Ideal Elan 2 60F Boiler

Joined
4 Apr 2013
Messages
5
Reaction score
0
Location
Essex
Country
United Kingdom
Hi,

I have one of these ageing workhorse which is about 23 years old.
It was already in the house when we moved in 1996. It has been very reliable in all these years. Had a new fan put in about 10+ years ago. Had a new pump and Electronic wall timer replaced about 4 years ago and a new Air Pressure switch replaced about 3 years ago.

About 2 years ago there was some ? gas smell coming from the boiler into the room when the boiler was operational. The Engineer whom I called checked the small gas pipe from the wall going into the boiler and said there was a slight gas leak there. He undid the pipe and ?cleaned it and put some thread seal tape (PTFE) around it and reconnected it back and then tested the boiler when it was running, with his electronic handheld device and said it was OK now.

Subsequently it was alright for a while and the gas smell comes back sometimes, usually in the beginning period of operation. To be on the safe side, I always have the window next to the boiler slightly open when it is on.

It was last serviced about 2 years ago and every 6 months or so I take off the case and give the insides a hoover and spray some WD40 into the fan impeller joint and the burner assembly.

The problem I am having now, which was sort of intermittent about a year ago is, it fails to fire up sometimes. It is sort of becoming quite regular these days. What I have noticed is that when everything is switched on and running, if I were to raise the front glass fascia a few inches up and drop it on to its catch at the bottom of which the Automatic Ignition PCB with the switch is located, it starts firing up. Once it is up and running, it can go on working for about 10 hours without a problem, until it switches off either manually or by timer setting.

So I am not sure where the fly in the ointment is. Whether the Electronic Ignition in the PCB is playing up or something else. Perhaps it needs a good service?

Considering the age of the boiler, I am quite happy to replace it. However like I said it has been very reliable in the last 23 years and there is no guarantee that a new boiler is going to be this reliable and last this long.
Sadly they don't make them like these anymore.

Any advice or suggestions would be most welcome.

Kind Regards.
 
Sponsored Links
Get a new one before this one kills you, It wont last 23 years but it will be more efficient and more safe ;)
 
Get a new one before this one kills you, It wont last 23 years but it will be more efficient and more safe ;)

Thanks.....I shall do that....seems like the boiler has had a good run for its money's worth.
 
Sounds like a wind up but if not..

You shouldn't be going into the combustion chamber at all, never mind spraying wd40 on burner and fan.
If you don't know what you're doing you could leave an unsafe situation, and the gasman that has been working in the boiler previously is likely to be pulled up due to any safety incidents.
 
Sponsored Links
Sounds like a wind up but if not..

You shouldn't be going into the combustion chamber at all, never mind spraying wd40 on burner and fan.
If you don't know what you're doing you could leave an unsafe situation, and the gasman that has been working in the boiler previously is likely to be pulled up due to any safety incidents.

Thanks Brassedoff...in fact it was the Gas Engineer, a friend of mine who suggested it to me when he came around the last time. He said if the fan is sticking, I could spry some WD40 inside it and keep it going.

Matter of fact, I am not a gas Engineer or any other Engineer for that matter.
However what I am curious to know is, if the boiler is working fine most of the time, except for this small minor issues sometimes....what is actually causing this to happen.

I can appreciate that, it is about 23 years old and probably coming to the end of it's lifespan. It would be easy to change it, but the challenge is what is causing this small issues. One does not throw away their car or some other equipment simply because it is causing some minor problems. One tries to diagnose the problem, and try to work it out and learn from it.

We had a Servis washing machine which kept going for 25 years. We replaced it not because it stopped working, but every now and again we had to replace parts for it. Like wise we had a Samsung Microwave oven which never broke down for 25 years. It was still working fine when we give it off to a local charity shop.

A couple of years ago, when the Boiler was giving me problems, I asked 2 of the Engineers who came to fix it, if it was time for me to replace the boiler.
Their answer to me was, your boiler is working fine. You do not need to replace it.
 
Thanks Brassedoff...in fact it was the Gas Engineer, a friend of mine who suggested it to me when he came around the last time. He said if the fan is sticking, I could spry some WD40 inside it and keep it going.

That ios very bad an irresponsible advice for him to give you!

Firstly a DIYer should never open the combustion areas of a boiler and secondly WD40 has a flamable propellant!

Tony
 
Thanks Brassedoff...in fact it was the Gas Engineer, a friend of mine who suggested it to me when he came around the last time. He said if the fan is sticking, I could spry some WD40 inside it and keep it going.

That ios very bad an irresponsible advice for him to give you!

Firstly a DIYer should never open the combustion areas of a boiler and secondly WD40 has a flamable propellant!

Tony

Thanks Tony.......I suppose I better get it replaced, rather than trying to figure out what is the problem. One of my neighbors is a BG Engineer.
I shall have a word with him and see what is the best course of action.
Thanks everyone for your kind advice.
 
Although old, your boiler has a lower water content copper heat exchanger and is pretty efficient.

A modern condensing boiler would only be about 12% more efficient when running than yours if yours was in perfect working order!

A slight downside though is the permanent pilot light whcih burns about £50 of gas each year. Current boilers self ignite when heat is needed.

Hardly worth replacing if you can find a good engineer willing to repair it properly.

Its the basis of the Ideal Sprint, one of the first popular combis and there are still a few still running after about 25 years.
 
Although old, your boiler has a lower water content copper heat exchanger and is pretty efficient.

A modern condensing boiler would only be about 12% more efficient when running than yours if yours was in perfect working order!

A slight downside though is the permanent pilot light whcih burns about £50 of gas each year. Current boilers self ignite when heat is needed.

Hardly worth replacing if you can find a good engineer willing to repair it properly.

Its the basis of the Ideal Sprint, one of the first popular combis and there are still a few still running after about 25 years.

Thanks Agile for your very useful and informative feedback.

In fact, I don't think this boiler has a permanent pilot light. I cannot see it through the front glass window and there is nothing in the service manual to suggest a pilot light. All I can see through the glass window is the boiler self igniting with a click and burning the gas and stopping.

It has an electronic ignition which comes on and ignites/burn the gas for a minute or so and then stops and restarts again after a few mins. This is the continuing process until the boiler is switched off. How soon and how often the re ignition process takes, depends on the weather and temperature in the room/house.
 

DIYnot Local

Staff member

If you need to find a tradesperson to get your job done, please try our local search below, or if you are doing it yourself you can find suppliers local to you.

Select the supplier or trade you require, enter your location to begin your search.


Are you a trade or supplier? You can create your listing free at DIYnot Local

 
Sponsored Links
Back
Top