Potterton Performa 29 Problem

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Hi all,

1st time posting here. i'm hoping to get some advice on my boiler problem from anyone in the know...

I have a potterton performa 28 which is getting very temperamental. It's set to around 1.5 bar gage pressure and is only about 4 yrs old. We lose central heating and hot water very frequently with the panel showing a 60o fault light - meaning low pressure or fault on pump. We have managed to get it working again on occasion by resetting it lots of times and then keeping it on continuous operation, but it goes off on it own. Resets are working less and less now, so I need to get it sorted.

Lots of people on this forum seem to know about boilers and fittings etc, but I really don't! Would someone be able to advice me as to what the likely problem is and who I should contact to get it sorted? british gas have let me down from a service side, and i'm tempted to ring potterton who seem very expensive. Ideally' i want the thing fixed and serviced by someone who is qualified and fair, so I can call them in future too.

Thanks for any advice on this!

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[Agile]

Unfortunately you seem to want to get it fixed on the cheap!

Most competent engineers do charge for their services!

It sounds to me as if its badly clogged up. We charge about £180 to deal with that problem and a friend of mine charges £225 ! That does not cover the system and power flushing may well be needed at about £350.

Firstly you need a competent engineer to diagnose exactly what your problem actually is. Then you need to see how it can be resolved.

Neither BG nor Heateam will normally clean clogged boilers!!!

Tony

 

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Thanks Tony,

Thats very helpful. I didn't mean to give the impression that I want the fault corrected on the cheap. In fact, I am looking to get the boiler sorted properly so that I don't have long running problems with hy hot water or CH supply.

Ideally I want a engineer who will come in, diagnose the problem properly and take any corrective action needed in one visit.

If the problem is that the system is clogged, and it does require power flushing, do you know of anyone reliable in the Kent area who can do this soon and in one visit?

Push

 

[Agile]

Thanks Tony,

Ideally I want a engineer who will come in, diagnose the problem properly and take any corrective action needed in one visit.

If the problem is that the system is clogged, and it does require power flushing, do you know of anyone reliable in the Kent area who can do this soon and in one visit?

Push

Its quite time consuming treating a clogged boiler and rather specialised. My friend does it for Homeserve when their usual contractors are unable to fix it.

At a busy time I would not be able to complete it on a single visit as it takes up to two hours. At less busy times then I would.

I do it by introducing chemicals into the boiler as I find thats the best way. My friend often does it with a power flushing pump but I did not teach him to do it that way. I think my way is best as it covers all internal waterways in the boiler.

It might not be clogged but thats sounds the most likely cause. but whatever it is it needs a skilled boiler engineer.

It is retrievable but not many can, or can be bothered, to do it. They often see it an an opportunity to fit a new boiler.

Tony

 

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Hi,

I managed to get a good plumber round to have a look at this today. He thought it may be the pump, so he removed it and replaced it. The pump that was removed had seized up badly and wasn't turning freely. The reason the boiler worked randomly after a number of resets was just down to pot-luck. Every time the boiler was switched on, the pump was activated, but 95% of the time didn't turn. Occasionally, it did turn. so we had hot water and heatingg resumed for 12 hrs...

The new pump seems to be working fine - i'll post again if we get more problems, but hopefully this info will be useful to someone else.

Thanks

Push

 

[Agile]

That was lucky!

Its rather unusual for a boiler pump to become so intermittent! They usually just seize up and stay locked.

Be aware that the problem with the pumop would have been as a result of fine dirt in the water and if that is not treated then the problem may well reoccur.

We usually clean out the pump with citric acid when its a Wilo and that will usually be enough if the system water is cleaned out.

Tony