problem with flame detection error on trianco tristar optima

[jmbradley]

hi,

i have read a lot of forums but can't find an answer so here goes....

i have a gas trianco tristar optima system boiler and it has been giving a fault intermitently getting worse and now will not stay lit at all.

boiler clicks on, it lights, i can see the burner through the window, the detection electrode senses it, (has been replaced just to be sure) the lead is fine (there is sufficient current reaching the boiler board) but the boiler cuts out after a few seconds and gives the error code stating that it has not lit and cuts out for safety reasons.

does this mean my board it screwed? anyway to test it?

thanks.

 

[Homesafe]

condense pipe frozen??

 

[jmbradley]

i'll check, do you mean around the trap or around where it drains from the heat exchanger?

 

[Homesafe]

plastic pipe 22mm going outside. Get a kettle or ten of hot water on it, youll see the ice come out of it .

 

[jmbradley]

don't think there is on mine, the condensate pipe goes straight into the washing machine waste under it then runs along the wall inside before going outside.

 

[Homesafe]

don't think there is on mine, the condensate pipe goes straight into the washing machine waste under it then runs along the wall inside before going outside.

this could be where it's frozen then.

 

[jmbradley]

i have checked and it is clear and water runs through it ok. thank-you for your help, i'm getting desperate now!

 

[ir50]

jmbradley, I know it was a year ago but I'm having the same problem with the same boiler. At the moment its intermittent but getting worse. I must admit the pipe was frozen when we had the really cold spell in November but OK now.

Did you find out what it was? Wondering if frozen pipe has done some damage.

 

[jmbradley]

hi,

in the end after lengthy discussions with trianco i had to order a complete new control board at ridiculous price of 450 quid and then a long and cold wait for it to be delivered from italy or something. Overall i was very dissapointed with trianco and their customer service. in my opinion that was a manufacturing fault as the control board worked perfectly well for everything else on the boiler, it simply wasn't picking up the signal from the flame detection probe. very frustrating!! if it breaks again im ditching the whole thing and switching to bosch or anyone else.

if you want more info on the fault or anything IM me with your number and i'll call to explain it.

hopefully your problem is different!

 

[simond]

Frozen pipe will not damage PCB unless water has leaked over it.

You need to clean the detection probes up if it is intermittent, probably find they are corroded.

This is a job for an RGI, of course.

 

[Agile]

It always surprises me when I see boilers installed which are not common models and where spare parts are not normally stocked except through the manufacturers.

Tony

 

[simond]

In the case of Trianco they have gone under so many times (most recently Aug 2010) it would be difficult to justify holding spares.

 

[Agile]

It would still be worth having spares if there was an installed base of their boilers needing new parts.

I had a call a few months ago from a Builder who had just finished 26 houses and had used Gledhill boilers!

The houses were not yet occupied and already two boilers had failed, one with a split combustion chamber, but the manufacturer had gone bust and so there was no warrantee ! I declined that job because it would have been very time consuming for me to try to find spare parts.

Tony

 

[Agile]

If the OP or Mr Bradley has the failed PCB I would pay the postage to me so that I could investigate to see what the actual cause of the failure was.

Tony

 

[ir50]

Bought this one as Trianco was recommended as being a good British company making reliable boilers using easily available parts such as Grundfos pump etc. Believe they specialised more in oil boilers though. Boiler itself looks very solid and has all the bells and whistles! Think I only paid about £500 for it too. So £450 for a board would not be an option.

Think the problem occurs more when the boilers not been firing for a while. So first thing in the morning its more likely to fail. Once its been running, generally OK.

Thought I'd clean out the condensate trap and pipes. Few tiny bits of dark grey stuff came out....calcium maybe?? What I didn't like was that water was continuing to drip from the condensate outlet of the boiler. Got suspicious when 2 litres later, it was still dripping. This only stopped when I isolated the flow and return heating pipes. Started again when I opened them again. Boiler not running at time. Surely that can't be right. Wouldn't that indicate a leak within the combustion chamber.

Have checked now it is running again and outside condensate pipe is dripping once every 10 seconds.

Other thing I've noticed but hadn't before is boiler seems to be cycling unless it is turned up to full output or just under. Basically max output is 80 degs. If set to less than 76 degs, it heats up to to 80 and then kills flame, cools down and then starts again. Set it to 76 or higher and it will heat up and level out at set temp and stay there.

Don't know whether this is all related. Boiler only been in 2 years.