Potterton Suprima 40 Amber light - Please help!!!

Hi Guys,

Can anyone here help, we moved into this house in may (1st home) and boiler has been fine up until a few weeks ago...

The light on the boiler goes to amber and flashes amber and no water or heating comes on !!

When we moved in to the house there was a receipt for a new PCB so i assume this boiler suffered from the red lock out light, which obviously is now fixed....

(there is a booklet replacement part number for the pcb 5111603)

however some days you'll come to turn the bolier on for water and heating and it will come on within 5 mins?

Can anyone help with any suggestions of what to do! this is doing my head in ! thanks!


Cheers

JP

Is the amber light on constant all the time or does it just come on when there is a call for heat/hot water.. I,E no light on at all when all is turned off on the clock.

when i turn the water and heating on it will start to flash, then sometimes it goes green and works fine, then other times ... like today when i turned on at 3 and it still hasnt come on and its 7.15 now!!

is the fan running? could be air pressure switch problem

hi,

sorry to act dumb but how do i know if the fan is on? if it makes any difference the light just comes on and flashes amber and nothing else happens?

yesterday i turned on the heating in the morning was fine, today it hasnt been on all day?

Hi Petchy

Did you manage to fix this problem? I also have a Potterton Suprima 40 with a 5111603 PCB. The 5111603 as fitted just over a year ago I have similar issues as you.

The CH and HW come on but then go off when they shouldn't. I can then no longer get them to come back on with the ADV and EXT buttons.

Last year I paid an electrician to confirm that the boiler was receiving a call for heat, which it was. Strangely the problem went away but now (sods law) as it is winter, the problem has come back.

It isn't until the next time period that the boiler fires back up again.

Thanks...

OK, for the benefit of anyone else who reads this thread and is unlucky enough to own a Potterton Surprima 40 (or same range) boiler, I have just worked out what my constant Amber light problem could be..

I can manually trigger the boiler to fire up by pressing the HW Extend button on the timer. If I try this using the CH Extend button on the timer, nothing happens - the boiler light remains Amber.

The boiler is also still turning off when it shouldn't be, i.e before the time set on the timer. So, even though following the troubleshooting flow chart in the documentation states lastly to replace the PCB, my logic would say that this is a timer problem rather than a PCB problem. I have already paid a local electrician to confirm that the boiler is receiving a signal from the temperature controller on the wall.

I don't have the dreaded lockout problem (been there and done that) as this was cured last year with a PCB upgrade through Domestic and General to the more reliable 5111603. I wasn't brave enough to purchase a reconditioned PCB board or a new unit and fit it myself.

My new PCB has a square reset button, which also incidentally doesn't allow me to reset boiler after holding it down for 15 (and more) seconds.

My timer is a Potterton EP2002 timer. I will be replacing this tomorrow, probably with an EP3002, which according to various Plumbing/Heating retail websites has the same back plate as an EP2002, so hopefully it will be a simple install.

Incidentally, I no longer have the instructions or documentation for my PCB however the guy on EBay who sells second hand older model PCB's was very helpful and Emailed me the user guides for the 5111603. Very helpful chap!

So, I will order a new timer tomorrow and report back ASAP to whether or not this fixed the problem.

This is an excellent forum and I hope my posts help others fix their Suprima problems without having to line the pockets of Potterton, who in my opinion charge extortionate fee's for fixing their poorly designed products.

maxdiy said:

The boiler is also still turning off when it shouldn't be, i.e before the time set on the timer.

Click to expand...

In the trade we often find that some customers have a very narrow idea of what to expect. When the heating is turned on they expect the rads to be permanently hot!

We all get these calls saying the heating is turned on at the timeclock but the radiators are cold !

In this case the obvious expectation is that the property has warmed up and turned off the boiler at the room stat!

Tony

My new PCB has a square reset button, which also incidentally doesn't allow me to reset boiler after holding it down for 15 (and more) seconds.

Click to expand...

Don't do that! If you hold the button long enough (more than 10 seconds I think) it will go into a diagnostic mode and appear to be not working. Repeat the long hold and it returns.
If the light's on solid amber there's no call for heat.
Easy to verify with a <£10 mutimeter or even a £1 neon screwdriver.

Hehe, I don't really think I have a narrow idea of what to expect after spending hours reading posts on the net, talking to various people in the industry and studying the PCB instructions.

When the boiler hits room temperature, it shouldn't go into constant Amber. Even though the heating is on, it gets very cold in the house and the radiators are COLD. Boiler temperature satisfied is flashing green, which doesn't happen. So, thanks for your narrow expectation

ChrisR, I did it already! and nothing happened! As I have suggested earlier in this post, I have already had an electrician round to confirm that the boiler is receiving a signal from the control stat, which it is!

Anyway, I will be ordering a new timer today so I will report back the outcome.

Thanks for your suggestions...

Hi MaxDIY

Good luck in your quest!

I have had nothing done to my boiler recently, however when we moved into this house (7months ago) we were told that the timer for CH and HW didnt work. Which wasnt too much of a problem, as we'd just flick the switch manually and the water/CH (when the thermostat was turned from 0oc to 15oc+ - i.e off and on and you hear a click) worked fine.

Now we just have the amber light.... i'll go to put on CH/HW it will blink amber for anything between 5mins and 6hrs - then all of a sudden kick in and be ok for the rest of the day?

All i have done is signed up for the powergen (E.ON) plan were they service the boiler + give you 12 months guarentee.... i'm hoping when they come to service, it appears to be working fine then we can take it from there...

I'm no plumber by any means but i think the problem is lying some where between the boiler and the thermostat or something along those lines not working correctly? i.e. boiler thinks its hit the temp ok so doesnt come on... even though it isnt???

keep me informed max! where in the uk are you!

hopefully we can get this sorted!!!!!!!
all the best

Hi MaxDIY,

How did you get on?

maxdiy said:

Hehe, I don't really think I have a narrow idea of what to expect after spending hours reading posts on the net, talking to various people in the industry and studying the PCB instructions.

When the boiler hits room temperature, it shouldn't go into constant Amber. Even though the heating is on, it gets very cold in the house and the radiators are COLD. Boiler temperature satisfied is flashing green, which doesn't happen. So, thanks for your narrow expectation

Click to expand...

If HW demand brings on the boiler and CH does not then dont you think that the problem might be associated with the controls and particularly perhaps the motorised valve rather than the boiler?

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Tony

Now then now then Agile, no need for that - we are both mearly trying to discover what is going wrong with our boilers!!!!

Mine seems to be unexplainable! for it to blink amber randomly then all of a sudden decide to just come on (at random times) probably signals to me there is some sort of error with a sensor somewhere!!!!

We are not saying boiler engineers are thick, we are only looking for advice and help in order to save some big money, which i dont think is a criminal offence is it?

You have not said anything wrong Petchy or made any very stupid assumptions!

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You seem to on the right lines and to have realised that the key to the boiler coming on is for the call for heat connection to become live. You dont need to call a thick electrician to check that either, just touch a neon screwdriver on the terminal and see if it glows.

You are far better having the help of a boiler engineer than Maxdiy even though he thinks he knows so much!

Tony