ideal icos m3080 boiler showing fault coe L8

[me01]

Hi,
Our boiler has not worked for a week, and is now showing fault L8 (fan error).

Had 2 corgi engineers come round to fix our ideal icos m3080 boiler.
Awaiting their bills very soon.
The first fault was H1 (Flow thermister error), and the engineer looked inside the boiler for about 1/2 hour, then said it is the PCB.

I phoned Ideal, and the person said it is one of the flow thermisters, and to get the engineer to call them to do some checks.

We called our original installers, and a kind engineer came out Friday evening at 9!, then said he would return with a thermister the next day. He changed the thermister, but no luck, and the original thermister showed the same resistance reading.
He investigated for about 20 minutes, then found the thermister wires had burnt. Ordered new wire set, then the PCB gave fault HE (PCB error!)
He asked if we thought it economical to replace the board, and we thought we will risk it. The boiler is 8 years old.

The new board gave error L8, so the fan was changed. The engineer has given up, and we are expecting a bill from him.

Now I had a look at the wiring, the thermister values, and everything is according to user manual. However, the voltage across the fan motor is less than 100V dc (the fan is rated at 330v dc)

Ideal can only suggest we call out homeserve for a fixed fee of £295.

They should be more helpful, and not insist that we must get a corgi engineer to call them.

Any ideas from the good people out there?

 

[idealnumber1]

with a multimeter test the fan on ohms.it has to be greater than 100

 

[gas4you]

IF you've tested the dc voltage on the fan terminals as per the MI's, ie 330v and 14v, and checked the fan resistance as per idealnumber1, then if they are as should be it seems yet another pcb fault.

 

[me01]

with a multimeter test the fan on ohms.it has to be greater than 100

Thanks Idealnumber1 and also Dave.

Fan is greater than 100 ohms (112) but the volts across the motor is less than 100V. 14V across the pink and yellow. The manual says, across blue and red, it should show 330V when the reset is pressed.
Tried this, but still the same. The board is new, and the only thing I can do is ask for a replacement.

 

[gas4you]

M series pcbs are about the most unreliable ever produced.

take it back and get a new one.

There is another post on here with a new pcb that proved faulty

 

[idealnumber1]

check for continuity on the pcb and thermistor on the new one

 

[screech]

i remember a couple of years back ringing ideal (after replacing a pcb on one of these and it still didn't work) only to get told by them that if i ever have to replace the pcb i should also replace the fan as it's probably what blew the pcb, so it took a new fan and another pcb to fix what their fault finding says is a pcb fault! nice way of making the, extra money for them i suppose!

 

[me01]

i remember a couple of years back ringing ideal (after replacing a pcb on one of these and it still didn't work) only to get told by them that if i ever have to replace the pcb i should also replace the fan as it's probably what blew the pcb, so it took a new fan and another pcb to fix what their fault finding says is a pcb fault! nice way of making the, extra money for them i suppose!

As it is Sunday, I can get a replacement board, tomorrow, and try again, with the checks as advised by gas4you and idealnumber1.

 

[me01]

i remember a couple of years back ringing ideal (after replacing a pcb on one of these and it still didn't work) only to get told by them that if i ever have to replace the pcb i should also replace the fan as it's probably what blew the pcb, so it took a new fan and another pcb to fix what their fault finding says is a pcb fault! nice way of making the, extra money for them i suppose!

As it is Sunday, I can get a replacement board, tomorrow, and try again, with the checks as advised by gas4you and idealnumber1.

The boiler is only 6 years old. The PCB was faulty just after the first year warranty, and we were charged £260 to replace it. PCB fault again last summer! The corgi engineer we called, was told by Ideal to replace both the PCB and the EMC kit part. Now I have a third replacement pcb. Just wondering if there could be anything else I can look at while waiting to swap the pcb, tomorrow.

The fan does not receive the 330v, but less than 100v, and runs intermittently. Should this be suficient for gas to flow ?

 

[me01]

i remember a couple of years back ringing ideal (after replacing a pcb on one of these and it still didn't work) only to get told by them that if i ever have to replace the pcb i should also replace the fan as it's probably what blew the pcb, so it took a new fan and another pcb to fix what their fault finding says is a pcb fault! nice way of making the, extra money for them i suppose!

