Britany 80 Combi - Clicking 60 light flashing

thescrapyard · 1 Feb 2010

Any suggestions what this fault may point to

I know I have a leaking PRV which I need to change to stop the pressure dropping, but the most annoying factor is the 60 fault flashing

Boiler could be on 2 days perfectly or maybe 2 hours it worked for about 3 weeks over Christmas when we needed it, the dropping pressure doesn't help as its switching the boiler off, but when you try to restart it by pressing the reset button or turning the boiler off then on again you get the same fault .... but not everytime, some times 3 lights flashing but rarely

It goes through the start up checks, clicking like its trying to fire up, then eventually shuts down with the 60 light flashing. New PCB about 18-24 months ago which was replaced under warrenty less than 12 months before that as that PCB appeared to be faulty

Annoying thing is it could fire up instantly or may take multiple attempts. Have also noticed when watching the flame through the front glass panel that the flame seems to 'bounce', until it settles down then works great once its lit

Thanks

gas4you · 1 Feb 2010

What are the 3 lights that sometimes flash?

thescrapyard · 1 Feb 2010

40 60 80 lights flash

Been on all day while at work, refused to light for me this morning just clicking and flashing 60 light

Girlfriend got it lit when she got up at 8am was on all day to about say 4pm with no issues

Its messing about tonight, just been off a couple of times, but just run the hot tap downstairs and its switched itself on as it should, so heating and water back on without touching the boiler

A lot of the problem is related to the PRV leaking and I need to have a look at the 'bomb' to see if its depressurised as far as I'm aware its not really been checked, so could have no pressure in it which won't help

Its thats gone I need to sort that out to stop the pressure going over 3 bar and dumping through the PRV again

andymac147 · 1 Feb 2010

i have found a main common problem with these is the primary flow thermistor situated on the left hand side i belive 2 purple wires coming off it.There are two thermistors which are identical the other just behind to the right that one relates to the hot water flow not usually the problen,I would def go for the first one you can sometimes get away with taking it out and giving it a clean but if its out you might aswell have it changed, but as you also say you need to sort out the high pressure build up,the filling loop is shut off is`nt it? and also get a qualified engineer in.

thescrapyard · 1 Feb 2010

Filling loop is off, I changed one of the taps recently as it was letting water past

That thermister gave problems before, I took it out and cleaned it up and it was fine after that

Weird thing I got tonight, boiler clicking away, then the 40 60 80 lights flashing and I turned the hot tap on in the bathroom for some reason, boiler lit instantly and performed as it should and seems fine for the moment

Apart from the PRV dripping, it needs renewing as its the original one so must be at least 4 years old now and had a problem with the pressure for a while but it 'went away' for a long time (months, and forgot about it) but now has come back again, so need to find time during the day to have a look at the 'bomb'

Somewhere else has suggested looking at the flexi pipe work leading to this as it may be blocked with crud and can show the pressure issue when it isn't really, but also said check the pressure while there

sambotc · 1 Feb 2010

Is it the one with the black lower front panel or the SE with the oval shape hole in the case where the clock etc is?

Sam

thescrapyard · 1 Feb 2010

Errr, neither

When you take the outer case off, which literally just lifts off two plastic pegs on the actual boiler casing the 'internals' of the boiler is all there in front of you

The white outer panel is literally just sheet steel which acts as a very basic cover

No drop down panel, no black panel or oval hole, just a basic what you see is what you get panel in white, what I would call old style combi controls just flat panel with no attempts to make it look nice

Its about 4/5 years old, but as my girlfriends ex bought it in to be fitted I believe she paid him to strip and do her house and he had the central heating fitted but simply tried to pay as little as possible for the combi boiler and put the rest in his pocket ... nice guy. As she found out when other people wanted paying for the work they had done which she gave him the money for but he didn't give to the builders

sambotc · 1 Feb 2010

Strange

It'll be an SE anyway if you have numbered lights on the front which relate to water temp and also flash up in various combinations depending on what is at fault. Double check there is no hole in the front case? Every other one has

Sounds like the board to me again. I put 3 boards in mine over the space of 5 years before binning the whole thing. Does the red light come on after trying to light a few times? From what I understand there are relays which control the gas valve which break down and cause intermittent failure.

Sam

thescrapyard · 2 Feb 2010

Red light yes,

Are these PRV valves the same as BAXI's as looking up this model its not exactly cheap for what basically a spring operated valve that doesn't even screw in just hold in by a clip and seal. Quality parts

sambotc · 2 Feb 2010

Not sure on that one would have to check o ring size and clip position. I can assure you the PRV has nothing to do with the above fault though.
Parts are getting increasingly expensive for these boilers now, which at the time was a key selling point for them as parts were once very reasonable. Last time I priced a board, it was nearly £150 which IMO isn't worth doing considering it'll last you 2 years before needing another.

HTH Sam

thescrapyard · 2 Feb 2010

Cured the pressure increase, the flexi-hose was blocked solid with crud/scale so apart from changing the PRV in a day or so now have to fix the other big issue

The 60 light flashing, boiler goes through start sequence, you can hear the air pressure switch click and tries to fire but then the 60 light starts flashing

Eventually managed to persuade it to fire, pressure seems okay not going up to 3bar anymore and heating warming up in 5 minutes or so, water hot and working okay. PRV valve will need changing, but 60 light came on after about 20 minutes. Boiler off again

Also cleaned the flow thermister anyway, that looked fine

Will order the ionisation sensor and change that, if not whats next .... new PCB ??? (been about 2 years maybe slightly more since last one)

sambotc · 2 Feb 2010

I'd put money on being the board i'm afraid.

Seen it all to often as britony combi's covered the south west especially in rented accomadation a few years back, due to the local rep being very good at his job!

Never known a flame rectification probe to fail on one of these, especially with that fault, but there is always a first.

Also well done for sorting the other problem out which I didn't read at the top of page, sorry.

Sam

thescrapyard · 3 Feb 2010

Thats what I thought, bugger ... £128 from the local supplier

Oh, and when I say clicking I did really mean to say clicking from the PCB area like a relay is clicking constantly for some reason |(not the spark clicking but not firing), trying to switch on but then being told to switch off again and on on until the PCB times out and then starts flashing the 60 light but I do also get the 40 60 80 lights flashing with no obvious reason why which makes it a pain to try and work out whats actually at fault

I was thinking of getting a PCB and sensor at the same time, unless the sensor is off the shelf, saves being cold and having the girlfriend complaining

It was mentioned elsewhere about the flexi-pipe being full of crud and give the same fault as a knackered expansion vessel, I checked that last night and air came out when pressing the valve so pointed to the pipe, especially when I took it out the PRV and expected some water to come out as the vessel tried to drain but nothing came out, and blowing down it did nothing

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Britany 80 Combi - Clicking 60 light flashing

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