atmos 24/80 multi plus

[boilerfrustration]

BREAK DOWN OF ATMOS 24/80 MULTI PLUS MARK 1

I'm not a plumber or engineer but have have been forced to work on my boiler as no one has been able to come out during the holidays. In fact, it is just difficult to get any qualified engeer to service an Atmos at any time of the year as most engineers have not even heard of one (I am particularly referring to engineers sent out by British Gas EDF Direct Assist or those I find in the Yellow Pages or Thompson Local).

My boiler which is an atmos multi 24/80 plus mark 1, broke down over the Christmas period! I have fitted a brand new fan and brand new circuit board after both the originals failed. Now they are working fine.

HOT WATER
The hot water is now in full operation. The diagnostic display shows '1.' (fast flashing dot) when water is in demand. '0' or four rotating segments display when hot water is not in demand.

According to the manual, 1 means hot water in demand but not sure what fast flashing dot means. Four rotating segments means pump over run internal for hot water. No idea what this means.

CENTRAL HEATING
The central heating is still a problem. '2' and three horizontally parallel flat lines intermittently flash every five seconds. Also, I dare not leave on the CH as the first time I did so, there was this very loud grinding noise coming from the boiler. Not sure if this was the fan or the pump.

According the manual, 2 can mean fan defective but I think in this case the 2 means central heating in operation. Not quite sure how I am supposed to distinquish between the two.

ADVICE
Can anyone advise me if some of the symbols above are correct and maybe define them for me? More importantly, can anyone tell me what this grinding noise might be and how I might be able to over come it so that I can get my central heating back on line.

Thanks

 

[Agile]

I have have been forced to work on my boiler as no one has been able to come out during the holidays. In fact, it is just difficult to get any qualified engeer to service an Atmos at any time of the year as most engineers have not even heard of one (I am particularly referring to engineers sent out by British Gas EDF Direct Assist or those I find in the Yellow Pages or Thompson Local).

My boiler which is an atmos multi 24/80 plus mark 1, broke down over the Christmas period! I have fitted a brand new fan and brand new circuit board after both the originals failed. Now they are working fine.

There seems to be rather a lot that you have not told us!

We are in Yellow Pages and Thompsons in the London areas that we cover but we did not receive any calls for the last two days. We will go to any boiler except Saunier Duval !

I dont think that you made any attempt to call anyone and are solely intent on repairing it yourself to save money rather than being "forced to fix it yourself".

Breakdown insurance firms use very poor quality staff and the contract is awarded on the lowest price basis so dont expect high calibre engineers there, mostly parts changers whose main objective is to get out quickly and do the minimum on a visit.

It also seems very odd that both the fan and the PCB should fail at the same time AND THAT YOU HAVE SPARE ONES to change yourself over Christmas.

Tony

 

[namsag]

Agile , what has happened to your mate dan robinson who recommends atmos he has not been on here for months

 

[boilerfrustration]

Hello Tony

At face value, I can see why you came to your conclusion which is wrong.

I have given quite a lot of information regarding the problem. If I had the time to give the full story, I could probably write a book. I have called around many engineers who have all said that they have never heard of an Atmos. Perhaps I overlooked your number Tony, but then do you seriously think I can ring all the engineers in London. There are rather a lot of them. I did manage to get a British Gas engineer out on Xmas eve but he was baffled by the machine which he'd never heard of. He rang his technical manager who was also in the dark. Initially the engineer said that I had been poorly advised by the telephone salesman who said that BG did cover Atmos. After the engineer looked up the model on his service list, he realised that it was covered. However, he said that he personally would not be able to do any work on it. I rang BG who said they were very sorry but they had to fail the machine and would not be able to offer insurance.

As I'm writing this message, I have just had a call from EDF Direct Assist who were going to send round one of their engineers today (261207). The moment I told him it was an Atmos, the engineer said that he would not be able to help as he has never heard of Atmos.

Regarding the spare parts (display board and fan), I didn't just happen to have them on me and they certainly were not Christmas presents from Santa. I ordered them after the machine broke down last week. I was well aware from previous experience that any engineer that came round would not necessarily have the new parts particularly for an Atmos and would have to make a special order which could take days if not weeks. So I was prepared. Fat lot of good that did me.

With regards to saving money, I bought the Atmos as it was supposed save me money in the long run. Indeed, the machine itself generally runs without any problems. The energy output is fantastic and my bills are very low. I like the fact that is has a duel chamber for hot water and CH. But what money I save on the bills, I lose far more on the cost of support and spare parts (display board £205 and fan nearly as expensive!), not to mention the time I spend trying to find someone who is willing to fix the machine.

Of course, where possible, I try to resolve problems by myself as I am fed up with forking out hundreds of pounds on support for a machine which very few people have heard of and no one wants to offer insurance on. This machine is a ball and chain.

Are you able to come and service this machine, Tony? If so, how can I get in contact with you?

Cheers

 

[Agile]

Namsag, Dan has short periods of posting furiously on forums and telephoning me regularly.

Then he goes all quiet and is uncontactable for months at a time. All I know that he is still alive as I get his customers calling me for boiler repairs when he cannot cope and refers them to me.

He had to sack one of his staff for dishonesty so will be struggling even more than usual to keep up with their installation work.

