Old Potterton boiler not working

[pkone]

I have a pretty ancient potterton boiler which has all of a sudden stopped working. When heat is called for it is not firing up for hot water or central heating it is just making a pretty awful noise as if a motor is grinding. When I turn it off from the central heating control it goes off with a thump. The pilot light is on and I did manage to get it to fire up once after it had been left for a while. Does anyone have any idea what the problem could be?

 

[twgas]

lack of water maybe, check there is some water in f&e tank, should cover outlet connection.

 

[gasandoilman]

sounds like the fan at the top of the boiler if thats faulty it wont operate the presure swich and gas valve?
What boiler is it?
take front cover off and see if noise is from the top of the boiler

 

[twgas]

pretty ancient potterton boiler

I was thinking early kingfisher.

it always helps if a model is given

 

[gasandoilman]

or profile

PIC PLEASE? pkone

 

[twgas]

profiles cant be ancient - I've got one

 

[gasandoilman]

they were still selling kingfisher 2 years ago as i installed one at a commercial premises(condensing not required) and no drain nearby anyway.

Love the old profiles easy to fix if they go wrong but not that often goes wrong

 

[twgas]

it couldnt be a diplomat could it?

 

[pkone]

Many thanks for your responces. The model is a Potterton Flamingo II RS40.
If it is left for a while it will fire up again as normal but after about 30 minutes the noise starts.
The noise is coming from the top of the boiler so the fan would make sense.
Does anyone have any idea what this would cost to replace and if it is worth doing on something probably over 20 years old.

 

[Agile]

As far as I can recall the Flamingo was always a natural draught boiler so if thats right then it does NOT have a fan!

Could it be a noisy pump?

Tony