A little help for a useless woman please...

[Kerry78]

Hey all. Sorry if this isn't where to ask such things but I have no clue who else to ask.

I live in a council property with a fairly new (less than 6 months old) gloworm boiler. I just tried to run the hot water and had no joy so checked the boiler and the digital display on the front was flashing and the red light above it blinking on and off too. I tried to reset it and I heard it fire up but then kind of fizzled out again. I've now tried a total of 6 times and the same thing. The downstairs gas fire is still working so I'm pretty confident I haven't been cut off lol.

I've checked the boiler manual and in the troubleshooting section, under my fault, it basically just said to ring an engineer. I'm not in a position to afford one and it's the council's responsibility anyway.

I know this is the council's issue and not mine but I've just spoken to the out of hours contact (for all the use she was) and given the bank holiday, they're not filing any new repair reports until Wednesday and my children aren't young enough for lack of heating to be declared an emergency.

My question is (and bear in mind I'm a total newbie at this stuff because my husband used to do it all) is it something simple that I could do to fix it and I just know nothing about boilers or is it an engineer problem? Also, if the boiler isn't working, do I need to turn off the gas or take any safety precautions? I did ask the out of hours contact and she had no idea.

I appreciate you taking the time to read and I apologise if I'm just being a typical clueless woman (feel free to laugh at me lol)

 

[hazetimesfive]

is there pressure in the boiler? what does the gauge say?

 

[Kerry78]

The display is saying 0.4 bar and is flashing on and off

 

[hazetimesfive]

you need to put more pressure in, can you take a picture of the boiler and the pipes below?

there may be a silver flexible hose with a lever on each end underneath the boiler, this allows cold water into the boiler, you need to open both levers and close when the pressure reaches 1 bar. do not overfill.

 

[longdogs]

Judging by the clarity of your post, you certainly don't sound useless.

 

[Kerry78]

I'll take a couple of photos in a minute or two. My mobile just died so it needs a bit of charge. I'm a bit worried about trying what you suggested in case I mess up and then the council charges me for fudging up their boiler. Is it fairly simple or could I easily mess up?

Thank you Squeaky. I guess I'm not so much useless as just not very confident doing these kinds of things just yet.

 

[Dean744PiN5]

Give this a watch, it will show you exactly what to do.
http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=QLcHpIJBiPE&desktop_uri=/watch?v=QLcHpIJBiPE

 

[Kerry78]

Ok, I've watched the video and there doesn't appear to be anything like the hose he showed or anywhere to attach said hose. I've uploaded a couple of pics to show you.

Untitled

• Kerry78
• 24 May 2013
• 1

Untitled

• Kerry78
• 24 May 2013
• 1

 

[hazetimesfive]

how does that overflow pipe get round those two pipes...

 

[Kerry78]

You're talking about the white pipe? The two pipes behind it bend to lie flat against the wall and the white pipe has been forcibly bent by the looks of it

 

[Charnwood]

The circled knob should control the filling of the system.
Turn it anticlockwise until the dial reads about 1.0 bar then turn it clockwise. Try not to exceed 1.5, aim for 1.2 bar.
View media item 61680

 

[Kerry78]

Sorry? The circled knob?

 

[twgas]

The blue knob on the underside of the boiler looks like the fill loop, turn it to the left to fill, when you reach 1 bar turn off (to the right) dont overtighten as they quite easily break. While its filling you might get a few drips, nothing to worry about.

 

[Kerry78]

Scratch that, your picture just hadn't loaded. Gotcha. Will give it a go.

One small question first though. That video said you need to turn the boiler off to do it but if I turn the boiler off, I can't see the display? Is it ok to leave on?

 

[Charnwood]

That

overflow pipe

is probably a condensate pipe.