Please help
I have a protherm 80e combi boiler, less than 3 years old. When running hot water, roughly every minute, the flames go out and then immediately relight with an almighty explosion. Very annoying when having a shower as it runs cold every minute
The central heating works fine and stays lit constantly. I wonder if it might be something like the water flow sensor?
I think you may have two problems here. The first is that probably due to heat exchanger scaling the heat transfer rate is limited and so the boiler can modulate down to the lowest power is needs so it has to go out. (Might be many other causes but that is most likely in any hard water area).
The second is some sort of explosive ignition problem. Does the boielr make the smae sound when it first fires or only when it it cycling on-off-on.?
If the gas supply was very under pressure you might just get both the above symptoms form one cause. That would be worth eliminating from the outset.
Thanks for the reply,
I did think about the gas pressure it's LPG and the tank is only 25% full, I've been waiting 2 weeks for calor to fill it up. I'll wait to see if filling the tanks helps before trying anything else.
We are in a very hard water area, we were thinking of getting a water softener, would this be OK with a combi boiler or would it reduce the pressure to much?
the explosive ignition doesn't happen when it first ignites only when it reignites
This seems pretty unlikely, because there is a regulator between the tank and boiler to set the gas pressure to the required level.
It won't reduce the static pressure at all.
It may have an impact on the flow, which may make the working pressure that you feel a bit less. However you can get water softeners that have high flow rates.
If your heat exchanger is scaled up as has been suggested, then it would be prudent to get that resolved first.
A water softener will certainly prevent scaling and will save you money on detergents and shampoos - will cover the cost of salt.
A less expensive alternative is to use a phosphate dosing unit like a Combimate. This will prevent the scaling but not help with detergent use.
.andy
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