Vokera Linea Max - Motorised Valve leaking?

[danu]

I've just discovered a patch of water under the left hand side of my Linea Max boiler. Having taken the front off I could see occasional drips dripping off the bottom of the motorised valve unit. I took the cover off and can see the cogs inside are wet and water is in the unit. I put the cover back on and restarted the boiler. I can hear the sound of water inside the unit as the cogs are rotating. I'm assuming there shouldn't be water in it as there are electrical connections inside it. I'm assuming that the water is maybe coming from a failed seal or something. Any ideas? The boiler has been working perfectly up until now and has recently been serviced (3 months ago). The only thing I have to do is occasionally re-pressurise it.

 

[DP]

I do not think the boiler was serviced. Looked at and feather duster used but not serviced as the makers suggest.

Why do I say that? Because there should not be any water in the motor. The water has come from the gland/ stuffing box that should stop the water from leaking and entering the motor in the first place. The spindle should have been cleaned and lubed and gland replaced if suspect. Looks like this did not happen.

I take it the service time was around 15 minutes and boiler case/ panels were not reoved.

 

[danu]

Hi and thanks a lot for your speedy reply!

The guy who came out did take the panel off - not sure if it was any more than just the front panel though. He did have his hoover with him and seemed to "clean" in and around the boiler. He did take various bits off and apparently checked that it was operating normally (gas supply OK, flame OK, flue alright etc etc) btu I can't say for sure exactly what he did. I was working from home and was busy at the time so couldn't keep an eye on what he was doing. He gave me the yearly safety certificate and it cost £45 for whatever he did.

Do you think the spindle lubrication and gland replacement could be something I could do myself? I'm pretty handy at this sort of stuff and have already taken the motorised valve apart and put it back together to investigate. I found the service manual on the web and have found where the retaining clip is for the valve so I reckon I can take it off without much hassle. I have isolated all the electrical supply but was just wondering what I would need to do to replace the gland (i.e. does the water supply need to be turned off or boiler drained etc)? Otherwise I'll get our local recommended boiler chappy to come take a look.

 

[Terrywookfit]

Not A difficult job!!
Turn off supplies to boiler and isolate store!!
Purchase service kit ! You will neen a box spanner or long socket for the gland!! Remove cover and innards 6 screws,replace and clean /lubricate components!
Reassemble!!

Instuctions are in manual I recall!!

IF you have water in actuator it will probably be shot so replace as well!!

 

[ChrisR]

Nut's 14mm iirc!

 

[superdupergasman]

If the nut comes out give that man a round of applause.

I just get the whole front of the valve now along with the service kit as its never come out with me

As the others say, 15 - 20 mins should have it done!

 

[Terrywookfit]

If the nut comes out give that man a round of applause.

I just get the whole front of the valve now along with the service kit as its never come out with me

As the others say, 15 - 20 mins should have it done!

Try a 1/4" drive long reach socket it has never failed for me!!

 

[danu]

Hi All

Thanks everyone for your help - I seem to be making progress but now I think I have another problem.

Done so far: Replaced all seals/gaskets in the diverter valve -> now the leak which was allowing water into the motorised valve appears to be fixed As said here - couldn't find a 14mm long reach socket so had to leave the original nut in place.

Motorised valve is knackered though - terminals inside are corroded and it looked like it had arced. This also blew the 2amp fuse on the circuit board (well - that's all I can put the blown fuse down to).

Thought I'd try the valve again anyway, so cleaned it up, replaced the fuse and put the valve back together and re-fitted. Sure enough I get CH working but when I request hot water the valve doesn't turn and divert so no HW. If I take the valve apart and manually turn then I get the reverse - HW but no CH.

I've ordered a new motorised valve which will arrive tomorrow.

What I'm seeing now though is if I leave the valve in the CH position and run the boiler in CH mode, the manual timer clock doesn't seem to work anymore - it turns but doesn't switch off the CH when it should. I've also tried the timer in the 0 position and the external room thermostat turned right down but the boiler just seems to run constantly - heating the water to the required CH temp then turning off the burner then re-igniting and heating etc. The pressure seems OK (i.e. above 1.2 bar when off, dropping to 1 bar when initially turned on then rising to 1.2 ish bar when the waters been heated and the CH is flowing). Having said that, I've just turned the selector switch to off and the pressure gauge is now resting at 1.4 bar. I'm assuming this is because there's hot water in the system.

Do you think replacing the dodgy motorised valve with the new one will make the boiler behave normally again or could something else have broken? If I need to re-pressurise the expansion chamber how do I do that? I mention this because I've also noticed some water has been sent through the prv which I've never noticed before. I've just run the boiler now though in CH mode for 30 mins and haven't noticed anymore water coming out. The manual timer used to work fine so unless its broken now I can't think what else could be wrong.