I thought the sequence is correct ie solid symbol for burner on and flashing for ant cycling delay
Vaillant ecotec plus 415 heating issue
- Thread starter Nashu77
- Start date
I thought the sequence is correct ie solid symbol for burner on and flashing for ant cycling delay
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the heat exchanger on these boilers block easily and cannot be successfully flushed. the only realistic option is to replace the heat exchanger or replacement boiler
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Surely the key to stopping heat exchangers from blocking on modern systems is to start with a scrupulously clean system and then keep it clean by using inhibitors and a filter? I’m assuming heat exchangers are made with thin passages to be more efficient so if your heat exchanger has blocked up, it’s your fault and not the boilers. Before I had my EcoTEC plus 418 fitted a few years ago, I had a chemical flush, a power flush and I had all my rads off and washed them out with a hose. I get very little out of my filter now and my water is crystal clear. Mind you, I do have a sealed system and I think they are easier to keep clean than an open one.
That is a rather wide and sweeping statement.
Timed burner rest?
I didn't have mine power flushed, I didn't think it needed it. I have always looked after my system so despite its age, it was perfectly clean and had never caused any issues. I had TRV's to fit and a new 3-port, so I simply drained from its several drain points, filled, drained again and called it done. What came out was perfectly clear every time.
I also added a filter, which I have checked several times since the install and that has always been almost spotlessly clean.
I cannot agree with you on the sealed system being cleaner than an open one. Sealed systems tend to be under higher pressure and many do suffer water loss - needing constant topping up. If they are a combi, then they have to be constantly heating fresh tap water, with the problems of deposits from the tap water choking the channels.
Its a mistake to swap an open vented system for a closed system/combi.
I had a previous open vented system for 25 years with no inhibitor so you imagine the crud and silt that had built up. I had the chemical flush and power flush before having it converted to a sealed system with unvented hot water as well as replacing three bedroom radiators that were over 50 years old (two leaked under pressure). All other rads were no more than 15 years old. I had new valves, controller and room stat at the same time. Basically everything bar the boiler which was at that time 23 years old. Inhibitor was added. Two years later with winter coming up I had the boiler replaced as it was kettling but a few weeks before that, I carried out another chemical flush plus a physical flush of all the downstairs rads as well as fitting a magnetic filter. Apart from the two pinholed rads at the time of the conversion, I’ve had no problem with converting to a sealed system after nearly 5 years.
Thank you very much for the help, i did drained the system couple of times but wasn.t to bad the water, i used x800 and x400 to clean it and didn.t improved much, later on boiler started doing some noises, knocks and bangs and in couple of days later the pump started to do really loud noises, i believe the shaft inside. I changed the pump and everything is working fine now. So i believe the issue was the pump not working well.
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Make sure you have a magnaclean on these systems and you keep your inhibitor topped up each year.
4xx series boilers are reliable as long as they are fitted with a filter on a clean system, problem I've seen about is how many that were not fitted with one fronm the start, dirty system, missing ABV and also people not wiring in the pump overrun. Most were done as direct swaps for old boilers. Also seems that many were not fitted with VR65/65 units for better control.
4xx series boilers are reliable as long as they are fitted with a filter on a clean system, problem I've seen about is how many that were not fitted with one fronm the start, dirty system, missing ABV and also people not wiring in the pump overrun. Most were done as direct swaps for old boilers. Also seems that many were not fitted with VR65/65 units for better control.
You are right, I don.t have any kind of filter 
If anything else will fail in the next couple of years i intend to change the system for a combi, my main concern is that i believe the cold water on bath is coming from the storage in loft, so it may be full of bacteria and nasty stuff, the tank is not very accessible but if it looks even half how rhe central heating one was looking is very very bad
I understand that the water in the hot water tank should be above 60 to kill legionella bacteria but what happens with the cold one that comes straight and doesn.t get same treatment?
Also when the cold water comes from the tank in loft i can hear in all house a loud whistling in the pipe.
If anything else will fail in the next couple of years i intend to change the system for a combi, my main concern is that i believe the cold water on bath is coming from the storage in loft, so it may be full of bacteria and nasty stuff, the tank is not very accessible but if it looks even half how rhe central heating one was looking is very very bad
I understand that the water in the hot water tank should be above 60 to kill legionella bacteria but what happens with the cold one that comes straight and doesn.t get same treatment?
Also when the cold water comes from the tank in loft i can hear in all house a loud whistling in the pipe.
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- 27 Jan 2018
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- 183
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You are right, I don.t have any kind of filter
If anything else will fail in the next couple of years i intend to change the system for a combi, my main concern is that i believe the cold water on bath is coming from the storage in loft, so it may be full of bacteria and nasty stuff, the tank is not very accessible but if it looks even half how rhe central heating one was looking is very very bad
I understand that the water in the hot water tank should be above 60 to kill legionella bacteria but what happens with the cold one that comes straight and doesn.t get same treatment?
Also when the cold water comes from the tank in loft i can hear in all house a loud whistling in the pipe.
Legionna is not issue with cold water, as long as its kept cold, ie under 20c and its killed at 60c which is why you set tank that temp, or with smart vaillant controls you can have it lower but it will heat tank up once a week etc to kill it off.
Your cold water tank should be covered and lagged to prevent crud getting in, but remember that the take off is not at the bottom of the tank but about 5-10 off the bottom so sedement does not get out. This is why you do not drink water from taps not directly on mains.
Carefull about putting pressurised boiler on old systems unless you know all the pipework is good and will not leak. I also look at it as all eggs in one basket, it breaks and you have nothing.
You are probably hearing the tank fill up again, might need a new ball valve is it's making too much noise.
You are right, I don.t have any kind of filter
If anything else will fail in the next couple of years i intend to change the system for a combi, my main concern is that i believe the cold water on bath is coming from the storage in loft, so it may be full of bacteria and nasty stuff, the tank is not very accessible but if it looks even half how rhe central heating one was looking is very very bad
Your large tank in the loft should be insulated and be fitted with a cover to keep dirt out. It will have a regular flow in, of fresh clean water from the mains, so providing its covered it will be fine. However, if fresh clean mains water is kept above 20C and <60 it can breed legionella, so the advice is to ensure the water is heated to >60C at least once per week.
A combi is a good idea for people who are often out of the home, or the home is unoccupied for extended, irregular periods, or where space in the house is at a premium - for everyone else, an open vented system works best. An open vented system is much more expensive to install, but can be cheaper, more convenient to run. So might well be an error to have one removed, if you already have such a system.
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