Boiler Clicking on and off once in a while

[gijoe9482]

Hi, sorry but this may take a while to explain. Please tell me if I have missed anything you need to know.

I have a conventional gas boiler that heats water into a tank; for the taps to wash. And the same gas boiler heats the central heating system.

I recently drained the central heating system, flushed it(with flushing liquid), and refilled it(added inhibitor). The central heating system heats up like normal or even better now.

Anyway, after doing this, (I don't know if it is related), when I start heating water to wash, once in a while the boiler would click on a off rapidly like the pilot light is trying the light.
For example, when the water is switched on, the boiler would light up like normal and heat water like normal. But after about 10 minutes the boiler would click on and off rapidly for about 5 seconds. At this point I run to have a look and sometimes the fire is lit, and sometimes the fire is not lit. After the clicking, the boiler works as normal.

At this point I have to say that when flushing and refilling the central heating system, when the boiler was swtiched on, the reset button on the boiler would pop out and stop the boiler. I was told that the boiler isn't detecting any water and hence resetting the boiler. I was then told to push the reset button to get the boiler going again and the boilers pump working again just to force the water around.

The central heating system heats up and the hot tap water is fine as well. It is just the clicking of the boiler which concerns me. I also see static on the TV when the boiler clicks if this helps.

Is it something i did wrong or is the boiler faulty?

Thanks for your help in advance.

 

[Softus]

What's the make and model of the boiler?

Did you disable it while the system was empty?

 

[gijoe9482]

The make is PROFILE and the model is 60e.

The boiler was off when draining the central heating system, refilled and air released, boiler switched on to circulate water and flushing liquid. Boiler off again to drain, refilled and added inhibitor, and switched on to circulate inhibitor.

 

[giblets]

Yet again it sounds like dry soldered joints on the circuit board. This part needs to be replaced.

 

[gijoe9482]

Ok, thanks.

I'll probably call a plumber and see what he says. They're quite hard to get round my area cos its a small job, and plumbers in my area have too many large plumbing jobs.

How sure are you it is dry solder from the information i give you? Can i change the circuit board myself?

Thanks for your help.

 

[gas4you]

Pump over run stat? Fan aps switch failing. I think it needs more investigating with a multimeter before you rush out and buy a pcb

 

[giblets]

Having been to many of these boilers presenting the same symptoms I am more than confident that the PCB is the problem.

Depending on your level of electrical experience replacement is straight forward. One tip - turn off the electrical supply to the heating system at the isolator - do not rely on the timeswitch as there will still be a live feed into the boiler even if the timeswitch is turned off.

 

[timmy74]

have you checked the inner flue has no holes in it, common fault with those and pcb,s. pcb usually fan hunts like

 

[gijoe9482]

The clicking has stopped today (touch wood).

To check the flue, i would need to open the boiler up, and as i'm not a central heating expert i don't really want to do that at the minute. I'll have to do it sometime to change the circuit board if thats the problem.

If i do open the boiler up, what do i check to make sure the circuit board needs replacing?
Do i just check the inner flue for holes? Should it have holes?

 

[giblets]

You do not need to open the case to check the flue. You can check the inner flue tube from the outside. Just look into the flue terminal and check if the inner aluminium tube has any holes in it. If so, Pottertons do a Remedial Flue Kit which can be installed from the outside.

BTW you don't need to remove the main case to replace the PCB - only the grey plastic cover at the base. Unless you take the PCB out you will not be able to see any dry joints as they are underneath the board. Even then you may not be able to see them without the help of a very strong magnifying glass.

 

[gijoe9482]

Today I don't think there was any clicking.

I'm gonna leave the pcb until the boiler stops working altogether. Is this alright, or would other parts breakdown if i don't change it?