Vaillant ecotec pro 831 hot water issues

[jbond007]

Hi,

For the past few days I've been having problems with hot water. Central Heating is working fine. I've enabled warmstart - but it doesnt seem to be working. What I've noticed is when I reset the boiler and the "flame" sign shows up and if I leave the hot water tap running I can maintain the hot water flow. Once I turn off the hot water tap, the "flame" sign goes off on the boiler and then if I were to switch on the hot water tap - no hot water and also the "flame" doesn't come back on unless I reset the boiler and it only stays on as long as the hot water tap is running.

It seems like the boiler isn't recognizing there is a requirement for hot water. Could anybody point me to the likely issue and if there are any basic tests I could perform ?

I've called out the engineer but he isn't coming in for the next couple of days. In the meantime, I've got to keep resetting to get hot water.

Has anyone come across similar issues ?

Thanks

 

[Agile]

Sounds like the flow detector is not operating. Thats not a DIY job on your model.

Usually they can be cleaned but sometimes need replacement.

Have you done any mains water pipe changes? Or nearby street works?

Tony

 

[jbond007]

I haven't had any mains pipe work done recently and not aware about any street works. Out of curiousity why would that affect the boiler ?

Thanks

 

[Agile]

Dirt in the mains water!

 

[jbond007]

Thanks - replacing the flow detector (if that is indeed the issue), would you classify that as a straightforward job ? I've looked at replacement flow detectors and they're in £30-£40 range - so not horribly expensive.

 

[Agile]

Reasonably I suppose.

But any boiler jobs are reasonable to me unless they are on recent Worcester boilers!

Tony