Worcester heatslave 18/25 boiler not firing

[martin7784]

Hi All, Im having issues with my boiler heatslave 18/25 over the last few days the CH will not work (boiler not firing up) when i press button for it to switch on i can here what sounds like a solenoid or something click from inside the boiler but nothing else happerns, the hot water seems to work as normal, i have managed to get the boiler to fire up by pressing the reset button but cant get it to fire up very easily or very often. There is the usual power light on the boiler and lock out isnt lit up, when i did manage to get the boiler to fire up i pressed the large lockout reset button behind the front panel and also the two little reset buttons but nothing happerend straight away i just faffed and eventually it fired up but now ive tried that again and cant get it to work? also the two little reset buttons don't feel like a physical switch? what do they press onto? also i tried bleeding rads but no air present, pressure is at 1.5bar. any help would be really appriciated and as you can probably tell i dont know much about boilers im a car mechanic by trade so should be ok with them?? Thanks guys..

 

[martin7784]

its been working fine for most of the day but now a no go. Anything to try? Thanks

 

[gaspro1981]

Martin not enough info from you I'm afraid

Need more detail regarding external controls and current set up posting some pictures can be very beneficial

 

[martin7784]

Hi, it has a honeywell wireless room stat HC60NG at boiler and hcw80 stat, which i tried to re-sync as per instruction manual and seemed to sync fine. and a danfoss fp715si programmer Hope that's what you mean?. I usually just use the 1H function for quick heat but then i realised boiler wasn't firing, the hot water does work ok and boiler does fire up with that and when selected can see arm on top of diverter moving as i think id expect. like i say after pressing reset buttons vigorously it then decided to fire. since last night i've switched heating on twice using 1h function and heating came on fine and works fine (cutting in and out for the 1h) but if i was to switch it off and back on it would not fire again, and then tonight tried again and nothing, tried resets still nothing. I then bashed the diverter noticed that the arm on top moved and a sound of fluid or something running through it was herd and shortly after it fired. Im unsure how coincidental this may have been im guna try again when i get the house warm. divertor is a drayton.
Thanks

 

[Mike2007]

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h197/artymike8/Burnerfaultfinding.jpg

 

[martin7784]

hi mike sorry i cant see the writing on this fault finding chart its too small and it wont let me zoom in, worcester bosch have said that any defects for the boiler would be covered under warranty (apparently it has a 5 year warranty and im 4 years in) but i would have to have it serviced first costing £126 which i suppose isnt that bad and having it serviced is a bonus. does that seem a reasonable price for service? do you think there could be any reason for them to charge me more? they said not but dont really know how they do things. boiler has been working better today but still needed to use reset buttons to get it to fire, I dont think this fault can be much to fix just by the way it still will work with a reset.

 

[Mike2007]

More than likely dirty oil on such a new unit. People commonly search all electrical components first, but its often oil problems instead.

 

[Boilerman2]

It sounds to me like the boiler is actually up to temperature, which is why the oil burner is not kicking in only occasionaly are you getting Hot Water?

if you are getting Hot water it narrows the fault down to an issue with air in the boiler pipe work, a faulty diverter actuator, or excternal controls
please check the points I have indicated and report back

 

[Burnerman]

Do we know if the pump is actually spinning / up to speed?
John

 

[martin7784]

Hi thanks all for your replys, So basically i checked all controls, room stat calling for heat, control pannel calling for heat but still no heat, hot water working fine bolier firing for that fine, bled rads no air, checked oil tank full, nothing worked inside boiler no pumps spinng e.t.c but could here somthing click inside boiler as command was ordered for heat. anyhows got worcester out to do service and warranty work they replaced expansion tank at top, oil feed lines, divertor valve, heater nozzel, oil pump, and main boiler motor they said it was about £1000 worth of parts and said its basically a new boiler? but i dont know. so now my 10 week old daughter can stay warm. did leave me wondering two things firstly as boilers only 4 years old would this happen again in 4 years? think im going to take extra cover (£15 per month, this includes annual service) and secondly the service cost me £126 which is more than a service for my car, and a replacement boiler is £2500 +, which is also more than my car to replace. This boiler lark aint cheap......

But that said worcester may be pricey but had great service and good customer care. so recomend to all

 

[xr4x4]

Soooo.. Basicly you've had it 4 years and never had it serviced?

 

[martin7784]

yeah yeah know what your saying, but im yet to talk to some one who has had there boiler serviced. i bought the house 10 months .

 

[sherbert]

yeah yeah know what your saying, but im yet to talk to some one who has had there boiler serviced. i bought the house 10 months .

Strange that ........... we service every Oil boiler we have installed for the last 4 years bar one ............ Gas boilers we do not get such a high percentage return on ........ Have bben to gas boilers installed correctly that have not been serviced for years and nothing wrong with them

Have never been able to say the same about an oil boiler

 

[Agile]

More than likely dirty oil on such a new unit. People commonly search all electrical components first, but its often oil problems instead.

Since it works OK for hot water then that sounds unlikely to me.

Tony

 

[Agile]

yeah yeah know what your saying, but im yet to talk to some one who has had there boiler serviced. i bought the house 10 months .

As a car mechanic, do you advise people not to get their cars serviced either?

And perhaps not even the first service which used to be free with a new car? I have not been able to afford a new car for the last 30 years so I dont know.

Tony