It was only serviced in April. Now it won't start. I've got the heating engineer coming out today or tomorrow.
This is the second time it has broken down and the house was only built in 2004. Are these boilers considered reliable? I had a gas boiler down in Bucks and it lasted 23 years with only servicing and the occasional thermocouple.
(Yes, there's plenty of oil left!)
MM
Symptoms? Does the fan/pump run but it fails to light the burner? Can you hear the arc (it's a subtle sound, so you may not recognise it) that should ignite the oil spray a few seconds after the fan/pump starts? If it fails to light or goes out after lighting and can't reignite the "lockout" will be triggered. Reset it once and see if it starts and runs again.
Has the boiler being used since April or has it now just being called back into service for space heating?
The same one who serviced it in April?
And all the valves turned on and fire valve not triggered?
Nothing runs. The orange light comes on as normal.
That's all part of the gubbins on the outside wall. I'd have to remove the cover.
There is no accessible reset switch. It's probably behind the outside cover.
Yes, it's used every day. Just not from last Saturday until Monday afternoon, when I returned from a short break and switched on the heating for hot water and it heated up ok. Then on Tuesday morning, it wouldn't start.
Yes.
Dunno. That's all beyond me, sorry. It's all behind the outside cover.
MM
Whilst there are many makes of boilers, there are relatively few make of burners and for some reason yours is not running.
Pressing the reset button would be a good start.
Problems can be caused by poor maintenance, so it might be worth finding out why the boiler is not going.
A competent engineer serviced the boiler in April. BTW I wish I knew where this magical reset button is! Certainly not something designed to be operated by the customer, as it is not on the white box cover in the garage. This has only a temperature knob MAX - MIN and two lights, a red and an orange one. The red one has never come on. The orange one comes on when I switch the heating on at the Drayton controller. That's all I know.
MM
The rest button is typically red and part of the controller on the burner itself. If you can find the electric motor and the oil pump you should also be able to find the controller
Top left button in this picture for example.
Considering this is DIY group you could help yourself by looking at the manual - see
The outer external cover is either held by 1/4 turn DZUS type fixings or lifts off on keyhole slots over stud heads (if my memory serves me correctly). You would do well to learn how to check for burner lockout and which button to press if it happens. Even new cars very occasionally do not start first time so look on a boiler as having the same level of risk of not starting. It may be you do have a mechanical problem but it could equally be that it was just a misfire.
All that 'gubbins' is behind the outside cover which is firmly screwed on and not intended to be removed by the customer.
MM
I don't have a clue about boilers and may do more harm than good. I'll wait for the engineer, who is coming later this morning. It's not a problem as my water tank in the airing cupboard has a backup immersion heater. In fact, I'm just about to have a bath! (I calculated the comparison costs yesterday between oil and electricity and there's only a few pence difference per bathful.)
MM
Begs the question why you posted in a DIY group then. "Firmly screwed" does not equal "not intended to be removed by customer". It just means it's designed not to fall apart. I've opened my CH boiler heaps of times in the past and I have no formal qualifications to do this. I do know which end of a screwdriver to hold though and I can read a service manual.
Boilers aren't rocket science. If you're happy living without CH and being totally dependant on "professionals" to help you out every time your boiler goes on the blink then fair enough but you've been offered good advice and seem determined to reject it.
Tim
To get feedback on the reliability of the Wallstar, as my original post stated.
MM
Good for you!
I didn't ask for advice on how to fix it, I asked about the reliability of the Wallstar. In my original post I stated I had arranged for the engineer to come out, which I would be unlikely to have done if I had any desire whatsoever to fix it myself.
MM
With respect this is a DIY group. Anyone not willing to get their hands dirty should expect some derision.
In many instances a problem can be solved quite easily with a minimum number of tools.
I DID get my hands dirty! I had to go into the garage to look at the boiler lights.
Yes, if you know what you're doing. With boilers, I don't.
MM
So what was the fault?
Michael Chare
Engineer called and spent half an hour checking the boiler, which he said had "locked out". He put his manometer on to test the pump pressure, which was fine. He even spread some gunk on a bamboo dipping rod to see whether the tank had any water in it. It didn't. I asked him what that was all about, and this is gunk that comes in a tube that is 18 quid a go and turns pink if there is any water. We flushed the rod under my garden tap so that I could see the effect. Astonishing! He waited for a good 20 minutes with the boiler running for hot water AND heating (normally I use the heating circuit very little) to see if it would lock out again once it got warm, but it ran sweet as a nut. He pulled out a long black probe with a light cell on the end to demonstrate how the boiler is supposed to respond in the case of a fault. I've used this guy before and he really knows boilers! He didn't charge me a penny. The service he did in March (it was March, not April as I had previously said) was £65. Good, eh!
MM
See latest post 2 mins ago.
MM
What astonishes me is the lack of any indicator light to show that the heater has actually fired and is on. There are all these myriad fail-safe devices inside the boiler, there's a couple of lights on the front of the white box in the garage, but there is NOthing to indicate whether the boiler has *actually* started.
I have to either open up the garage and listen, or I need to unlock the rear door from the annex and traipise outside to the wall unit and hear it start up.
A cheapo Maplin/Velleman-style solution would be a doddle to install. Simply have a light that flashes when cold and goes stable when warmed up. The sensor, near the warm air exhaust, would warm up in no time.
MM
Suppose it it's just done it once you'll have to put it down as 'one of those things'.
Anhydrous Cobalt Chloride?
Sounds a decent chap, give him a name-check ...
In article , MM scribeth thus
Did that years ago on the olde system lights to show which heating circuit was operating, further lights for fan and pump, and a thermometer for outgoing flow, incoming flow and exhaust gas temp.
Took it all out when we upgraded but miss it now;!....
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