Glowworm Ultimate smelling of burning plastic

[DaveB12345]

We have a Glowworm Ultimate, about 10 years old, and up until now it has been running fine. It’s just started smelling strongly of burning, perhaps burning plastic, and the sound of the motor or pump inside sounds as if it has problems operating. It is still heating the radiators. Does anyone have an idea what the problem might be? Many thanks

 

[mickyg]

here's a compete random guess. The plastic fan impellor has fallen off the fan and its now sat somewhere getting hotter than planned. The lack of a cooling effect on the fan (the plast impellor) is now causing the fan to get to hot, causing the extra noise. Hows that?

 

[DaveB12345]

Thank you Mickyg.

If this is the case is it a simple job to replace the plastic fan impeller or should I have it done by a plumber?

 

[mrgas]

If your smell is coming from the fan impellor (broken) , I wouldnt worry avout it too much. Fans can carry on fot years without them. They dont appear to be fitted to newer fans anymore. Wait until fan fails and needs replacing. As the the fan is in the combustion chamber you should use a gas safe person to replace it.
You are however unlikely to be able to smell this in the property.
The smell could well be your PCB dying, in which case the boiler will just stop working.

 

[DaveB12345]

Thank you mrgas.

We'll get a gas safe engineer to have a look at it and I'll post what they say in case it is helpful for someone else.