Turning boiler ON after long period

[yartin]

Hi
I have boiler has been turned off for 10 years. I tried to turn it on today and failed in the first step. It doesn't have a fused spur so plugged it to the wall socket, turn switch on and immediately trips MCB in the consumer unit, any ideas why?

 

[Mottie]

Seized fan?

 

[Madrab]

Seized pump by the sounds of it. Makes sure there is a 3A fuse in there.

 

[yartin]

Hmm seized pump or fan but why? I am not starting the boiler, there is no pilot light and not turning tap, just plugging to wall socket causes fuse to trip or am I missing something?

 

[yartin]

My ex had same issue few months ago, just asked her and was faulty socket.
Today I called a central heating engineer to turn the boiler on and issue gas safety certificate, he plugged boiler and fuse tripped and said "pcb burnt old boiler no parts beyond repair ... buy a new one £1800" , how convenient! I will go tomorrow and check if all sockets on that line tripping fuse, I will use a drill to test. Probably tenant has played with the wiring or just a faulty socket

 

[Madrab]

What boiler make/model is it?

If the pump is seized, it can easily cause an overload. The pump will probably be seized because it's been sitting in water for 10 years without having moved. Most boilers that have an internal pump turns it over every now and then to stop it seizing. If it's the pump then I wouldn't think there would be a problem replacing that.

The fan could have done the same but if the boiler has been nice and dry then it's less likely to be that but depending on the boiler make will determine if a new fan would be available.

 

[yartin]

If the pump is seized, it can easily cause an overload. The pump will probably be seized because it's been sitting in water for 10 years without having moved. Most boilers that have an internal pump turns it over every now and then to stop it seizing. If it's the pump then I wouldn't think there would be a problem replacing that.

The fan could have done the same but if the boiler has been nice and dry then it's less likely to be that but depending on the boiler make will determine if a new fan would be available.

If it's seized pump or fan issue, why the consumer fuse is tripping and not fuse in the plug?

There is no water leak, there is a painted boxing just below the boiler and it's dry no water marks.

I will try to go there today, test wall socket.

 

[FiremanT]

Hi
I have boiler has been turned off for 10 years. I tried to turn it on today and failed in the first step. It doesn't have a fused spur so plugged it to the wall socket, turn switch on and immediately trips MCB in the consumer unit, any ideas why?

My crystal ball is a bit dusty, tbh. It could be anything. Why was it off for 10 years? A seized pump will not, in my experience, trip an MCB or blow a fuse - an internally leaking one may. The wiring could have been damaged in 10 years?.

Someone competent with a muktimeter could get very close to the answer within half hour by isolating and testing

 

[HERTS P&D]

So your tenant had a non working boiler for 10 years??

Andy

 

[yartin]

So your tenant had a non working boiler for 10 years??

Andy

No, he turned boiler off from day 1, its a business unit, he used the boiler room for storage, I couldn't check or send someone to have a look. He left yesterday.

 

[HERTS P&D]

That sounds a lot better. I thought you were going for worlds worst landlord.

Andy

 

[Madrab]

Had one do it tail end of last year .... holiday property that hadn't been in used because of COVID. Power had been shut off after an RCD tripping, they reset the RCD and the MCB covering the boiler tripped, fuse in the FCU was fine. Shut it off at the FCU and reset the MCB, turned it on, tripped again.

As the boiler hadn't had power for over a year the pump had ground to a halt. Didn't see any internal leak but the pump was goosed, swapped it out and off it went quite happily.

 

[yartin]

Had one do it tail end of last year .... holiday property that hadn't been in used because of COVID. Power had been shut off after an RCD tripping, they reset the RCD and the MCB covering the boiler tripped, fuse in the FCU was fine. Shut it off at the FCU and reset the MCB, turned it on, tripped again.

As the boiler hadn't had power for over a year the pump had ground to a halt. Didn't see any internal leak but the pump was goosed, swapped it out and off it went quite happily.

I am not trying to fix it myself, I had one gas engineer yesterday said beyond repair and wanted to sell a new boiler. I will go tomorrow check if it's wall socket fault. If the socket is faulty will then can try different socket and attempt to start boiler otherwise I have to call a different engineer.

 

[Madrab]

Do we have the boiler make and model?

 

[FiremanT]

I am not trying to fix it myself, I had one gas engineer yesterday said beyond repair and wanted to sell a new boiler. I will go tomorrow check if it's wall socket fault. If the socket is faulty will then can try different socket and attempt to start boiler otherwise I have to call a different engineer.

Did he test anything to establish that the Boiler was the culprit?