Help Diagnosing Likely Problem - Electrics and Boiler

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Hi, I'd be grateful for some wisdom on the following so I can be an educated consumer when the pro comes calling (or maybe it's even something I can fix myself :) ).

Set up: Potterton boiler downstairs, hot water tank and Potterton EP 2002 upstairs, separate fused switch upstairs.

Display to EP went blank. Can't remember if main RCD was tripped, but fused switch would spark when switched on. Tried a couple of times to switch on, but could get no display to EP.

Called out plumber. He charged for an hour to change the fuse in the fused switch to 3 amp and 'diagnose' faulty EP. Said the fuse amperage was too low (but we didn't see what it was).

System worked for less than a day, then the EP went blank again. RCD definitely not tripped this time.

We decided to change the EP ourselves (to a Potterton 2). (Didn't call out same plumber as he said it would be £100 for the EP plus a further hour to fit!) Fitted it today in 10 mins. No display until we also replaced the 3 amp fuse. Display was on for a few minutes and then blank again. Main RCD not tripped. (Also a little confused as to why there's no display at all given there's a new back up battery in the new EP, but perhaps that's my ignorance?).

We're planning on calling out an electrician, but would appreciate some educated thoughts on the likely fault and fix. Thanks in advance!
 
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The back up battery was probably dead from old age, the new battery takes a little time to fully charge from the mains so probably a flat battery in new programmer, educated guess would be faulty pump/fan/gas valve.
 
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Thanks so much for the replies!

Sounds like a job for a (different) plumber.

Is there a relevant reason why the fused switch was sparking before the fuse was replaced by the plumber, but then the new fuses (one put in by plumber, and one put in by us) seem to have just blown rather than sparked?
 
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Not what you want to hear , but if you have an EP2000 , these systems were pretty unique and an Electrician is that last person that you should be calling
 
Few electricians are very familiar with heating controls.

I would expect that all heating or boiler engineers would be pretty good at dealing with controls but the reality is that some are not so good.

If you explain that you have an electrical control problem that might weed out those who will admit to not being so good.
 
This is more of a job for an electrician with proper test gear. Some part of your heating installation is drawing more power than it should be and blowing the fuse. The fault could be an internal part on the boiler, or any component associated with it. It may not be visible to the naked eye and only detectable when electrically tested.

Has anything been changed before the problem occurred? Have you hung any pictures? drilled any holes in the walls for anything? Done any DIY that might have disturbed anything? Any vermin around? they seem to love eating cables.
 
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Any competent boiler engineer who specialises in repairs will have adequate testing equipment.

Most electricians are totally unfamiliar with internal boiler components.
 
Any competent boiler engineer who specialises in repairs will have adequate testing equipment.
This may be the case if they are 'competent' and a boiler component is at fault, but in reality, sadly some who turn up to fault find are not. Sometimes, even a knowledge of basic circuitry is lacking (eg. not knowing connecting a L & N directly together is a bad thing) which is highlighted particularly if the fault relates to external components outside of the boiler. I know, I have have on occasion been asked to help sort out the mess afterwards.
 
Unfortunately, that is very true.

I had a call asking for help from a gas reg. who was trying to find out why a boiler was not working.

I asked him to measure the resistance of something and he replied that all he had with him was a neon screwdriver!

Eventually, with more of my help, he discovered that the call for heat cable going under the floor from cylinder to the boiler had been eaten by mice!
 
There is very little serious fault finding that anyone can do with just a neon screwdriver!

About all they can sometimes do is to alert you to a wire which is live to avoid a shock. But that is not the correct and safe thing to do.
 
Just thought I would update - both in case someone else has similar issues, and to thank you again for the replies. We had an electrician out earlier today. He thinks it's the pump (on our gravity system). So that's temporarily off (and the system is working - hot water!) and, if the system is still fine early next week, we'll get a costing for replacing the pump.
 
There is very little serious fault finding that anyone can do with just a neon screwdriver!

About all they can sometimes do is to alert you to a wire which is live to avoid a shock. But that is not the correct and safe thing to do.
Tony you could have your Oscilloscope , your ERM meter , your Tachograph and any of the other crap you claim to need and I would still wipe the floor with you with a multimeter and a neon screwdriver
 

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