HE combi boiler air problem

Sabre 24 HE boiler was lighting then switching off and flashing red light,when I checked it I could hear fan coming on and clicking to light gas,I've cleaned tubes on pressure switch which worked for a few weeks,but problems returned,double checked tubes seem to be clear and can hear pressure switch clicking,but I noticed boiler works and sucks in a lot of air when I have the front cover off (not boiler cover,but main boiler cover to exchanger)as soon as I clip it on the flame slowly dies away,I've checked flue pipe and inside and outside pipes are correctly fitted so gasses not mixing,has anyone any ideas.

I think it's a coincidence but problem started right after gas safety check was done.

You need the gas safe engineer who done the safety check back to repair it.

Daniel.

That would be the thing todo Daniel ,but been there before and get all the "nothing to do with us" malarkey , so would like to try and sort it myself first,and the tenants didn't tell me about the fault for quite a few weeks till after engineer had been.....anyways I will have ago first, and having found some helpful threads in this forum on the subject I will remove and fully clean Venturi,fan etc, which brings my next question, does anyone have a link for where to get the HE sabre 24 service manual.

btw I am a plumber,but not a gas fitter, so am reasonably competent,although haven't been on the tools for a long time

Data said:

That would be the thing todo Daniel ,but been there before and get all the "nothing to do with us" malarkey , so would like to try and sort it myself first,and the tenants didn't tell me about the fault for quite a few weeks till after engineer had been.....anyways I will have ago first, and having found some helpful threads in this forum on the subject I will remove and fully clean Venturi,fan etc, which brings my next question, does anyone have a link for where to get the HE sabre 24 service manual.

btw I am a plumber,but not a gas fitter, so am reasonably competent,although haven't been on the tools for a long time

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You should be calling out a boiler engineer , if you need to ask what the fault is then clearly you dont have a clue!!!!! and should not be working on the boiler !!!!!!!!

Are you the landlord?

Get the gas engineer in and repair it, it is illegal for a non-gas safe fitter to repair, service any gas related fittings.

Think about it:
You repaired boiler, tenant happy, boiler starting not working right, give out carbon monoxide or gas leak, tenant dying or died, court found you guilty, prison for you and/or hefty fines.

Pay more to get an gas safe engineer in.

Daniel.

First class pillock!

Ok get the point,all be it a pretty unfriendly way to put it......
And for the record I am very safety conscious I have carbon monoxide alarms in all my flats along with smoke and heat alarms,I fully intend to get it checked after any work I carry out, it's a boiler and yes can kill you,so can a car, electric wiring and a great deal of things, especially if a pillock is using them,but most competent people will have a go at most things,and indeed fix them while saving a lot of money,but thanx to the pomp and drama and yes fear mongering around a gas appliance, corgi etc make a fortune and the average house holder gets shafted for an over inflated hours work to service or fix a boiler....and it is not illegal to work on the fan on your own boiler, I have no intention of touching any gas pipes or settings I am talking about cleaning a fan,the fact it's connected to a gas appliance still makes it a fan not a nuclear bomb, so why don't you get over yourself and keep off the forum if it angers you that much......

I get the whole point of if you're not qualified then do not touch it however it is legal for a competent person to carry out gas repairs in their own home, although I suspect doing work on an appliance in a home you rent is a very grey area ?1?!

Anyway I will say that if the boiler is getting to ignition stage that it deffo isn't the fan or the air pressure switch or related venturis and tubes.

shray said:

it is legal for a competent person to carry out gas repairs in their own home

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Agreed. But if anything happens which results in you having to go to court, the only way you will be able to prove your competence is to produce your Gas Safe Registration.

doing work on an appliance in a home you rent is a very grey area

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Not really. Several DIY landlords have ended up in court and received hefty fines.

D_Hailsham said:

shray said:

it is legal for a competent person to carry out gas repairs in their own home

Click to expand...

Agreed. But if anything happens which results in you having to go to court, the only way you will be able to prove your competence is to produce your Gas Safe Registration.

doing work on an appliance in a home you rent is a very grey area

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Not really. Several DIY landlords have ended up in court and received hefty fines.

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If you're not actually sure what you're posting is factual then maybe don't post so you don't look like a dick !

shray said:

If you're not actually sure what you're posting is factual then maybe don't post so you don't look like a dick !

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I am sure. OK, Dick?

Landlord Prosecuted

And that's just one example.

Another case of a tight fisted landlord whois incompetant and would rather put his tennants at risk instead of spending a bit of cash

Having read all posts and considering Sod's law I will get an engineer in,probably best.

But bazdaman your attitude and way of getting your point across on this open diy forum is not good,in fact is irritating and insulting,if you wish to educate people about the dangers of working on gas appliances who are not fully trained you would do a lot better if you were civil about it.

Re qualified engineers I have had a few jobs done over the years,paid for parts problem not fixed,come back pay for more parts,has any engineer ever said, sorry I didn't need to change the first part,here's your money back..er no

One case I spent a fortune on one boiler and many visits,as tenant kept contacting me to say heating not working,various engineers from same company went out and replaced something each time,then one guy who turned up unannounced when only the wife was in discovered the tenant had turned down the main gas valve thinking it would save him gas (he was from Libya) so obviously the fault was not enough gas volume.
Now I know it would be very difficult to diagnose as guy was turning gas back before each visit,but what this showed me is the engineers still changed perfectly good working parts,when you would think a so called corgi reg person should be able to know if a pcb or other part is faulty or not...and as a result of this experience I'm never 100% happy or trusting of gas engineers. Therefore the reason I was willing to clean the fan,is not a case of being tight fisted,it is because of past experiences with so called professionals ....

And finally let's not forget people have died from faults caused or not detected properly from corgi registered gas engineers,my point being it is more to do with the individuals sense of responsibility than a qualification .

"Anyway I will say that if the boiler is getting to ignition stage that it deffo isn't the fan or the air pressure switch or related venturis and tubes"


As I said I will be getting the engineer back, so it will give me more confidence that he's doing the right thing, shray would you mind indicating the things he should be looking at, I know this has become a hot topic, but I would be grateful, so when I pay him, my tight ass can relax a bit more if i feel he knows what he's talking about

You'll be paying him to fix it, ergo if he doesn't fix it you don't need to pay him. That's all you need to know. If you get a tenant who is causing a fault, such as your Libyan, then there should be something in your rental agreement to cover that eventuality.

The pro's on here get irritated with people asking about how to work on boilers because almost invariably they tend to be landlords who are apparently more interested in avoiding spending money than they are in their tenants' safety. It does become a little wearing after a while...