Radio Interference on the Wocester Bosch DT20RF MK2

[rishishah]

I have a new Worcester Bosch boiler fitted in the attic. We stay in a 4 bed room semi house.

The problem i have is that the Boiler Transmitter only works with the receiver when they are near to each other...i.e... no more than 4m away. The manufacturer booklet says worst case is 17m.

http://www.worcester-bosch.co.uk/ca...in-channel-programmer--mk-2--instructions.pdf

It is supposed to work on 433MHz. The only other radio devices i have in my house are always on:

1) O2 Broadband Router - 2.5GHz
2) 2 x Wireless Bridges working on the 2.5GHz

I switched these off to see what difference it would make but nothing. For now i have moved the transmitter more closer to the boiler...but i would really like to move it where it should be so that it efficiently monitors the temperature of the house and switches the boiler on and off inteligently.

Any ideas what could be interfering with it?

Thanks

 

[D_Hailsham]

The link you gave to the instructions does not work. Can you post the correct link?

 

[rishishah]

The link you gave to the instructions does not work. Can you post the correct link?

Sorry about that...made the change...

http://www.worcester-bosch.co.uk/ca...in-channel-programmer--mk-2--instructions.pdf

 

[bengasman]

From what you are describing, it sounds more like lack of signal power than interference. What makes you think it is interference?
Is there any metal between the 2 units?
Are the 2 units "facing each other" or perpendicular?
Is the receiver close to the unit?

 

[rishishah]

From what you are describing, it sounds more like lack of signal power than interference. What makes you think it is interference?
Is there any metal between the 2 units?
Are the 2 units "facing each other" or perpendicular?
Is the receiver close to the unit?

I put in brand new batteries into the transmitter and no change.

The receiver is a 24V unit which is plugged into the boiler.

The installation is horizontal...i.e. Boiler in the attic with receiver and transmitter on the ground floor directly underneath.

Only wood in between which is the attic floor.

I could be wrong it could be a lack of power, but surely if the manufacturer says at worst i should get 17m seperation and in real i can hardly even get 4m means there is something else.

So any thoughts...i could go back to Worcester Bosch, but i have been told if an engineer comes out and deems it is an interference issue within my house i will be charged for this.

 

[D_Hailsham]

I hunted the WB site and eventually managed to find the instructions.

On the subject of wireless range they say:

The range may be affected by the composition / density and number of walls between the Digistat RF and receiver.
30 metres typically, through two internal plasterboard walls and a ceiling.
26 metres typically, through three internal plasterboard walls and a ceiling.
17 metres typically, through two internal plasterboard walls a ceiling and
one external cavity wall.
These distances are provided for guidance only, many factors can affect the range of the transmitter, including metal pipework, appliances and even furniture

It is obvious that something is attenuating the signal from control unit to receiver. As you need to keep the control unit in the living room, the only solution is to bring the receiver out of the attic. But this is not possible with the DT20RF as the receiver is built into the boiler.

Did the installer check the wireless communication?

Contact WB Technical Support on 08705 266 241 and ask for their advice.

 

[rishishah]

Spoke to WB Tech Support who say it could anything that could attenuate the signal as such which i can appreciate as after all this is a radio signal.

However they have made it very clear if they come around to check and find the interference in my house as opposed to a fault with the transmitter/receiver they will charge me for this pleasure.

So what i wanted to try and do was to isolate was the interference was or whether anybody had any such commond issues with this type of transmitter/receiver.

I will try WB again to see if they can offer any help as it was installed just 2 months ago.

When the installer installed it, he obviously paired the transmitter/receiver which has to be done within 2m range... than installed it in the living room and we all forgot about it.

Its only when it started to get very cold outside did i discover that i really did not have any control over the switching on and off of the boiler... Basically we leave the boiler (CH) on ON and than set the temperature on the transmitter to a setting which is comfortable and let the system keep the house at a steady temperature....rather than putting it on timer or forcing the CH to supply a lrage ammount of heat and switch it off and than on again, etc...

I will go back to the installer too...but just wanted to find out if anybody had seen this before.

I did see one other thread with a WB and similar issue on this board.

 

[bengasman]

If it is 2 months old, it should be under warrantee. Is it the controls that were done 2 months ago, or the boiler too?

 

[rishishah]

If it is 2 months old, it should be under warrantee. Is it the controls that were done 2 months ago, or the boiler too?

Everything was put in 2 months ago...brand new boiler and brand new controls... however WB say that i could be charged if they find that the transmitter/receiver are fine and that the interference is being caused by anything in my house or surrounding area.

 

[bengasman]

That is correct, they guarantee their product under normal working conditions.
You should be contacting your installer; as he supplied the installation, your contract is with him. If he then wants to call in WB because he is convinced the product is faulty, you are safe.

 

[rishishah]

This is probably the best course of action... many thanks... i will go back to the installer.

 

[Agile]

Dont expect the average installer to know anything much about RF controls.

You really need a receiver covering the 432-434 amateur radio communication band so that you can check if there are any other signals in your locality.

I always think its such a pity they dont have a facility for an external antenna to improve the range.

Tony

 

[rishishah]

This is one of my issues...i doubt if my installer would be able to do anything...

Anybody knows if a Broadband router would affect this? Its the 54MB/s version.

 

[bengasman]

I used to install drayton rf units, and got a lot of problems when wireless broadband became common place.That doesn't prove a correlation, but I know use siemens rev24rf and never have these problems anymore.

 

[davebgas]

Unfortunately ive seen this quite few times. We now remove the manufactureres unit and install our own at no cost due to how many times we are out to them.