I have a baxi solo 2 pf 30 boiler, which has stopped working. I can see all the green lights come on for boiler, fan and pilot, but no burner! I had an engineer come out last night and he did various checks and what not, but came to the conclusion that it might be the pcb. He took it out of it's housing and i could see burn marks on the top and underside of the board. Could it definitely be the pcb that is causing the boiler not to fire up as I've been quoted £230 to fit a new one?!
Boiler not firing
- Thread starter milkyjoe
- Start date
Could well be. I'm currently on my 3rd PCB (original + 2 replacements) on a 7 year old Baxi Solo 3 (it's the same PCB fitted to the Solo 2 & Solo 3) and the one I've got now suffers from "chattering relay syndrome" on the pump overrun. One of my failures, including the "burning"was exactly as you describe and a new PCB sorted it.
For some reason, your gas valve is not opening to feed gas to the burner, it could be the PCB that controls it, or it could be the gas valve itself, or even the wiring to it. (the engineer should be able to test for this though) However if your PCB's "burnt" then if it hasn't failed yet, it's well on the way, I would replace it anyway before we hit the real winter weather.
The price sounds about right, the PCB alone costs over £150 I seem to remember, seems ridiculous to me for the few cheap components on it.
Personally, being on my 3rd PCB, I think it's a deliberate ploy by Baxi to fit substandard PCB's to their boilers that are not suitable for the duty and then make a small fortune on the spares. These days other far more complicated electronic circuits in cars, TV's, security systems etc., have a life generally well in excess of 10 years. The burn marks on the Baxi PCB say it all really..IMHO
For some reason, your gas valve is not opening to feed gas to the burner, it could be the PCB that controls it, or it could be the gas valve itself, or even the wiring to it. (the engineer should be able to test for this though) However if your PCB's "burnt" then if it hasn't failed yet, it's well on the way, I would replace it anyway before we hit the real winter weather.
The price sounds about right, the PCB alone costs over £150 I seem to remember, seems ridiculous to me for the few cheap components on it.
Personally, being on my 3rd PCB, I think it's a deliberate ploy by Baxi to fit substandard PCB's to their boilers that are not suitable for the duty and then make a small fortune on the spares. These days other far more complicated electronic circuits in cars, TV's, security systems etc., have a life generally well in excess of 10 years. The burn marks on the Baxi PCB say it all really..IMHO
Thanks for your quick reply stem. Not being in the trade myself, i would not know if it was the pcb that is causing the problem or not, so it's always useful to get advice from other sources. The engineer quoted me £176 for a new pcb, but I done some research and got a quote for £128 plus vat... or this item on ebay (#320439914930); would this be ok to fit? Many thanks. Richard.
That looks like it. I have to say I'm not in the gas trade either. My previous post related my personal experience.
The PCB's are easy to change all wires are pushfit connectors, including the mains wiring connections, and they are different so that they only fit in the correct places.
The only problem with buying one privately & fitting it yourself, is what happens if it isn't the PCB after all, or if the new one fails after 11 months?
Before getting too excited, it might be worthwhile looking at what previous PCB's have finally sold for, these things are in demand.
Also, some may take a view that changing a PCB on a gas boiler comes under the scope of gas work and for safety should be left to professionals. I'm not sure on this one, but I have changed the PCB on mine in the past.
The PCB's are easy to change all wires are pushfit connectors, including the mains wiring connections, and they are different so that they only fit in the correct places.
The only problem with buying one privately & fitting it yourself, is what happens if it isn't the PCB after all, or if the new one fails after 11 months?
Before getting too excited, it might be worthwhile looking at what previous PCB's have finally sold for, these things are in demand.
Also, some may take a view that changing a PCB on a gas boiler comes under the scope of gas work and for safety should be left to professionals. I'm not sure on this one, but I have changed the PCB on mine in the past.
My idea was to see if I could purchase a pcb myself and then ask the engineer to fit it correctly because he said he has to do various safety checks when the new board is installed, which i believe to be true... but If I offer to buy the board myself, there might not be as much of an incentive for him to do the job!?
Another worry also, is as you said, is that what if it is not the pcb that is causing the boiler not to fire and i have just paid out £230, hopefully though, he did say he would use a multimeter to check if there is any voltage on the current pcb so he should be able to determine whether it is definitely that, which is at fault.
Another worry also, is as you said, is that what if it is not the pcb that is causing the boiler not to fire and i have just paid out £230, hopefully though, he did say he would use a multimeter to check if there is any voltage on the current pcb so he should be able to determine whether it is definitely that, which is at fault.
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