Baxi Barcelona Lockout

[ellie1997]

I think its possessed too, in fact we do often call it Damien!

Anyway, small update. 1 week down the line from Baxi's visit and it seems the explosive ignition IS cured. No bangs and its been bliss (although its rather quiet at 6am....!!). BUT, when Baxi man put the new burner on it made a horrible whirring noise. He said he thought the burner may be faulty but as the noise stopped he left it on saying it probably "bedded in" !!!!!

Yes, the burner IS faulty because its now making the noise again.... sigh. Soo, now awaiting ANOTHER baxi visit!

From one noise to another!!!!
JAne
x

 

[saab9002]

After all the problems we have had with our barcelona and not being able to sort them. also deciding to save up for a replacement boiler, Vaillant, definitely not a baxi .we have tried to ignore the explosive ignition, lucky that the boiler is in the garage !!
We have suddenly realised that over the last 6 weeks the baxi has gone quiet and resorted to fireing up nice and quietley.
I have noticed this posting is getting very techical and although I hate to admit it ,well above my head, So why not try a new approach.
Threaten the boiler with eviction and replacement, it might work for a while!!!

 

[ollski]

the explosive ignition is a fault on the original pcbs linked to the operation of the pump overrun, the new boards operate differently. Lockouts are apparantly the result of the plating on the screws flaking off, blocking the threads and creating an ineffective seal.
The burner box, flue hood, screws are all available to fit though only certain models can be upgraded.
There is also a problem linked to using these boilers on a thermal store.....if it applies to anyone I'll sort the details.

 

[croydoncorgi]

Faulty board logic, faulty plating on screws....
Where did this info come from? Where is it documented?
It appears (from what actually goes on 'in the field') that it's not even widely known amongst Baxi's own engineers!!

 

[ollski]

Information taken directly from technical help page for a barcelona stored on the computer of a large national gas company.

 

[croydoncorgi]

This is seriously weird!

If you go back a bit in this same thread, you'll find a Barcelona victim with a Baxi engineer on-site blaming water damage to the burner top for explosive ignition. OK - this could have been a bit 'BS for the Customer' but the other explanation Ollski found could have been re-cycled instead of inventing another one!

Neither sounded very convincing to me anyway.

 

[jennyp]

We have just discovered the wonderful "tunes" that the Baxi Barcelona can make after approx 4 years of use. Incidently, the noises started that day after it had been serviced....*humm*. The noises where SO loud, we thought someone was trying to break in!!

We had the people who installed it come and look at it; the engineer stood there for 20minutes, but the Baxi failed to perform. After 2 weeks of clunking, banging and screeching, we decided to call the engineer back. A different guy turned up, luckily, the Baxi performed, and his instant response was that it was the 'ignition system'. He is coming round tomorrow to replace it.

After reading your comments; why do i get the feeling we are being conned, and are going to have to folk out £ to pay for old rope?

Also, ours leaks, not much, but if you leave it a couple of days, there is a reasonable sized puddle on the work surface below the boiler....any-one come across this before?? The man who came to service it said there was no evident cause of the leak and it could just be condensation...again...are we having the wool pulled over our eyes?

I got the Baxi Barcelona manual from www.partsarena.com, it was actually Baxi who gave me there website!

Jennyp

 

[helhutch]

We had a Baxi He100 installed 2 years ago. it has saved us a lot of gas, mainly because it hardly ever works. It has broken down at least 8 times, all lockout related. We regurlarly take the condensate off and clear it out, sometimes it works, its had a new fan, and 2 weeks ago had a new control pcb. Its broken down again - it wll fire up for about 20seconds then cut out, sometimes the red light flashing 5times a second will come on, sometimes not. It is always irritatingly inconsistent, the british gas man got it going by disconnecting and reconnecting the flow switch.it has since packed up.

Although I am reassurred thatI am not the only one, It is perturbing that this boiler is so rubbish. Has anyone had any luck with Baxi? They just tell me it will cost 170 quid to come out and fix it. Shouldn't there be some sort of outcry?

