I have a 3 year old Finest Gold which works perfectly for hot water but when I switch the CH on it fires up fine for about 40 seconds max then shuts down but red lockout led doesn't illuminate (except occasionally after many start-up attempts) and the hot water continues to work perfectly. Does anyone have any suggestions as to what might affect the CH but not the hot water. I do occasionally hear what sounds like a small fragment of metal washing around in the boiler when I engage the CH but have never heard this sound when calling for hot water. Many thanks, kenben.
Halstead Finest Gold combi HW but no CH
- Thread starter kenben
- Start date
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Hi Tony, thanks for the quick response. Having searched various forums it seems similar problems with Halstead combi's all over the place though most seem to have the problem with HW exclusively or HW&CH rather than just on the CH side. Spoke to Halstead Technical this morning and they suggested checking gas pressures on CH (most likely cause) also check 'flame detection electrode'? or something similar (I'm not in the trade as you will have guessed!). Corgi engineer coming back later this week, he thought perhaps flow restricted by the bit of metal floating around or PCB problem. Forgot to mention previous to this fault the hot water had packed up as well but the boiler was covered by Halstead extended warranty administered through D&G & their approved engineers diagnosed faulty 'flow switch body' part no 500594 which they replaced, (along with a new 'manifold' part no. 300715 which they ordered & fitted by mistake as it was the part listed immediately above 500594 in the Halstead manual!). They then discovered they'd broken the ignition harness during the repair and after 2 weeks waiting for a new one (64 days into the repair) D&G lost patience & decided to pay me off. I got my independent engineer to fit the new harness & thats when we discovered the CH problem although the hot water side of things is now fine. Maybe this fuller history might prompt further suggestions or clues as to the problem. Many Thanks, Eamonn.
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Appreciate the picture, its not far off the mark. I'm still laughing, the payout was more than the boiler cost (almost inc. fitting) !
"""I got my independent engineer to fit the new harness & thats when we discovered the CH problem although the hot water side of things is now fine."""
Does that mean that the new wiring harness was fitted and after that the CH was not working ???
My immediate reaction is that something may be wrong with how it was fitted ???
Tony
Does that mean that the new wiring harness was fitted and after that the CH was not working ???
My immediate reaction is that something may be wrong with how it was fitted ???
Tony
Hi Tony, to clarify, both the CH & HW had been gradually failing to operate properly over a period of months (struggling to fire-up reliably & keep alight) then the HW failed completely and a few days later the CH as well. I had found I could usually get the HW to work by firing-up the CH first for a while. (This was back in June so my memory is a bit sketchy now). So it wasn't till after the ignition harness was finally replaced some 3 months later that we had the first opportunity to test the boiler since the day when both had failed to operate back at the start of June. Sorry for the confusion, cheers, Eamonn.
"""I got my independent engineer to fit the new harness & thats when we discovered the CH problem although the hot water side of things is now fine."""
You dont say it but it sounds as this independent engineer does not know how to fault find on boilers!
My suggestion is that you try to find someone who is competent. A Halstead service agent might be a good first try.
Boilers are complicated devices for anyone who does not understand them. Faultfinding requires test equipment and a logical mind.
Tony
You dont say it but it sounds as this independent engineer does not know how to fault find on boilers!
My suggestion is that you try to find someone who is competent. A Halstead service agent might be a good first try.
Boilers are complicated devices for anyone who does not understand them. Faultfinding requires test equipment and a logical mind.
Tony
Hi Tony, to be fair to my engineer I only asked him to pop in and fit the harness on the way to another job to see if that was all that was now wrong he's yet to come back and go through it thoroughly I am just looking for suggestions from the symptoms experienced in case someone else has had the same problem before. It was a Halstead service agent (company) who failed to sort the boiler for 64 days under Halsteads own extended warranty (D&G simply do their admin. for them). My engineer originally fitted the boiler (BG trained) & has over 25 years experience so hopefully knows what he's doing! Is it possible wrongly fitting the igniton harness could affect just the CH & not the HW particularly as both seem to go through the firing-up procedure fine, it's just the CH doesn't stay on for more than c.40 seconds? thanks, Eamonn.
Ignition is the same for CH or HW!
You'd check the airflow early on, because it's easy and a common fault. (check the lights)
Sounds like it's getting hot , or thinking it is, prematurely on CH, so you'd check the sensor first, then the circulation, the actual temperature achieved, and gas rate. Circulation can be hard to analyse - slow pump and a blockage look similar unless you're careful. Could be the pcb, lots of different faults on those.
You'd check the airflow early on, because it's easy and a common fault. (check the lights)
Sounds like it's getting hot , or thinking it is, prematurely on CH, so you'd check the sensor first, then the circulation, the actual temperature achieved, and gas rate. Circulation can be hard to analyse - slow pump and a blockage look similar unless you're careful. Could be the pcb, lots of different faults on those.
Thanks for your suggestions Chris, will double check these have been considered before going for the dreaded PCB replacement, cheers Eamonn.
Its most unlikely to be the PCB.
As I started off by saying, it sounds like the diverter valve ( or whatever your boiler uses to perform that task! ).
You have to understand that I do not have time to spend 20 minutes checking the MI before replying. I assimilate a boiler by looking at it when I am called to a repair. In this case its totally unpaid assistance so whilst I try to help it has to be whatever I can do quickly.
Tony
As I started off by saying, it sounds like the diverter valve ( or whatever your boiler uses to perform that task! ).
You have to understand that I do not have time to spend 20 minutes checking the MI before replying. I assimilate a boiler by looking at it when I am called to a repair. In this case its totally unpaid assistance so whilst I try to help it has to be whatever I can do quickly.
Tony
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