Boiler fault finding

[jimcorrigans]

Thanks, thats a nice one
Jim

 

[doitall]

How and why did this thread get moved

edit. it didn't it's the same author and subject but a different post

 

[The Baker]

A bit disappointed to hear about mr combi, I think I will look towards the manufacturers courses.

Why not ask the ARGI blokes who went as a group for a day at mr Combi,s place,

that way you are communicating with blokes who actually went to the show, not those who have spoken to people who know some one who,s hairdressers mums uncle went for the day.

Sorry Agile, I do realize you mean well.

Any one will certainly get more from Mr Combi than a day at any manufacturers place.

Pop across to ARGI, it does not compete with Gas-news or this place, in fact they all compliment each other.

Tim

 

[Agile]

Sorry Agile, I do realize you mean well.

Any one will certainly get more from Mr Combi than a day at any manufacturers place.

Pop across to ARGI, it does not compete with Gas-news or this place, in fact they all compliment each other.

Tim

Not only do I mean well Tim, but I was the first to point out about the Mr Combi course AND to say that ARGI try to arrange training days at manufacturers!

But, I feel that its only fair for me to make him aware that many attend the Mr Combi course and find that its not at the right level for them.

I dont blame Mr Combi, but I think its becaue some CCs and CCCs think all you do is the ACS and then a Mr Combi one day course and then you are out repairing boilers on a par with anyone in British Gas !

The reality is a lot different! Take a nurse, carpenter or accountant off the street and it will be a long time before they are competently repairing boilers.

In contrast take an electronics engineer, car mechanic or washing machine repairer and they will be repairing boilers within weeks. The difference is that they all have good technical and diagnostic skills which can easily be transferred to use on boilers so far less for them to have to learn. I learnt most of what I know about gas on a three day "refresher" course before I took my first CCN1

Tony

 

[DP]

Tony are you saying you have learnt nothing new since you did your CCN1. Most people never stop learning

 

[Agile]

I said I had learnt "most" of what I know about gas, meaning the theory and fundamentals.

There is little more that I have learnt since. Nothing I can even think of at the moment! Edit, perhaps just a little about finding leaks quicker?

Of course, where I have learnt a lot more is about the operation of individual boiler designs and fault finding on them.

Tony

 

[holty]

personally i think talking to other engineers is a good thing. were all gonna come to problem were someone else has had, and sorted.shame though when i went to a boiler today one guy turned up from the pages. looked at the boiler asked the customer for some tools e.g screwdriver, and after an hour said it was electrical, so get someone else in.in the end he was right, it was a simple pcb fuse not a difficult fault to find if you have common sense.p.s i hate ariston

 

[Agile]

If a fuse has blown then its as a result of an overcurrent.

Merely replacing the fuse without finding why it blew is "going to come back and kick you up the arse".

Tony

 

[namsag]

Always start at the basics even though they may look OK. Really basic ones are pilots not being clean enough to stay on when main burner kicks in, or although its on its because knob is stuck half way so not actually energising gas valve, that there is enough water in the system, the pump is actually pushing the water about and not just sounding like it is.
Learn by your and others mistakes your best tool is your memory .

 

[jimcorrigans]

Always start at the basics even though they may look OK. Really basic ones are pilots not being clean enough to stay on when main burner kicks in, or although its on its because knob is stuck half way so not actually energising gas valve, that there is enough water in the system, the pump is actually pushing the water about and not just sounding like it is.
Learn by your and others mistakes your best tool is your memory .

Is there an easy way to tell if the pump IS pushing the water around. I came accross a pump that was making all the right noises, I only realised the pump wasn't working because the body of the pump was getting really hot but the pipes remained cold. I heard that Grunfoss had a "Compass" like thing that you put at the top of the pump that would tell if it was working or not.
Jim

 

[Agile]

More likely you heard it was DAB compass thing ( although another manufacturer has them too).

Dont be fooled by that gadget.

All it shows is that there is a rotating magnetic field!

Flow through the pump is best deduced by thermal measurements!

Tony

 

[ChrisR]

You can poke a tachometer into the pump to see if it's running at full torque and speed, whih is useful on old ones, but if it looks like this in there, that won't do you a lot of good:

 

[DP]

Golden rule of fault finding is first to switch off all sources of noise where the boiler is located. Then power up the boiler and look and listen and even be aware of smells. Look is to note any visual discrepancies, listen for abnormal sounds from boiler and associated components and smell can sometimes tell you some component is overheating.

Now you can open your shiny toolbox and perform your Dr Gas operations on it.

As already mentioned, do not dive in head first with spanners and thingmyjigs looking for things that are not there. Often the fault is result of a failed component. An overheating pump might put out a smell and when listened to (using a stick- one end onto pump motor and other to ear) one would hear hum and not burbling liquid. A blockage (air lock) will cause pump to cavitate- not smooth water burbling noise.

Above all, sit down with makers installation manual and get to know location of components and sequence of operation.

Another word of advise. Do not assume PCBs to be defective everytime (this is the first component that is changed by many an 'engineer'). Prove the defect into the PCB before changing it.

Get yoursself a non contact tester. This will tell you a cable has gone live without 'probing' the component terminal with a meter.

I have said this before and will say it again. When you remove a defective component or a part, strip it down. It might reveal failed area, but it will give you better understanding of how or why it works