Baxi Barcelona ignition lockout

[rewardinheaven]

I am well used to servicing my boiler (e.g. new combustion chamber seals many times) but now have the solid red ignition light. I have the servicing instructions, apart from pages 43 on and sadly some of the flow chart lines go off the edge of page 42. I assume some of the references to things to check, like M and O are on the missing page(s) so I can't see where to test for mains voltage.

Have done all the usual checks and cleared the condensate trap, which was seriously full of gunge. I can see nothing wrong with the probes etc. but am not really sure what to look for.

If I turn the control knob off there is a noise of water flowing as though there was air in the system and it needed to clear it out. The noise stops if I turn the knob to try to light the boiler.

Help appreciated.

Colin

 

[nickso]

checked the flow switch then?

 

[penpusher]

you shouldn't be servicing your boiler, forgive me if I am wrong but you dont sound like a CORGI.

 

[baxpoti]

Have done all the usual checks and cleared the condensate trap, which was seriously full of gunge.

Make sure the terminals on the trap are dry, temporarily remove the earth tag and test boiler.

 

[rewardinheaven]

Many thanks to you all.
Yes, checked flow switch. It comes under my 'usual' heading.

No, I'm not a corgi which is why I never touch the gas pipes.

I took care to dry the trap terminals after I had cleaned it.

The boiler is now running. I think it was a broken connection to the ignition. This is both ridiculously fragile and apparently cannot be replaced without either a new board or some soldering. Bad design.

Thanks again.

Colin

 

[corgiman]

.

No, I'm not a corgi which is why I never touch the gas pipes.



Colin

mmm but you seem to think its ok to muck about in the combustion chamber

how is that different from not touching the gas pipes I wonder

 

[rewardinheaven]

I'm not sure this forum is the place for this sort of banter but;

I don't muck about in the combustion chamber. I take the cover off and replace those stupid seals that are always burning out. Then I put the cover back. In my book a combustion chamber is not a pipe. As I understand it the flow of gas has already been cut off by the system, which is why it won't light even when the ignition is working..

 

[penpusher]

you are an accident waiting to happen. You are one of the ones that I have a real problem with. You are not competant! You may think that you are because you have the mfrs instructions but unless you have at the least a C&G or an NVQ in installation and maintenance of gas appliances then you are not. You haven't the slightest idea of what to do when it all goes [wrong].

Do you know how to carry out a soundness test?
Do you know what the criteria are for a pass?
Do you know what equipment to use
Do you know how to use said equipment?

I'll bet the answer to all 4 are no and you dont care but they are the first things a COMPETANT person will learn.

Stop playing with the lives of yourself, your family and your neighbours and get a CORGI in.

This site is for advice and for your own sake take this advice.

Pay for someone who has the professional qualifications to check and repair your boiler.

Gas installer/engineer isn't a SKILLED traded for no good reason.

 

[penpusher]

count to 10 and DEEEEEEP breath.

 

[Agile]

I'll bet the answer to all 4 are no and you dont care but they are the first things a COMPETANT person will learn.

Whilst I agee with everything you have said, please note the words spelt "competent" !

If he was competent then he could do this to his OWN boiler at home but I agree that he does not sound very compentent.

Tony

 

[penpusher]

thanks tony, think tomorrows hangover has kicked in early. have been around on this site long enough and now that i'm going into business on my own i'm startled by the misguided few who think that gas is something that they are competent to deal with (not forgetting bamber, softus, water sys. et al)

ps where is it you operate from, was in your neck of the woods for a fair few years but never came across you?

oops!

 

[nickso]

I'll bet the answer to all 4 are no and you dont care but they are the first things a COMPETANT person will learn.

Whilst I agee with everything you have said, please note the words spelt "competent" !

If he was competent then he could do this to his OWN boiler at home but I agree that he does not sound very compentent.

Tony

the irony of this is almost too much to bear.

 

[alexp.1]

Most pro's in my neck of the woods won't even give my Barcelona a routine service ("Barcelona?! Haha. No, we don't touch them") so this guy probably had no choice but to get stuck in himself!

 

[rewardinheaven]

Thank you gentlemen all. It's amazing how much more heat than light these discussion boards generate.

Despite some helpful and relevant suggestions in reply to my original post I have as usual had to solve the problem myself. The most appropriate remark came from alexp.1, who has summed it up accurately. Anyone who has a Baxi Barcelona is either:
- very rich, to afford all the professional servicing
- very lucky, not to need it
- very patient, to put up with all the failures.

I am none of these but still not such a fool as penpusher likes to think. When I lose patience and/or can afford it I will have a new non-Baxi boiler installed by a suitable engineer. I will probably then also find it possible to find someone to service it, maybe even on a preventative rather than curative basis.

From my point of view this correspondence is now closed.

 

[Snatch51]

I am with rewardinheaven, and I think penpusher was having a bad day.
I have the greatest of respect for all the guys with loads of qualifications and experience, but if you do not have a thorough understanding of the product you are having trouble with, how can you distinguish the chancers and the rip-off artists from the guys who can really help you?
My experience with the Baxi Barcelona tells me that fixing some of the commonest faults myself is the only way to avoid a. ruining my family, or b. installing a new boiler which would go some of the way to a., and also not necessarily guarantee that I won't have to pay more cowboys down the line when the new appliance has "teething troubles"!
I am also struggling with the lockout which is why I am in this forum, and I have spent thousands on engineers who have not, with the best will in the world, and the best of qualifications and experience, been able to rectify what is clearly, and widely accepted as, a crap product.