I have a problem with a Halstead Ace high CH boiler which has beaten a Halsted engineer over five visits. The DHW usually fails to start unless the boiler is actually lit for central heating. If you turn on the water when the heating is on then it will switch to DHW faultlessly and does what its supposed to. As soon as the water is turned off the heating will fail to restart and will sit there for a considerable time before finally restarting, sometimes hours. When it does restart the heat output is low and intermittant. No fault lights illuminate. When starting on the timer from stone cold first thing in the morning the heating runs up to temperature and shuts down abruptly regardless of thermostat setting, goes through several short cycles before switching off for hours. At no time , other than as described does the DHW start on demand. Clearly the engineer is stumped and has reached the "not a clue stage". Advice is heading towards the random changing of bits until the problem disappears or change the boiler. I am not inclined to follow either suggestion without a proper diagnosis of the problem. The boiler has run faultlessly until now and is not scaled up or leaking. Its worrying when the engineer is stumped too!. Any ideas?
Halstead Ace High boiler problem
- Thread starter steamraiser2
- Start date
Sponsored Links
These are not the most reliabale of boilers and not everyone's favourite either. The engineer is not a staff engineer but an approved local engineer.
If the boiler will fault when visited there are standard tests which should be made towards diagnosing the fault. Are you able to advise EXACTLY what he has tested and how he did the test?
There is no point in me just guessing or listing parts which could be at fault because the only thing that is relevant is the actual fault with your boiler.
A customer reasonably expects an engineer to be able to diagnose the actual fault and not to change parts at the customer's cost until he gets lucky and manages to change whatever is at fault.
I hope that he is not charging you for visiting and not finding the fault. Nor should you have to pay for parts which dont fix the fault either in my view.
Where are you? I do have to say I could do with another meal at that combined Indian/Chinese eat as much in Weymouth. If you are in B'mth/Poole then we have Kevin who posts on ths forum who needs a challenge!
Tony
If the boiler will fault when visited there are standard tests which should be made towards diagnosing the fault. Are you able to advise EXACTLY what he has tested and how he did the test?
There is no point in me just guessing or listing parts which could be at fault because the only thing that is relevant is the actual fault with your boiler.
A customer reasonably expects an engineer to be able to diagnose the actual fault and not to change parts at the customer's cost until he gets lucky and manages to change whatever is at fault.
I hope that he is not charging you for visiting and not finding the fault. Nor should you have to pay for parts which dont fix the fault either in my view.
Where are you? I do have to say I could do with another meal at that combined Indian/Chinese eat as much in Weymouth. If you are in B'mth/Poole then we have Kevin who posts on ths forum who needs a challenge!
Tony
Hi thanks for the reply. Halstead gave me the number of the boiler engineer who has serviced it for a couple of years now. I've no idea what testing has been done as 'er in doors has been home while the engineer is there. I'm in one of the villages close to Poole if Kevin is up for it 
From your description, its sounds similar to my daughters ace high problem. intermittent and heat related. examination of the underside of the pcb revealed 1 very bad soldered joint, with signs of arcing.
Boiler would start when cool but would give up after any period of time from couple of mins to couple of hours.
Boiler would start when cool but would give up after any period of time from couple of mins to couple of hours.
Sponsored Links
Thanks Mandate..your daughter seems to have suffered the same problem, more or less. I'll get it checked out as soon as I can
Just because the symptoms sound similar does not mean the fault is necessarily the same.
PCB faults on this model are quite common and I would have expected the engineer would have given it a visual during his visit.
Whilst obvious faults can be seen on the PCB that does not eliminate it from the possibilities.
Tony
PCB faults on this model are quite common and I would have expected the engineer would have given it a visual during his visit.
Whilst obvious faults can be seen on the PCB that does not eliminate it from the possibilities.