He is one of the few people who fit mostly Atmos and he may have a few spare parts in stock.

Tony

 

[Agile]

To the OP, I have no idea where you live and you may well be outside our primary coverage area. But we do not stock Atmos parts. To contact anyone on this forum you have to view their profile for any contact information or search for their name on the internet.

I would normally refer Atmos repairs to Dan as he may keep some spares but he is rarely able to attend very quickly whereas we come the same day when possible.

Depending on how you bought the spare parts, a CORGI engineer might get some discount on the prices you paid.

Atmos Policy:-

1. This policy shall apply between Atmos Heating Systems (hereinafter “Atmos”) and Installers /
Service Engineers (hereinafter “engineer”) with respect to boilers, solar hot water heating and sundry components supplied by Atmos Heating Systems.
2. Spare parts shall ordinarily only be issued to CORGI registered engineers. If end user customers contact Atmos directly, they must be re-directed to an appropriate engineer. ???

You dont say who installed the boiler. The CORGI registered installer should have discussed service backup before fitting the boiler for you. I expect there will be breakdown insurance available somewhere.

You said that BG "had to fail the machine". Does that mean that there are installation faults which prevent the boiler being accepted for BG cover?

You dont seem to have followed the usual method of contacting the manufacturers and finding out who their local service engineer is and then always calling him. He will be familiar with the model and carry all the main spare parts.

Tony Glazier

 

[boilerfrustration]

AVAILABILITY OF ENGINEERS
The installer is retired. I contacted Atmos who are very friendly and very helpful. They gave me some numbers to ring including Dan's. I did speak to him but he said that I would have to wait to be seen. In the meantime, I tried other avenues like approaching BG and EDF. But by the time those failed, I couldn't get hold of Dan (who is afterall entitled to enjoy a quiet xmas). It seems Atmos specialists are so few and far between that there are not enough of them to go round.

COST OF SPARE PARTS
Atmos did not offer me any discount and I do think their spare parts are very expensive. When I ordered, I was so desperate for the parts, that I didn't think to ask for a reduction.

 

[boilerfrustration]

By the way, does anyone know the definition of the following on the Atmos diagnostic display:

'2' followed by three stacked horizontal parallel lines flashing every 5 seconds (a bit like a capital E but without the main strut). This appears when I put the CH on.

I know that '2' has two possibilities:
a) fan defect but fan is newly installed and
b) CH demand

 

[Agile]

I still dont know where you live!

Tony

 

[snes]

BF
I dont want to sidetrack your post, but when Dan posted about the Atmos, he was enthusiastic because he had needed to repair so few of them as there was so little to go wrong.
As you say, the lack of diverter valve and separate hw/ch circuits make it a pretty simple box of tricks. Which is why I am considering either one of these or a Buderus.
With so little to go wrong, you must be desperately unlucky to have two items fail!
Good luck contacting Tony.

 

[Agile]

We dont really know that they were failed! Its perhaps relevant that replacing them has not sorted out the boiler.

Its also relevant that a boiler will be much more reliable if its installed properly on a clean system.

Its easy for anyone to contact me if they want to!

Tony

 

[boilerfrustration]

I can't say why BG failed the machine. However I assume it's because the BG engineer hadn't a clue to start with. I felt it was clear from his body language that he was nervous of the machine and couldn't wait to leave my property (I don't think BG should be advertising support for Atmos when their engineers and managers have never heard of them).

My flat is in Queensway, W2 (just off Bayswater Road)

 

[Agile]

BG is large enough ( 5500 registered gas qualified staff ) to be able to cover less well known boiler with only a few who specialise in particular models.

In addition BG have a procedure known as "joint visits" where they can call on the manufacturer's service agents if their own staff cannot manage a problem.

In your case, BG should have given a reason if they declined to accept your boiler for cover when its on their list. If you pressed their call centre (!!!) they should be able to give you a reason. You probably have a right to a review of their decision too!

W2 is within our primary coverage area although we charge an additional £10 on top of our diagnostic fee as its within the congestion charging zone.

Tony

 

[boilerfrustration]

Thanks Tony. I really appreciate your feedback. I need insurance on the machine as I do not want to experience another breakdown certainly not during the holidays when no one is around. I will contact BG in the morning and challenge their decision.

In fact, they will have no excuse not to cover me now as I have finally managed to get the CH working by simply turning off all the radiators for a few minutes and then switching them back on. There has not been a single groan from the boiler all evening.

Funny how a layperson like me was able to fit a fan, a circuit board whereas the BG engineer was quick to condemn the machine.

I just want to clarify one thing. I really like the Atmos. It's a very powerful machine which doesn't often go wrong. But like all boilers, it will break down sometime and there really are not enough engineers out there to support it.

 

[Agile]

I just want to clarify one thing. I really like the Atmos. It's a very powerful machine which doesn't often go wrong. But like all boilers, it will break down sometime and there really are not enough engineers out there to support it.

I am quite happy to repair any Atmos boiler within our normal operating area and Dan is as well so thats at least two with 5500 BG engineers across the whole country.

But Dan and I can manage perfectly well without anyone needing to call BG.

It sems that our advertising in West London phone books is being wasted though!

Tony