Potterton 30HE Fan/Flue fault? (Pic on Page 2)

[shivering]

Hey all,

Yesterday the boiler stopped providing us with hot water and the heating is minimal with it not getting very hot at all.

The pressure when not operating seems to be at the 1 bar mark (recommended 0.5-1.0).

The fan/flue neon flashes indicating a fault in that area.

There also seemed to be water coming from the underside of the boiler, this now seems to have stopped.

We are going to get someone out but wanted a better understanding of the problem. Also the radiators seem to tick and the radiator nearest the boiler has quite a loud knocking sound coming from it.

Any ideas??

 

[ChrisR]

Can't tell much from what you're saying. DOes the boiler come on for CH?
How long before the light flashes?
Does it try to light for HW?

 

[bengasman]

There also seemed to be water coming from the underside of the boiler, this now seems to have stopped.


Also the radiators seem to tick and the radiator nearest the boiler has quite a loud knocking sound coming from it.

Any ideas??

loud knocking?

some more detailed info might help

 

[shivering]

Can't tell much from what you're saying. DOes the boiler come on for CH?
How long before the light flashes?
Does it try to light for HW?

Sorry for by brief input. Well it does and doesnt. Up until yesterday evening the boiler always came oon and we were getting CH. However yeserday we had an enginer come out who told us that it was the thermister valve that had gone and thats why we were not getting hot water as it wasnt firing up properly and also why we were getting a small leak from the underside of the boiler.

He said we whould have no problem with the CH. We tried the central heating last night due to the cold night and the CH did not work. We called the emergency call out number whom pulled up the report from the engineer, they stated that he had told them, that we wouldnt have central heating for long either.

I am lost as i am unsure why a problem with the T.Valve would come up on the boiler as a fault with the fan/flue.

Since the engineers visit the pressure in the system has shot up. Before his visit the pressure was at the 01 bar mar (0.5 and 1.0) recommended at standstill. Nw it at the 3 bar mark area (at standstill). Hope this helps a little more.

I have fired the boiler up this morning and the CH started to come through however switched it off due to the pressure, was it the right thing to do? Should i relieve the pressure?

There also seemed to be water coming from the underside of the boiler, this now seems to have stopped.


Also the radiators seem to tick and the radiator nearest the boiler has quite a loud knocking sound coming from it.

Any ideas??

loud knocking?

some more detailed info might help

Sorry. When the system fires up a short time later there is a loud knocking or tapping noise coming from the radiator closest to the boiler. I would say there is a tap around 6-7 times a minute. Subsequently there is a small amount of tapping in another downstairs radiator and also the one in our bedroom, same sort of timespan but quieter. These do fade as the system heats up but as you can imagine, can be quite annoying.

I bled the radiators and none of them had air in them so im sure its not that...any ideas?

 

[bengasman]

Sorry. When the system fires up a short time later there is a loud knocking or tapping noise coming from the radiator closest to the boiler. I would say there is a tap around 6-7 times a minute. Subsequently there is a small amount of tapping in another downstairs radiator and also the one in our bedroom, same sort of timespan but quieter. These do fade as the system heats up but as you can imagine, can be quite annoying.

I bled the radiators and none of them had air in them so im sure its not that...any ideas?

faulty installation of pipework to rad

 

[shivering]

Sorry. When the system fires up a short time later there is a loud knocking or tapping noise coming from the radiator closest to the boiler. I would say there is a tap around 6-7 times a minute. Subsequently there is a small amount of tapping in another downstairs radiator and also the one in our bedroom, same sort of timespan but quieter. These do fade as the system heats up but as you can imagine, can be quite annoying.

I bled the radiators and none of them had air in them so im sure its not that...any ideas?

faulty installation of pipework to rad

Can you elaborate?

 

[shivering]

Any ideas on the boiler problems?

 

[ChrisR]

Your boiler filling loop must be open - close it. Check if the pressure relief pipe outside has been dripping. If so you may as well use that valve to drop the pressure, though it may continue to drip afterwards. (they're meant to open at 3 bar)

Thermistor is just a sensor not a valve.
Clicking/ticking noises are due to pipes expanding where rubbing against wood, etc.

Does the HW work? Was it working when he left?

 

[shivering]

Your boiler filling loop must be open - close it. Check if the pressure relief pipe outside has been dripping. If so you may as well use that valve to drop the pressure, though it may continue to drip afterwards. (they're meant to open at 3 bar)

Thermistor is just a sensor not a valve.
Clicking/ticking noises are due to pipes expanding where rubbing against wood, etc.

Does the HW work? Was it working when he left?

Nope hot water doesnt work and it wasnt working when he left. He said it wont work until hes changed the thermistor

Just about to leave for work. Will check the filling loop and valve outside when i get in. Hopefully that will sort it. Is the thermistor the be all and end all of these problems then. The pressure only shot up since hes been!

 

[shivering]

Right, ive been relieving the pressure from the system and occasionally the system is now firing up and giving us CH which is a bonus but it is more than often locking out.

Will play it by ear and she how things are once the thermistor is changed. BBBrrrrrr...

 

[shivering]

For some reason the bloke is taking the mickey and said hes had to order the part, the thermistor that is., even though another guy tells me these are available pretty much off the shelf...

Is it right that the thermistor would stop the boiler from firing up and that it would make the fault indicator flash that there is a fault with the fan/flue??

What could be the issue thats stopping the boiler from actually firing??

 

[shivering]

I really am living up to my username here

 

[bengasman]

never worked on this particular model, but i find it hard to believe he has to order a simple part like that.

 

[shivering]

Exactly my thoughts...

Current stae of play is that the boiler is not firing up everytime...

Occasionally it fires up and starts the CH up however after a while it goes off, in most cases it tries to fire it up again but sometimes it will actually start to flash that there is a fault with the fan/flue again...can ALL this really be caused by the thermistor valve??

Is it normal for it to show that fault if the thermistor is the problem?

 

[namsag]

On these there is 2 thermisters and they can be change in about 2 mins to check if faulty the one down by the plate heat ex is usually the faulty one and symtonsd are rapid on off after a few mins if it fails copmpletly it can be changed with the other one to get boiler up and running.
Personally i would say it is the board gone cost 70 quid plus vat so anything more than a ton for part and they are taking the P .
Themistor is less than a tenner