There has been loads about this series of boilers [not the newer HE range].
Fact is, if you are an experienced engineer, you will like the simple design, ease of access and general reliability of the major parts. If you are an ordinary householder, you will hate the lottery that is the pcb [printed circuit board] and the dreaded flashing red light of doom..............
We have had months if not years of intermittent problems with our system. At first, burnt out motorised valves were blamed and sure enough one of them was a dud. Had occasional 'lock-outs'. Always seemed to reset if turned the mains on and off. So then it seemed the pcb, and sure enough, there were loose soldered joints. Replaced the pcb with a reconditioned unit as was averse to shelling out £150 at best for the new upgraded pcb assembly. There are several on ebay. Will never know how much of the roulette that was our system was the pcb, but i feel much happier with a board that has no visible loose joints. At the same time, replaced the carbon fibre HT lead with a solid core. The reconditioned pcb and replacement HT lead were supplied by CET in Watford. www.cetltd.com. Do NOT try soldering your board yourself unless you are an expert. Just don't.
Still no joy. Then consulted an online plumber [£9]. He gave me the jog needed to realise it was the programmer. It LOOKED good, but was clearly intermittently and cruely failing. Ours is in the boiler and is known as the BP2000. Was quoted up to £243 for a new one, managed to find the last one online at £79. It was convenient to get the exact fit, but a suitable stand-alone programmer can be had for as little as £25 to £30.
New programmer arrived today. Instant cure.
So if you are confused by your problem, remember it is the programmer that sends the signal to the motorised valves, and the valves that start the pump / activate the boiler PROVIDED the thermostats have clicked in and are calling for heat. It is not always the boiler or the pcb. An intermittent fault on the programmer will fox the best brains in the business.
In summary, if your problem is unreliable HW and CH on/off but no flashing red light, find a way to r/o the programmer before blaming the boiler. If your pcb has loose joints, replace it before it fails on Xmas Eve. And lastly, whatever you do, replace the thick red HT lead NOW.
Fact is, if you are an experienced engineer, you will like the simple design, ease of access and general reliability of the major parts. If you are an ordinary householder, you will hate the lottery that is the pcb [printed circuit board] and the dreaded flashing red light of doom..............
We have had months if not years of intermittent problems with our system. At first, burnt out motorised valves were blamed and sure enough one of them was a dud. Had occasional 'lock-outs'. Always seemed to reset if turned the mains on and off. So then it seemed the pcb, and sure enough, there were loose soldered joints. Replaced the pcb with a reconditioned unit as was averse to shelling out £150 at best for the new upgraded pcb assembly. There are several on ebay. Will never know how much of the roulette that was our system was the pcb, but i feel much happier with a board that has no visible loose joints. At the same time, replaced the carbon fibre HT lead with a solid core. The reconditioned pcb and replacement HT lead were supplied by CET in Watford. www.cetltd.com. Do NOT try soldering your board yourself unless you are an expert. Just don't.
Still no joy. Then consulted an online plumber [£9]. He gave me the jog needed to realise it was the programmer. It LOOKED good, but was clearly intermittently and cruely failing. Ours is in the boiler and is known as the BP2000. Was quoted up to £243 for a new one, managed to find the last one online at £79. It was convenient to get the exact fit, but a suitable stand-alone programmer can be had for as little as £25 to £30.
New programmer arrived today. Instant cure.
So if you are confused by your problem, remember it is the programmer that sends the signal to the motorised valves, and the valves that start the pump / activate the boiler PROVIDED the thermostats have clicked in and are calling for heat. It is not always the boiler or the pcb. An intermittent fault on the programmer will fox the best brains in the business.
In summary, if your problem is unreliable HW and CH on/off but no flashing red light, find a way to r/o the programmer before blaming the boiler. If your pcb has loose joints, replace it before it fails on Xmas Eve. And lastly, whatever you do, replace the thick red HT lead NOW.