After being completely let down by a young newly qualified RGI who was a good friend I have been left to search the forums for assistance. Please help. I have a Vaillant Turbomax VUW 242/1E that is not behaving as it should. It had two faults, one being a leak. This was sorted out by my friend the RGI who changed something in the diverter valve and this stopped the leak. He also changed the microswitch on the valve as this was a little damaged. He took care of the leak quite quickly but he has been having a lot of problems sorting out the second problem which is that intermittently the boiler ignition indicator light starts flashing when the hot water taps are turned on and hence burner not lighting. The water tap light comes on and after about 30 seconds or so the flashing ignition indicator (like egg timer symbol). The fan light does not come on and so the burner doesn't light. If I reset and then turn on the hot water, the boiler sometimes fires up and sometimes doesn't. The central heating usually fires up if turned on, but turning the hot water on causes the boiler to go off (ignition indicator flashing) more often when the heating is on. The plumber has changed the air pressure switch as well as the flow switch and the thermistor. He flushed the system and cleared any blockages in the pipes to flow switch etc. and set the the system pressure to 1.5 bar. He didn't seem to think it was the diverter valve causing the problem as the microswitch on the valve works perfectly (i.e. the lever goes up and down as it should on water demand) and is new. I have had enough of constantly calling this young man for his services so I am turning to you guys with a lot more industry experience for help to shed some light on what the actual fault is before I get someone in to start replacing parts again. I have recently noticed that when the boiler doesn't fire the flow switch lever doesn't seem to rise, the lever of the diverter microswitch seems to be working fine though. Wedging something under the flow switch lever to lift it gets the boiler to ignite when the hot tap is turned on but the flashing ignition indicator returns as soon as the water tap is closed (even with something still holding the lever up). I have also just noticed that the 22mm central heating flow pipe seems to get hot when heating is off and hot water is turned on. Please someone, let me know what may be the cause.
Vaillant TURBOMAX ignition indicator light coming on!
- Thread starter gizmo1
- Start date
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Pump
Faulty pump? Would that cause the 22mm heating flow pipe to get hot when heating is off and hot water tap is turned on? Would a faulty pump cause the flow switch lever to not rise on DHW demand but seem to rise normally when heating selected?
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Yes it would if u have a slow weak pump it can lift the pd switch on heating but cannot overcome the hydraulic resistance of the hot water circuit,
u asked for help and got it take the advice
Although Bunny has apparently had the time to spend reading so many words that you have written and posted here without any punctuations.
I give advice on forums as a relaxation! But I dont have the inclination to spend ages and lots of mental effort if you cannot take a little ttime to present the symptoms clearly.
You also seem surprised that a newly qualified RGI is obviously out of his depth in dealing with your older and popular boiler. You accuse him of "letting you down"
When I read that it makes me think of the public perception that boilers are simple and the problem is that plumbers are thick! Now hopefully you may be slowly realising that diagnosing boiler faults does require a certain amount of knowledge and experience.
Tony
I give advice on forums as a relaxation! But I dont have the inclination to spend ages and lots of mental effort if you cannot take a little ttime to present the symptoms clearly.
You also seem surprised that a newly qualified RGI is obviously out of his depth in dealing with your older and popular boiler. You accuse him of "letting you down"
When I read that it makes me think of the public perception that boilers are simple and the problem is that plumbers are thick! Now hopefully you may be slowly realising that diagnosing boiler faults does require a certain amount of knowledge and experience.
Tony
Thanks Bunnyman for the advice, I will definitely be taking heed. As for what you said Tony, anyone can change one part after another and expect to eventually get the problem sorted after finally getting to the cause. I definitely don't think these old boilers are simple but I would expect a qualified RGI to at least narrow down the possible causes rather than just replacing one part after another. My intention in putting as much text in my original post was to explain in detail what was happening with the boiler rather than to upset the members of the forum. Punctuation and being concise were never my strong points so I do apologise for that.
From reading many threads on this site I thought it would have been the DV stuck in middle postion (due to the hot flow pipe) but maybe I'm wrong. Anyway, it looks like a new pump it is going to be. Thanks Bunnyman.
Did it turn out to be the pump then?
I'm having a similar problem with my Valliant 242/1E.
The ignition indicator light just keeps flashing and the boiler won't ignite when heating or hotwater request it. Most the time a restart of the boiler gets it running.
I'd be interested to know what was the cause. Thanks.
I'm having a similar problem with my Valliant 242/1E.
The ignition indicator light just keeps flashing and the boiler won't ignite when heating or hotwater request it. Most the time a restart of the boiler gets it running.
I'd be interested to know what was the cause. Thanks.
Well, a guy on ebay was selling both a pump and heat exchanger for £60 (both brand new in box). I bought both and had both parts replaced at the same time. The boiler has worker perfectly ever since but as both parts were changed at the same time I can't say for sure whether it was the pump or the heat exchanger that did the trick. I'm sorry I couldn't have been any more helpful.
Thanks for the info.
Cheepest pump on eBay is £85 including postage. £60 for both seems a good price.
Cheepest pump on eBay is £85 including postage. £60 for both seems a good price.
I had this problem about 3 weeks ago.
My boiler is 14 years old, fitted for previous owner, who had it serviced every year.
I have had it for 9 years during which time, it has worked perfectly, without servicing.
The problem was down to a blocked copper capillery tube.
I pulled off the tube, dug out the mass of black carbon in its lower end, blew through it, refitted and boiler is working fine.
Note: I went on line trying to find an engineer to fix it, offered UK£100, no one was interested.
I read the service manual, did it myself for nothing.
Rip off Britain?
My boiler is 14 years old, fitted for previous owner, who had it serviced every year.
I have had it for 9 years during which time, it has worked perfectly, without servicing.
The problem was down to a blocked copper capillery tube.
I pulled off the tube, dug out the mass of black carbon in its lower end, blew through it, refitted and boiler is working fine.
Note: I went on line trying to find an engineer to fix it, offered UK£100, no one was interested.
I read the service manual, did it myself for nothing.
Rip off Britain?
Yes, Perry but yours may be an earlier model.
I dont quite understand how you offered £100 to diagnose your fault. Most RGIs quote their prices rather then enter into a Dutch auction.
I charge rather less than that, 16% less to be exact for diagnosing the fault.
Tony
I dont quite understand how you offered £100 to diagnose your fault. Most RGIs quote their prices rather then enter into a Dutch auction.
I charge rather less than that, 16% less to be exact for diagnosing the fault.
Tony
P
Phill Peck
Agreed tony..
That is a strange way to attempt to acquire the services of an engineer.
If someone rang me and offered £100 to fix their boiler I would probably decline aswell
That is a strange way to attempt to acquire the services of an engineer.
If someone rang me and offered £100 to fix their boiler I would probably decline aswell
Perhaps he means that he was using one of those dreadful rated people web sites and put £100 as the job value.
Of course he cannot do the job properly because anyone reading it would know that when the fault is not known the cost could be anything as the site does not support labour and parts costs.
In any case no engineer with diagnostic skills would be paying them to get work!
Tony
Of course he cannot do the job properly because anyone reading it would know that when the fault is not known the cost could be anything as the site does not support labour and parts costs.
In any case no engineer with diagnostic skills would be paying them to get work!
Tony
I think that the fact that Perry does not have his boiler serviced for nine years says much about his character!
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