One thing we are on spring water here, therefore we have low water pressure and acidic water. Does anyone know if this is the cause of my woes or is it just the blimmin boiler?

 

[kevplumb]

freind of mine got one cheap thro the local rep after the baxi eng replaced virtually everything bar the case still wasnt right
bought a second hand viallant 242e off me and no probs for last 4 yrs
have yet to hear anything good about them

 

[twincam-escort]

Just seen someone selling a control PCB and an ignition PCB on ebay for £50 for the two. They also list the part numbers.
The item number is 5726076512 but has only got a little time to go.
The seller says they are new parts and may be a bargain for someone in need.
PS I have no connection with this seller and cannot verify their integrity!!!!
Hope this helps someone
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

ex-Barcleona owner
smug new Vaillant owner

 

[jjd]

Hi,

I too have had problems with the barcelona over the years and I can now report back my findings.

1. Its true that the aluminium Corrodes and creates oxide which blocks the condensate drain.
2. My condensate drain never seemed to drain condensate anyhow. Anyhow I cleared that and reconnected the drain etc and the boiler fired up and ran for a while again.

Lockouts still occurred though on a nearly daily basis....
So once again I checked for further faults. I checked probes, and all sensors and nothing all working as should. I moved onto the electronics and as others have said here Baxi have modified the ignition board to increase the intensity of the spark. I have found inside my control board box on the right hand side wall, that there was a sooty deposit on the wall. I removed the boards carefully... Not to damage any leads etc. I cleaned the back of the ignition board and the wall of the plastic box. And guess what VOILA.... not more cutouts like I was having.

The boiler stayed fired up for a whole month. At that point I opened the case of the board and once again there is a very small amount of soot near the ignition board. I cleaned it and again the boiler continues to run.

I believe the high tension spark is arcing back through carbon/dust deposit back to itself, boiler has no spark and therefore causing the lockout. Basically this part of the board should have isolation around the HT side of the board.

I am hoping to solve this problem by cleaning the board and then spraying the back with a clear laquer varnish ( non-conductive) and building up a isolating layer to stop the board from arcing to itself.

I hope this information helps someone.

Above all stay safe. If in doubt, get someone who **knows** what they are doing. don't mess with it if you don't understand what you are doing. Its not worth the risk.

Joe.

 

[croydoncorgi]

Aha!

It's this sort of vital observation that gets lost / ignored before it gets back to the right place - ie. Baxi.

OBVIOUSLY the HT spark will take the easiest route to ground. Positioning the HT parts of the circuit board near to a (slightly conductive) enclosure sidewall will provide the route. Once the plastic has become 'tracked' with a carbon deposit, it gets even easier.

BUT I've NEVER heard of this problem being identified before (although Barcelonas have lots of ignition related faults). PLEASE find a way of communicating with Baxi technical folk (you could start with [email protected]). If they're worth more than a w**k, they should have a specialist engineer looking at your boiler very quickly!

 

[magic-e]

Hi
I developed lockout (continuous red light) on my 3 year old Baxi Barcelona. The condensate trap was blocked but I can't see that being the problem as there was no earth connection to the trap as should be ! Cleared the trap and fitted an earth. Did not help the lockout but at least if it blocks and overflows I will know about it now!
Followed the problem solving page of the instillation manual and ruled out any potential cause other than the ignition PCB so I bought a new one (keeptheheaton.com part Baxi 241838 PCB £47.45) it is a new model so I wonder if the problem with the old one has been solved!.
If the condensate trap looks ok and the fan works fine on startup and the ignition electrodes and sensor look ok (these are cheap to buy and easy to replace if not sure), I would suggest replacing the ignition PCB as it is a potential source for many of the continuous lockout problems. Its relatively cheap and easy to fit.
The boiler is working fine since I fitted the PCB and of note the explosive ignition is much quieter !
Hope this helps anyone
E

 

[kevplumb]

take it out and shoot it to put it and you out of your misery

 

[PEDANTICVINDICTIVEMAN]

Shant be fitting any Baxi condensers after reading this lot, Potterton and Baxi p*** in the same pot now so Potterton aftercare about the same.