Ideal HE 30 Combi - central heating stuck on

[grahamrex]

Hi. Hoping there are some experts out there that can help me. Trying to keep this old boiler alive and kicking. Woke up this morning to find the central heating running flat out.

The boiler is showing status 'C', which is consistent with the CH running. I have tried the following:

- Resetting the boiler (the reset button appears to do nothing)
- Turning Honeywell room thermostat to OFF. This has no impact
- Rebinding room thermostat and relay. This appears to work but has no impact

The LCD display looks to be failing on my room thermostat (have replaced batteries), but not sure how that would be an issue.

Any suggestions would be much appreciated. Last time I had a plumber out to service the boiler he said it wasn't worth it. And it was a miracle it was still running, so he'd rather not touch it

Thanks,

Graham

 

[stem]

As you don't say, I'll assume you have a Honeywell BDR91 thermostat receiver. Let us know what it is, if it's not a BDR91

If the green light on the BDR91 is lit, the thermostat is calling for heat and that is what is responsible for keeping the boiler running. Pressing the button at the side of the light should switch off the green light and the boiler should go off too.

If the green light is off, and the boiler is still running then the fault is most likely elsewhere.

 

[grahamrex]

Hi @stem, thanks for the reply! I think I have an older receiver. See photo below. Google suggests this is an R6660D model.

There are no lights on the receiver. Do you think this means the fault is in the boiler? That would make sense given the room thermostat has no impact

 

[Deleted member 267285]

Does the boiler have a clock or a hot water preheat function?

 

[stem]

The R6660D works in the same way as the BDR. So, the button should switch the heating 'on' and 'off' respectively each time it is pressed, accompanied by a green light on the display when the heating is 'on'.

However, if there are no lights showing at all and it has failed I would expect the heating to be permanently 'off', not permanently 'on'. Unless it has been decommissioned, or bypassed at some point and is no longer operating the heating.

Was the room thermostat switching the heating on and off last time it was used? I once went to one installation where a thermostat had failed and to get some heating the receiver wiring had been bypassed internally as an emergency measure leaving it permanently 'on'.

 

[grahamrex]

Does the boiler have a clock or a hot water preheat function?

I don't believe it has either

 

[kidgreen61]

Disconnect the thermostat from the boiler and see what happens, that will rule out stat fault if there is one.

 

[Deleted member 267285]

I don't believe it has either

Might be as per @stem then and the thermostat has been bypassed. However it sounds like it could be a new problem?

 

[grahamrex]

Disconnect the thermostat from the boiler and see what happens, that will rule out stat fault if there is one.

Not sure how to do that. But will open it up and have a look

 

[grahamrex]

The R6660D works in the same way as the BDR. So, the button should switch the heating 'on' and 'off' respectively each time it is pressed, accompanied by a green light on the display when the heating is 'on'.

However, if there are no lights showing at all and it has failed I would expect the heating to be permanently 'off', not permanently 'on'. Unless it has been decommissioned, or bypassed at some point and is no longer operating the heating.

Was the room thermostat switching the heating on and off last time it was used? I once went to one installation where a thermostat had failed and to get some heating the receiver wiring had been bypassed internally as an emergency measure leaving it permanently 'on'.

This is a new problem. Heating has been working fine for past two years (that's how long I have lived here) and assuming longer.

When I press the button on the relay I do get a green light, but it doesn't change anything on the boiler. I can turn the boiler off manually, but after booting up it is defaulting to status 'C' and running the CH.

These efforts are much appreciated tho

 

[Deleted member 267285]

Not sure how to do that. But will open it up and have a look

Turn power off, remove wire usually b or c (used to be c on older types), turn power back on temporarily and note if boiler fires up for ch.

 

[grahamrex]

[Updated] @CBW @stem @kidgreen61 I took off the outside panel of the R6660D and then turned boiler on and off. And it started up fine and is now status '0'. Which is good news. If I reconnect the relay, it flips to 'C' again (note the room thermostat is set to Off).

So good news is I can now use my hot water (with relay disconnected), so thank you!

Thoughts on how I might fix this? Do I need to replace the relay? Relay and room thermostat? Or could this still be a boiler issue?

 

[Deleted member 267285]

No, it’s not a boiler issue, tbh not sure you can get the relay, so probably time for a new thermostat

 

[grahamrex]

No, it’s not a boiler issue, tbh not sure you can get the relay, so probably time for a new thermostat

Can I get a thermostat that is integrated? Any suggestions? Thanks

 

[Deleted member 267285]

Can I get a thermostat that is integrated? Any suggestions? Thanks

Integrated into the boiler? Not sure, Ideal sell a thermostat called the Halo - not sure of the compatibility though. Plenty of thermostats available, probably stay away from Chinese rubbish on eBay or Amazon and Salus. EPH Combi pack 4 and esi get notable mentions on here and you already have wiring to the boiler