As it is Sunday, I can get a replacement board, tomorrow, and try again, with the checks as advised by gas4you and idealnumber1.

The boiler is only 6 years old. The PCB was faulty just after the first year warranty, and we were charged £260 to replace it. PCB fault again last summer! The corgi engineer we called, was told by Ideal to replace both the PCB and the EMC kit part. Now I have a third replacement pcb. Just wondering if there could be anything else I can look at while waiting to swap the pcb, tomorrow.

The fan does not receive the 330v, but less than 100v, and runs intermittently. Should this be suficient for gas to flow ?

Just noticed, the fan actually does not run, it just shudders with 30V across it. After 3 attempts, L8 flashes.

 

[me01]

i remember a couple of years back ringing ideal (after replacing a pcb on one of these and it still didn't work) only to get told by them that if i ever have to replace the pcb i should also replace the fan as it's probably what blew the pcb, so it took a new fan and another pcb to fix what their fault finding says is a pcb fault! nice way of making the, extra money for them i suppose!

As it is Sunday, I can get a replacement board, tomorrow, and try again, with the checks as advised by gas4you and idealnumber1.

The boiler is only 6 years old. The PCB was faulty just after the first year warranty, and we were charged £260 to replace it. PCB fault again last summer! The corgi engineer we called, was told by Ideal to replace both the PCB and the EMC kit part. Now I have a third replacement pcb. Just wondering if there could be anything else I can look at while waiting to swap the pcb, tomorrow.

The fan does not receive the 330v, but less than 100v, and runs intermittently. Should this be suficient for gas to flow ?

Just noticed, the fan actually does not run, it just shudders with 30V across it. After 3 attempts, L8 flashes.

Thank you all for your help.

Finally broke the vicious circle of replacing fan, pcb, fan, byt replacing both fan AND pcb. (One kept blowing the other, apparently).

Unfortunately for us, the boiler started up, but there were signs of flame breaking through the back of the combustion chamber. Opening up the burner cover, the combustion chamber was found to be deterirated at the back, with the insulation almost all burnt.

Will have to arrange for the boiler to be replaced. Hopefully, not Ideal again.

 

[idealnumber1]

it's down to poor servicing,the earth pins had probably gone(which have to be changed when servicing)thus allowing the insulation to probably be in the sump,so this is why you had the flame burning the back of the boiler

 

[gas4you]

it's down to poor servicing,the earth pins had probably gone(which have to be changed when servicing)thus allowing the insulation to probably be in the sump,so this is why you had the flame burning the back of the boiler

Whilst I agree with the above, it is also common knowledge that Ideal issued a 'recall' for want of a better description, to fit a new designed earth pin to hold the back insulation in place because of this common fault.

One would hope that the fan and burner had been removed at each prior service to clean the HE and inspect everything inside there.

If the service engineer had used a FGA, it would have been obvious that there was a combustion problem that needed further investigation.

Although these boilers are known to be first class carp, they still should be looked after properly and professionally

 

[me01]

it's down to poor servicing,the earth pins had probably gone(which have to be changed when servicing)thus allowing the insulation to probably be in the sump,so this is why you had the flame burning the back of the boiler

Whilst I agree with the above, it is also common knowledge that Ideal issued a 'recall' for want of a better description, to fit a new designed earth pin to hold the back insulation in place because of this common fault.

One would hope that the fan and burner had been removed at each prior service to clean the HE and inspect everything inside there.

If the service engineer had used a FGA, it would have been obvious that there was a combustion problem that needed further investigation.

Although these boilers are known to be first class carp, they still should be looked after properly and professionally

The last service was last August. The engineer commented about the probable need for replacing the insulation blocks at next annual service (late this year). He did not say anything about earth pins.

What would be a good replacment boiler? Glowworm, Potterton?
Can the same flue be kept, if the boiler is going to be sited in the same place.
The engineer mentioned pipework change if we don't replace with Ideal.

 

[idealnumber1]

you could put an isar he 30 straight swap but i'll get murdered on here for suggesting an ideal boiler