Boiler breakdown Baxi courses

[jackecole]

Hi

Those of you who have attended or heard reviews about the Baxi boiler breakdown/fault finding courses, please could you share with me briefly what the courses actually cover?

I have heard good reviews about it, and would like to attend, but have also heard from 2 engineers that it is not very good, absolute rubbish!

Any feedback would be great.


Many thanks for your help all.

 

[lightning]

It tells you on there website what it covers

 

[jackecole]

thanks for replying.

I have just looked, but wondered what problems it covered, basic or more advanced ones and how in depth it went.

 

[Egga]

There are 3 parts to it. Basic Electrics - covers basic principles of electricity, multimeter use, dead testing and testing components.

Combi Appreciation - covers components found in boilers, different types and how they work.

Fault Finding - Putting the first and second courses into practice.

These courses aim more towards the electrical side of fault finding, but i believe once you complete these there is an advanced course incorporating water and combustion faults also.

 

[jackecole]

thanks for your reply, much appreciated.

that sounds interesting.

I have used a mutlimeter to test components such as fans, air pressure switches, thermistors, gas valve solenoids, pumps, overheat stats, low water pressure switches, etc both dead and live.

i just wondered if the course would benefit me. I heard there is an advanced course, not sure what that is like, or how often they come around though.

 

[Egga]

If you are comfortable using a multimeter and understand components then you probably wouldnt gain much from it.

The advanced course comes round evey so often but you have to do the basic courses to get on it.

 

[jackecole]

have you heard about gastec training in Milton keynes? it is 2 days and basic and adavanced apparantly.

 

[Egga]

I dont know about Gastec mate. Have you considered going on dedicated manufacturers courses? You would gain experience on specific models rather than a generic overview.

 

[jackecole]

I have been on manufacturer courses, they teach you a bit about their diagnostics etc but don't get much into fault finding with boilers generally. The worcester course was decent, gave me a free card to help with fault finding, plus a long reach magnetic pump head / gas valve adjustment key along with service engineer manual, vaillant wasn't bad either. I have been on Glow worm's ultra com range recently too. Booked for Biasi (Activa range) in Walsall soon too.

I learned a lot when I first started doing breakdowns by watching a few dvds and reading a few fault finding books, such as viper's fault finding and combi boiler fault finding book. Also I got my hands on some old boilers (combis mainly) and practiced testing them/removing parts and replacing them etc.

I just wondered if any other courses could give me a bit more fault finding knowledge in general.

 

[BDL]

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=130509369104&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT

What more would you want? Training and support?

 

[bengasman]

At the end of the day, it depends on does the course. I've been to a couple in Dartford, and they were good.

 

[BDL]

Dartford centre is ok. I did a day with the duotec last year. Bored the living hell out of me. And I upset the trainer for talking cobblers. Apparently onboard fault diagnostics is wasted on anyone other than manufacturer engineers.