Got a boiler that wont work ( thank heavens for the woodburner! ) and I'm slowly working through the possibilities. Help would be appreciated.
The boiler started normally a couple of days ago but then stopped dead. The overheat thermostat popped out, but as soon as I put this back in the fuse blew. The boiler didnt even get as far as the start up sequence - all I could hear happening were the zone valves opening and then one of the zone valve switches arced and the fuse went.
Now I've tried various components in and out of circuit to establish which bits are OK and which arent. The zone valves are OK, as is the boiler fan. Disconnecting the gas valve doesnt stop the fuse blowing. There seems to be no short to earth on the boiler thermostat, the overheat thermostat or the air pressure switch. So what I seem to be left with is the pump, the ecu or possibly some shorted wiring though I have checked this out with care.
Just now I've tried starting up the boiler having disconnected the pump and the fan starts but no ignition takes place. Significantly, the fuse doesnt blow this time. Now at the start of the problem I did test the pump by jury rigging it to the mains through a 15 amp fuse and it did start, but now I'm thinking " aha - maybe the pump is taking too much starter current and thats whats blowing the standard 3 amp fuse.
So I redid the jury rig on the pump and blew some 3 and 5 amp fuses. However, carelessly this time I did initially wire the pump wrong way round - ie live to neutral and vice versa - and when I retried it on 15 amps the pump wouldnt work at all. So I dont know whether the pump was the initial problem or is an additional one that I have created for myself.
But I have a spare pump. So I suppose my question is whether a disconnected circulation pump would stop the ignition sequence? In other words does the boiler say to inself - I can't detect a pump so I wont ignite. And if so, is it feasible to test the boiler ignition by wiring up the pump but not changing it over in the water circuit. Will the pump damage itself if there is no water in it? I really dont want to struggle to plumb in nthe second pump, only to find I have to get an engineer in anyway cos there is another problem
The boiler started normally a couple of days ago but then stopped dead. The overheat thermostat popped out, but as soon as I put this back in the fuse blew. The boiler didnt even get as far as the start up sequence - all I could hear happening were the zone valves opening and then one of the zone valve switches arced and the fuse went.
Now I've tried various components in and out of circuit to establish which bits are OK and which arent. The zone valves are OK, as is the boiler fan. Disconnecting the gas valve doesnt stop the fuse blowing. There seems to be no short to earth on the boiler thermostat, the overheat thermostat or the air pressure switch. So what I seem to be left with is the pump, the ecu or possibly some shorted wiring though I have checked this out with care.
Just now I've tried starting up the boiler having disconnected the pump and the fan starts but no ignition takes place. Significantly, the fuse doesnt blow this time. Now at the start of the problem I did test the pump by jury rigging it to the mains through a 15 amp fuse and it did start, but now I'm thinking " aha - maybe the pump is taking too much starter current and thats whats blowing the standard 3 amp fuse.
So I redid the jury rig on the pump and blew some 3 and 5 amp fuses. However, carelessly this time I did initially wire the pump wrong way round - ie live to neutral and vice versa - and when I retried it on 15 amps the pump wouldnt work at all. So I dont know whether the pump was the initial problem or is an additional one that I have created for myself.
But I have a spare pump. So I suppose my question is whether a disconnected circulation pump would stop the ignition sequence? In other words does the boiler say to inself - I can't detect a pump so I wont ignite. And if so, is it feasible to test the boiler ignition by wiring up the pump but not changing it over in the water circuit. Will the pump damage itself if there is no water in it? I really dont want to struggle to plumb in nthe second pump, only to find I have to get an engineer in anyway cos there is another problem