Tony
You are quite correct Tony. But Ill get the PCB checked as well. i'm sure the way to go is to get an engineer who is familiar with all the fault checks involved and work through it. Stabbing in the dark won't fix it. I've not parted with cash yet which is good , but I'm getting no where at the moment. Halstead are not being too helpful and have just steered me towards the same engineer who has had no luck so far.
Of course I dont know the enginer or how many Halsteads there are in your area but B'mth/Poole are quite large towns with a pop of perhaps 350,000 so I would expect a fair number of them.
The service agent sould have spare PCBs with him and so should not have a problem with fitting a new PCB and then removing it if it did not fix the fault.
Many engineers have a few "test" PCBs which are usually used/repaired ones, or have minor faults, which can be used to substitute on test but dont have a high value like a new one in case they are zapped by an unseen problem in the boiler.
Tony
The service agent sould have spare PCBs with him and so should not have a problem with fitting a new PCB and then removing it if it did not fix the fault.
Many engineers have a few "test" PCBs which are usually used/repaired ones, or have minor faults, which can be used to substitute on test but dont have a high value like a new one in case they are zapped by an unseen problem in the boiler.
Tony
L
lifesagasman
it wouldn't be unususal for a PCB dry joint to show up when the boiler gets hot. when it cools, the faulty joint can 'make' again, which is what makes it hard to trace. board swapping may help eliminate from the suspect list.
As long as a boiler repeatedly fails when a boiler man is there, then I'd agree with Tony.
The problems come when the boiler works fine while it's being watched.
THEN the boiler man has a right to be paid for his attandance and whatever testing he sees fit, even if the boiler packs up again as soon as he leaves. It's also often appropriate to change a "likely" small part, perhaps a sensor or a switch, or do work on parts which is likely to cause an intermittent fault.
A bit like having spark plugs changed on a car which doesn't start easily. You still pay even if the main fault turns out to be summat else.
In your case, it's probably 70% likely to need a new PCB, 5% likely to be resolderable, 5% a switch not making/breaking properly, 5% a bad connection, 10% something else, and 30% a combination of faults!
The problems come when the boiler works fine while it's being watched.
THEN the boiler man has a right to be paid for his attandance and whatever testing he sees fit, even if the boiler packs up again as soon as he leaves. It's also often appropriate to change a "likely" small part, perhaps a sensor or a switch, or do work on parts which is likely to cause an intermittent fault.
A bit like having spark plugs changed on a car which doesn't start easily. You still pay even if the main fault turns out to be summat else.
In your case, it's probably 70% likely to need a new PCB, 5% likely to be resolderable, 5% a switch not making/breaking properly, 5% a bad connection, 10% something else, and 30% a combination of faults!
I agree with some of what Chris says but not all.
The agreement is that intermittent faults never present when the engineer is present.
My experiences however seem to be different on this model.
My last two PCB faults were both repairable. In fact all three PCB faults I have encountered were repairable. Whilst I dont agree with this in principle, when the PCB is particularly unreliable and rather expensive then I will repair them.
Other faults have been pump, fan related and switch related plus the usual blocked plate HEs for which I carry a spare for quick change.
When you do a bit of fault repairing even intermittent faults start to become easier to anticipate.
Tony
The agreement is that intermittent faults never present when the engineer is present.
My experiences however seem to be different on this model.
My last two PCB faults were both repairable. In fact all three PCB faults I have encountered were repairable. Whilst I dont agree with this in principle, when the PCB is particularly unreliable and rather expensive then I will repair them.
Other faults have been pump, fan related and switch related plus the usual blocked plate HEs for which I carry a spare for quick change.
When you do a bit of fault repairing even intermittent faults start to become easier to anticipate.
Tony
DIYnot Local
Staff member
If you need to find a tradesperson to get your job done, please try our local search below, or if you are doing it yourself you can find suppliers local to you.
Select the supplier or trade you require, enter your location to begin your search.
Are you a trade or supplier? You can create your listing free at DIYnot Local
Sponsored Links
