Baxi Main Combi Flame Failure Problem

Hi – I wonder if anyone can assist on a problem with my combi boiler, a Baxi main Combi HE24 boiler which is about 3 years old.

Sometimes when the heating is switched off the Flame Failure light comes on. The light may go out of its own accord within 5 to 10 minutes, but if not you have to reset the boiler which can take several attempts. The happened once or twice over the first few years but the boiler has done it frequently over the last few months. It is most likely to occur when the heating has been on for several hours. Once last week the Power light also came on briefly as well.

The boiler has been serviced regularly and under a maintenance contract so I assumed it would be a simple matter to fix the problem. The first engineer who attended replaced the air pressure switch and the second engineer replaced the gas valve, neither of which made any difference. Both engineers seemed puzzled by the problem occurring as the heating is switched off; one even tried to convince me I was mistaken and the fault really occurred when I switched the heating on. The second engineer told me that all possible parts have been replaced now and there’s nothing further he can do to solve the problem.

Before calling them out again I’d be grateful for any suggestions as to where the problem really lies and how it could be fixed.


Thanks
Dave

This really does demonstrate just how these companies employ nupties who just change parts without having any diagnostic skills.

I have no idea whats wrong with your boiler as I have never seen or tested it. The condensate trap would be an obvious first possibility to check.

Then there are the gas settings to be checked although changing the gas valve, if he knew how to set them up, might have discounted this possibility.

Tony

First thing I would do is measure the electricity on the spur/socket feeding the boiler to see what the various values are, and various electronic parts from there.

Thanks for those replies – from my limited knowledge the condensation trap did appear to be an obvious starting point, in fact I checked the drain pipe was clear as soon as the trouble started.

Incidentally, I’ve just noticed that the fault can sometimes be cleared by turning the hot water on.

One thing I should have mentioned before is that normally when you turn the boiler off you can hear a motor (fan I assume) winding down. However when the fault occurs if sounds as if the motor stops immediately.

Dave