Potterton Puma 80

[ColdShowers]

My Potterton Puma 80 has been problem-free for the past three years; however at the weekend the mains indicator went out, and it would not produce hot water for taps or central heating. The pilot light was out when I checked it, but I relit it without any problems and it stayed lit after that. Occasionally when re-testing it through the day I would get a spurt of hot water (sometimes quite hot and lasting up to a minute or so) but the mains light stayed off the whole time. I checked with British Gas that there were no supply problems in my area that day. In the evening the light came back on and the boiler started working again, completely as normal. It has been working normally now for 36 hours, after being out for about 12 - 24 hours. I'd like to know what might have caused the problem, as if it's likely to be serious or recur I will consider taking out a maintenance contract now while the boiler's actually working.

Thank you

 

[Agile]

If the mains light goes out either the mains supply to the boiler is intermittent or the PCB is probably intermittent.

Check the fuse and switch supplying the boiler. As these are not often touched they sometimes get dirty contacts.

The PCB on that model is not that reliable but the likely cost of replacement may not justify a maintenance contract over a few years at about £180 p.a.

We would charge £174 inc to supply and fit a replacement PCB to a Puma in the London area and that would include a basic service.

Tony Glazier

 

[ColdShowers]

Thank you very much for your reply. I've had a look on the internet and see the number of problems reported with Potterton PCBs. Would the replacement PCB have to be a Potterton? If so I wouldn't consider replacing this until it fails again and I really have to. Would you give me your contact details so that I can get in touch if I need the repair done? Have you seen all the posts about soldering repairs to PCBs, and would you recommend / be able to do this?

 

[gazthepottertonengineer]

this particular pcb is prone to burning out in the top left hand corner where the neutral connection is ??? do not solder or try to repair or even fit a reconditioned pcb as this is extremely dangerous and is against corgi regulations

 

[Agile]

If you wanted to contact us it will have to be via our profile or the BT telephone book etc.

We are not expected to "repair" PCBs and although others use "reconditioned" pcbs ( that means repaired ) its against our policy to do so because we have no way of knowing they are performing correctly.

If the PCB is in otherwise in good condition and its just a dry joint then we might agree to resolder it as some others would. However we dont recommend that because we cannot give you any guarantee in that case.

Tony Glazier

 

[ColdShowers]

Tony

Thanks very much for your thoughts - sincerely appreciated. I will be in touch in a few days / weeks / months when the thing gives out again...

 

[Gasguru]

And in the mean time that dry joint may gradually burn a nice hole through the board!

Suggest you get it fixed soon as the board may still be salvagable

Geoff

 

[ColdShowers]

Thanks for the message. To be honest, no hot water is such a pain in the backside, and with winter coming and the difficulty of getting a plumber out in a hurry, I've pretty much decided that I don't want to take the risk of having the board repaired and then finding it fails quite quickly and I have to get someone back again soon. If this was something I was able to do myself then I'd definitely take your advice, but I think the risk of two call-outs in quick succession probably cancels out any benefit.

Thanks again

 

[ChrisR]

Sounds like you'd better say where in London you are!?