Strange problem with Worcester 28si II

[blister69]

Hello,

I wonder if anyone could help with the problem I'm having with my boiler. It has left my gas fitter scratching his head and talking about putting a whole new system in, which is something we can't really afford right now.

The boiler is about 12 years old and has not been regularly serviced, and the radiators are over 25 years old. The system was working fine until Tuesday when I found that although the stat was calling for heat, the rads were not hot. The error light on the boiler was flashing at 4 times a second. I reset the boiler but could not bring it back to life so switched it off.

I've found that if I leave it off for 20 mins or so then turn it on, it jumps back in to life, has a lovely burn for about 3 to 4 minutes (longer if it's just HW) then it starts to struggle. By this I mean that the flame dies down, and just before it goes out the boiler re-ignites and they lift for a second and die down again. It does this about 10 times, then shuts off, sometimes with a 1 flash a second error and sometimes with a 4 flash a second error.

The fitter has changed the fan thinking it was that, but it's still the same. His next guess is the gas valve, but he can't test this as he says in needs to run for 10 mins to produce the correct test environment. However, he also thinks that the whole thing is sludged, but the water off the rads isn't terrible (medium grey).

So I can either take a gamble on a valve and hope or put a new system in, including rads as he wont fit a new boiler to the old rads.

If someone has come across this before or knows of a cheaper way to get this fixed, it would be very much appreciated.

Also, I has smart meters fitted by my supplier last week, but the fitter says he has tested the governor and it tests fine.

Thanks

 

[bazdaman]

Your engineer sounds an incompetant turd

 

[mulls76]

It's not the gas valve, get a better engineer in before you waste anymore money!

 

[blister69]

Thanks for the replies. Appreciate the advice, but not sure I should spend even more money calling out another engineer for them to say the same thing.

I guess you haven't come across this problem either? Or know what might be causing the fault?

Any ideas about what could be the problem with the boiler would be great.

Thanks

 

[gigz]

It could be a number of things. I would get worcester out on a fixed price repair if you don't know any other RGI's.

 

[blister69]

Hi Gigz,

I called Worcester last week. They say that a "fixed" repair would be £262, but would not cover some parts. So if the heat exchanger is the problem, then they will only advise that this is the case.

So again, they could say a new boiler is needed and I will have spent another £262 just to find out. So frustrating to know what to do.

I could gamble and try to have this boiler repaired if someone can pinpoint the cause, or just shell out for a new boiler and rads and know it will be fixed.

Thanks again.

 

[cross thread]

british gas 199 for 2 hrs with part if they cant fix 84 for call out

 

[mulls76]

It's a common fault with those boilers and a simple fix but needs an gas safe reg bod to do the work which is why I can't be more specific. It's not a diy fix I'm afraid

 

[blister69]

Well, I decided to go with the Worcester fixed price repair in the end as all my masses of research pointed at a PCB fault. However, I couldn't be 100%.

It paid off. It was the PCB and this is a common problem. The engineer was really good and changed the fan and air pressure switch while he was here. He did a number of other checks too.

So fingers crossed I'll have a working system for another couple of years.

Thanks for all the help on the forum. Right, now to find out if a Fugi kit is a good investment