Gledhill Boilermate III & Potterton Suprima

[Mark Tang]

Having a problem with my central heating system, the boiler seems to fire up every 5-10mins or so. Having read through the forums, I believe that this is very unusual, that the boiler should only fire up every few hours.

Also the cupboard that that BM3 is in is very hot as is the hot water coming out of the taps (to almost scalding temp).

Just to check - does anyone have what the sensors should be reading i.e. Store_T1 and PHE_T2.

Mark.

 

[gas4you]

Don't know what the sensors should read, but I do know Gledhill have had a very bad run on faulty sensors.

 

[kevindgas]

this is a normal problem with boilermates, your boiler thermostat must be on maximum otherwise the store keeps on demanding heat and you will end up with a very large gas bill

 

[nickso]

and the BM3 has a setup procedure for the store temp that i found helped on mine.

 

[Mark Tang]

Cheers guys...

How difficult is it to change the thermostats on the Thermal Store??? Is it something that anyone technical can do???

Where do I get the setup procedure for setting the Thermal Store?

What is a good alternative to the BM3 (not Gledhill )?

 

[RichThompson]

Don't know about changing thermostats - as regards setting the store temperature there should be some instructions on the inside of the front cover (remove 4 screws). Inside you will see a string of green led's , 3 yellow and 1 red led. If you look nearby on one of the circuit boards there should be 3 tiny black buttons - one is to increase store temperature, 1 to decrease, and the other sets the temperature. You have to press the set button and either the + or - button at the same time to enter setup mode. The red led should flash and the number of green leds that also light tells you how high the store temperature is. If all are on its at max. Hold or press the + or - buttons to set temperature and press set - the red led should stop flashing.

I dont think there is much difference in the minimum and maximum store temperatures (max is over 80C). Even on low setting our airing cupboard was always a sauna. For our small 3-bedroom house the BM3 was completely the wrong installation. We didnt need a huge cylinder of scalding hot water on tap 24 hours a day. Also our BM3 was noisy and unreliable so I had British Gas replace it with a combi boiler. Expensive installation but our gas bills are lower.

 

[nickso]

Cheers guys...

How difficult is it to change the thermostats on the Thermal Store??? Is it something that anyone technical can do???

Where do I get the setup procedure for setting the Thermal Store?

What is a good alternative to the BM3 (not Gledhill )?

iirc the thermistors are dry pocket so no water is involved.

the BM3 was a bit of overkill IMO. the BM2 was perfectly adequate and i think gledhill were just trying to show off.

 

[Mark Tang]

Cheers folks.

Finally got British Gas to actually look at the BM3 - this engineer seemed a little bit more clued up, he wasn't frightened of actually taking the cover of the BM3.

Replaced the Speed Flow Sensor (which when removed was covered in green sludge - a mix of water condition and corrosion of the copper in the sensor), and also the actuator on the 3-Way valve.

The temperature of the cupbaord seems to have dropped and hopefully so will the amount of gas being used.

Now I know where to come for advice on everything - DIYnot.com rocks!!!