Vaillant Turbomax Plus 824e - No CH or HW

[illthinkofsomethinglater]

My boiler failed last week, it's about 6 years old. It was giving no Hot water or Central Heating. I got someone in from British Gas 3 days ago and they changed the Heat Exchanger and Diverter Valve. This fixed the central heating, but the hot water was alternating between hot and cold. He said this was because there is too much sludge in the system and we need to pay £670 to have it cleaned.

However, today it has completely failed again with the same problem i.e. no heating and ice cold water from the hot water tap. Here are some more details.
- when I turn the heating on or the hot water, the orange light only comes on for a few seconds, and then will switch off for about 5-10 mins before turning on again for a few seconds
- I've noticed the temperature on the boiler racing up 115 degrees
- since it was "fixed" a few days ago, we've been getting error codes F22, F23 and f24
- while i have the hot water on, it gives code S.54 (Appliance is within the waiting period of the operation block function due to water shortage (temperature gradient))

any idea what could be wrong?

 

[Bunnyman]

is pump running

 

[illthinkofsomethinglater]

yep the pump is running

 

[Bunnyman]

somethings blocked then mate either main or dhw ht exch

 

[Andygasman2010]

It's badly blocked up, needs cleaning out. Sounds like you've had a quote from BG for this already. They're charge alot more than most other heating engineers/plumbers but hey'll sort the problem out and guarantee it for life as long as you stay on contract with them. I don't think anyone else offers a lifetime guarantee....

 

[illthinkofsomethinglater]

We just cleaned out the Heat Exchanger and a lot of black rubbish came out of it, which is worrying considering it is only 3 days old. However, after cleaning it out, we still get no hot water or heating. The green light is also continuously flashing, and the orange one only comes on for a couple of seconds before it goes out. Most of the time the orange light doesn't come on when we turn the hot water on.

 

[Temprise]

We just cleaned out the Heat Exchanger and a lot of black rubbish came out of it, which is worrying considering it is only 3 days old. However, after cleaning it out, we still get no hot water or heating. The green light is also continuously flashing, and the orange one only comes on for a couple of seconds before it goes out. Most of the time the orange light doesn't come on when we turn the hot water on.

You still have a blockage somewhere in the boiler.

The problem with all of that 'black rubbish' as you call it, can affect so many components in the boiler.

Pump
Main Heat Exchanger,
Plate Heat exchanger,
Diverter valve.

Get your system and boiler completely cleaned and flushed. Powerflushing would be best.

I would have recommened a powerflush before installing the new parts. As soon as the boiler and system was re filled after the new parts were installed, they would have been full of all of that debris straight away.

Dont waste any more money on new parts until your system has been cleaned thouroughly.

The orange light only comes on for a short period of time because the boiler is reaching temperature very quickly because of a blockage.

Regards.

 

[illthinkofsomethinglater]

Thanks for your reply. I've just seen the following machine at a hire shop. Is this the sort of thing I need to clean the system out?

http://www.brandontoolhire.co.uk/directory/prodview.asp?idproduct=380

 

[Andygasman2010]

Yea this is what you need. Do you know how to flush propperly though?

Before doing this i'd be inclined to stick some sentinal X800 in for a few weeks then flush it. It sounds like your boiler/system is pretty badly blocked.

 

[Vaillantman1997]

VM

 

[illthinkofsomethinglater]

Thanks for your replies.

I'm going to get the machine from HSS http://www.hss.com/g/51610/Central-Heating-Flusher.html

I put some Fernox F3 in there earlier today, but I don't think I'm going to be able to leave it for a few weeks as there is completely no HW or CH.

I've found some manuals online for these machines and I think I should be able to do it.

Is there any heat getting to either the CH flow, Domestic Heat exchanger or the bypass curcuit?

Hmmm, how would test for these?

I done the screwdriver test on the pump and that is definitely running.

 

[Bunnyman]

get it powaflushed professionally mate u could go on for ever an waste your money doing it urself,it sounds as if its in a bad way

Untitled

• Bunnyman
• 26 Mar 2010
• 499

 

[illthinkofsomethinglater]

yeah i am thinking about getting it done professionally, but British Gas gave a quote of £670 and I think that is way too much. I'm going to take a gamble and try it myself, and hopefully get it done for about £100.

 

[darren17]

get yourself some fernox ds40
this works within 4 hrs with a power flushing unit
also after you clean add some inhibitor fernox f1
also there is the fernox tf1 twin-tech which captures magnetic and non-magnetic particles

 

[Andygasman2010]

yeah i am thinking about getting it done professionally, but British Gas gave a quote of £670 and I think that is way too much. I'm going to take a gamble and try it myself, and hopefully get it done for about £100.

I agree, BG charge maybe twice as much as an average plumber/heating engineer would. If they say it needs a flush to sort your problems out they'll do as much as is required until it's working perfectly for that £670, plus they'll guarantee it for life. So any further parts that may be blocked/damaged due to the sludge will be included, even if that happens to be years after the they've done the flush. Someone else will charge you and you might end up paying a fortune anyway.

Powerflushing isn't always as easy as it sounds. Do you have any info on how to do the procedure itself?