baxi bahama 100 keeps cutting out.. freezing woman here!

[rorouk]

folks, i would be grateful for any help here....

i have a baxi bahama 100 and the symptoms are as follows:

when i turn the boiler on for heating, i'll get about 5 minutes and then the flame failure indicator light comes on and the boiler cuts out.

i can restart it again with the reset switch, no problem, but it'll cut out again minutes later.

my pressure gauge is correct and not losing pressure.

i should also mention a sort of banshee wailing noise and chugger chugger kind of 'trapped air in there somewhere' noise.

hot water seems to be better. so if i were to run a bath, i would generally be able to do this without it cutting out.

this problem has been going on for a couple of years but getting steadily worse until now this is untenable! i had plumbers out last year and they replaced a red part (sorry, i'm not a plumber!) which they said had a worn seal on it and was causing the issue.

but lo, the problem continued immediately they left and i just lived with it cos of budgets and so on... well through the summer it was survivable but i dont want a winter without heating... boo hoo!

(to be fair to the plumbers, prior to their changing the part, my pressure gauge would drop a lot frequently and now it doesnt, but the problem of cutting out still persists).

when i told the plumbers it wasnt fixed, the plumbers ummed and aaahed and went 'ah well yes' and told me that i needed to put fernox through my radiators because the baxi 100 suffered from a strange and common complaint where bits of grit in the radiators will go across some contacts in the boiler and knock it out.

i went to buy some fernox yesterday and the guys there said 'hmmm' and suggested the plumber may have been talking rubbish.

so, what do i need to do?

run fernox through my rads?

try changing something like the flow switch, or diverter, or even the pcb?

get a new boiler?

get a new plumber?

wrap myself in blankets and drink lots of hot drinks?

any wisdom would be gratefully received, thanks

 

[Duonger]

If I came across that fault I would be saying there is a block in your heating system as your hot water works so I would get someone (corgi) to check/clean the filter on the central heating return.

If they both dont work I would check the pump.

 

[superdupergasman]

Easiest way for yourself would be to donate £170 - £200 to British Gas
and let one of their engineers come round sort it out.

These boilers do have a few things that can cause it but it sounds like it is overheating. could be a thermistor problem, PCB fault, or the gas pressures may be set up incorrectly, or as the other chap said the small filter in the isolation valve on the return pipe to the boiler...... however I am not standing infront of the boiler so its hard to tell.

 

[ollski]

pump, diverter valve, pcb on the honeywell models or a blockage...all plausible on these things. I'd be checking the movement of the diverter myself first.

 

[mickyg]

get a new boiler?

yes this boiler is not exactly baxis finest achievement.

the other option is to pay out to BG or baxi for a service contract. I usually feel that these contracts are an incredible waste of money, but in your circumstances it might represent value for money. Just beware that if you do have problems due to a dirty system or design faults these won't be covered under such contracts.

 

[howy1]

Sorry to give doom and gloom , but i had a bahama and it played up constanly all at the wrong times , it cost me an arm and a leg to keep it running , a new boiler was the only way i could get peace