British Gas service ruined my boiler!

[majorj0nny]

caving into pressure My lady convinced me to take out that british gas homecare thingie for our boiler .... the boilers 'basic' but its never let us down really. the other week BG came round for the first anual service and inspection, the guy took the cover off, hoovered the unit out, checked various readings with his equipment etc... all fine he said..

didnt think anything else bout it.

now, for some reason when the boiler is activated (via the heating timer) where it used to turn on regular as clockwork as it should, sometimes we find even though the timer is on - the boiler is sitting there with just the pilot light on.... if i take the control panel cover off the pilot light goes off ... at first I thought there was a switch that eh BG man had put back to does this, as the pilot light never went out when I took the cover off before. theres nothing ... no switches so Im confused at

a) why the boiler aint always lighting up

b) why, when a) happens ,, removing the cover makes the pilot light go off ?

there is a little reset switch behing the cover along side the heat knob, I HAVE to press this to get the boilet pilot to re-ignight. I read on the back of the cover that this is a overheat trip switch and needs be reset - though I dont see why this is suddenly kicking in ?

could BG man have knocked something when he was messing about ?

 

[alan m 1974]

Boiler model ? and if it has a overheat button then im sure you have electronic ignition ,need details

 

[gas4you]

What make, model and type of system do you have?

It could well be just coincidence this has started to happen.

 

[Gasguru]

Gently pull the grey gas valve knob out - sometimes they stick a little preventing the main burner firing up.

Taking the control panel off is probably disturbing the overheat interupter wiring. They may be a poor connection. Since the pilot would have been extinguished during the safety checks the thermocouple may now be more susceptable.

Are you sure you really need to reset the overheat stat? has the button actually poped out? It may be just poor connections to the stat and pressing it happens to sort the prroblem.

Call back BG...not necessarily their fault...when the thermocouple and overheat stat are old they can just start to play up.

 

[majorj0nny]

Ok the Boiler is a Baxo Solo 2 40RS.

the little reddy/broen cross switch in that pic is the reset button.

 

[gas4you]

Yep, thats the overheat. I would check that your pump is working correctly and that there is 240V at the pump terminals, boiler controls the pump.

Search FAQs on checking a pump.

 

[majorj0nny]

Gently pull the grey gas valve knob out - sometimes they stick a little preventing the main burner firing up.

Taking the control panel off is probably disturbing the overheat interupter wiring. They may be a poor connection. Since the pilot would have been extinguished during the safety checks the thermocouple may now be more susceptable.

Are you sure you really need to reset the overheat stat? has the button actually poped out? It may be just poor connections to the stat and pressing it happens to sort the prroblem.

Call back BG...not necessarily their fault...when the thermocouple and overheat stat are old they can just start to play up.

I suppose it could be coincidence.... the reset button is popping out a little as when I cant re-ignite the pilot if I press it it pushes back... when its working this button seems to be back all the time..

is it worth me pulling those wires off the reset switch and shoving them back on incase there is a loose connection ?

 

[Gasguru]

But did the button actaully pop out?

If it did maybe the thermostat has been turned up more than previously and the boiler is now tripping out.

 

[gasmick2]

Hi it does sound like the pump is playing up and causing the overheat to switch open,, So as gas 4you says its prob a coincidental thing that its playing up now

 

[majorj0nny]

Yep, thats the overheat. I would check that your pump is working correctly and that there is 240V at the pump terminals, boiler controls the pump.

Search FAQs on checking a pump.

well the radiators are all working ok still (when the boiler actually bothers to start)

but at the moment starting the boiler has become a manual process.

 

[majorj0nny]

Hi it sounds like the boiler you have is a few years old and the switch is part of the thermal coupling which is classed as an interupter, this is normally only tripped if for instance the pump is playing up, or there is a problem with blockages and normally they are a low content heat exchanger so need protecting
i would have thought as well the pilot would go out when you remove the combustion chamber the pilot moves away from the ffd so causing an outage, you should not be removing that case anyway it should be a corgi job only because of the boiler seals
so as gas4you says it could be just coincidental

I aint removed the actual case ... when I say cover i mean the cover for the controls as in tghe pic above.. its just a clip on metal plate that covers the heat knob, reset button and ignition controls.

 

[gas4you]

Check that the boiler stat capillary, left of the stat, that goes up inside the case has not been trapped against the combustion chamber case, so it trips out due to the heat it is touching.

 

[alan m 1974]

IRRESPONSIBLE SUGGESTION DELETED

Mod 10

 

[Gasguru]

SOMETHING IRRESPONSIBLE

That comment could lead to a serious safety breach, it's one thing to ******** if you're a pro and are fully aware of the consequences but to advise a diyer to do so is just plain reckless.

The OP has BG service cover, the advise is to call them out.

 

[ollski]

at first I thought there was a switch that eh BG man had put back to does this, as the pilot light never went out when I took the cover off before.

What was the reason you used to take the cover off before?