plot, and turned it into a slanging match. This happens far to often and spoils the forum.

 

[ianmcd]

Lets start this topic from scratch the symptoms you describe are very common for your boiler and the part is not very expensive to replace but it sounds as though the Gas engineer that you use is not really experienced with this boiler, as stated it is against the site rules to chat about anything that is combustion or safety device related so I cant say what safety device I suspect is causing this, perhaps a call to an experienced Ferolli engineer might be your best move, try calling them and ask who your local agent is

 

[scottyjohn]

Hi guys,
Thanks for the redirect back to normal service. The attitude of some of the members does appear to be a bit disappointing, but I wont let it put me off using it as the information on here and the help and advice from most members is excellent. I use and contribute to a lot of technical forums, and they have been invaluable throughout my career in IT, but Ive never had to deal with an attitude like Mr Agile's.

Anyway, I have confidence that my engineer has many years of experience and that he will resolve my problem, but because of the intermittent nature of the fault, he asked me to gather as much detail as to what was actually happening so that when it did occur again, he had some information to help him start his investigations. Like I say, I have a couple of properties, and he has carried out services, repairs and provided Gas safety certs for them. He was also really helpful and came out to give me advice about position and size etc for fitting concealed flue inspection hatches, and he did this without charge. He's been great and will be out on Saturday morning for this latest issue.

Thanks IanMcD, hopefully it will be the part you are thinking of and wont sting me too much. Everything seems to have went at once recently, from cars to boilers to garage roofs!