Ideal Isar HE28

[build44]

Hello

I wonder if the more knowledgeable here can help.

A relative of mine has an Ideal Isar HE28 boiler which was making a lot of noise occasionally. She turned it off recently because she thought it may just go kaput.

She called out an engineer and he advised changing the boiler, saying that the PCB probably needed changing and maybe other things. He gave her his quote to change it and that he could do it immediately etc etc. She told him to stick it back together and she would think on it.

I popped round to check it the other day just to see if what he said made sense. He had put it all back together but when I turned it on the display lit up for about 5 seconds and then went blank. No life at all. I tried reset etc and could not get it to display. I'm not sure what's happened - was this just coincidence? I checked the fuse on the PCB and that seems fine. Even opened the PCB casing and there isn't any water damage in there.

I know these are not the most reliable boilers as I have one myself and have had to get the PCB and pump changed. They are notorious for PCB failure. Amazingly this one still has the black PCB box.

Any ideas? Also, the Ideal Fixed price repair - does that mean they will pay for all parts and labour to repair, regardless? Thank You.

 

[gigz]

Check the purple cable is connected properly. I'm fixing loads of noisy isar's at the minute, nearly all of them due to blocked condense traps/pipework.

P.S. Never seen an isar 28 ? You sure.

 

[build44]

Hi thanks for your reply, gigz. Yes, sorry, it's a HE30.

The purple cable connector is connected but I think it may have a tenuous connection. I reconnected the pcb today and it started working. But L & F kept coming up. I switched it off and on once more and the display went away....then another time it was flickering weakly. Possibly the main switch has become contaminated.

Yes, I will check the trap. I've been reading up and it seems it's a very common issue. Strangely the original installer has also installed another trap below the boiler. Is that needed?

Thanks for your input.

 

[gigz]

No other trap req. LF will show with a blocked condense, but could be a few things. Can't give any advice as its RGI territory.

 

[ollski]

How can you not advise on electrodes if you can advise to remove the condensate trap?, they are both a single seal away from combustion products. Not that it matters, if there was any problem with it the manufacturers would have been sued by now for leaving fault finding guides and replacement part instructions in the mi's and then requiring them to be left with the customer. I'm just curious.

 

[gigz]

Maybe its because if the traps blocked it causes the LF fault, there might be nowt wrong with them apart from being damp. Getting to them means removing the combustion cover, i don't advise customers to do that (even though its in the instructions). Plus i didn't say remove the trap, i said it might be blocked and this causes noise.
Hope this satisfies your curiosity

 

[Alex10]

No other trap req. LF will show with a blocked condense, but could be a few things. Can't give any advice as its RGI territory.

With respect how do you know the second trap is not required? Isar only has a 50mm trap. If that bastard runs dry in summer guess what😂

 

[gigz]

OP doesn't state where condense terminates, so you may be right re second trap. OP if it terminates into an internal drain/stack an extra trap of 75mm is recommended. If it goes to a gully/soak away it isn't.

 

[build44]

Thanks for the update. I wasn't going to remove the second trap anyway!

Did check the trap and it was absolutely caked. Also replaced the PCB because I suspected the intermittent on/off was down to it. Everything working fine now. A big thanks.

Just a bit peeved with the Gas Safe engineer she called out who claimed it was going to cost around 500 pounds and wasn't worth repairing. Obviously wanted to sell a new boiler. Constantly hear stories about British Gas engineers doing the same or claiming issues that aren't there to sell a powerflush. It's the rogues in the industry that make so many people nervous to call out engineers.

 

[Dan Robinson]

All the more reason to foster a relationship with an independent RGI who can be trusted.

 

[gigz]

All the more reason to foster a relationship with an independent RGI who can be trusted.

+1

 

[ollski]

I'm not bothered what you suggest fella, after all je suis charlie, I just wonder why you feel you cant suggest it may be the electrodes but you can suggest trap when they will both break a combustion seal?

 

[gigz]

I'm not bothered what you suggest fella, after all je suis charlie, I just wonder why you feel you cant suggest it may be the electrodes but you can suggest trap when they will both break a combustion seal?

WTF you on about ???

On no occasion did i say "break a combustion seal". I said what i'm finding day to day at the moment. Read his follow up post, i was right, trap was blocked, but i didn't suggest HE unblock it, i was basically inferring the so called RGI they had out was ripping them off.