Boiler Failure

Lazarus

Lazarus

Retired Moderator
My Satellite Setup
80cm Motorised.
Several small Dishes.
Much else.
My Location
North York Moors
Danesmoor Greenstar 12/18 Oil burning Condensing boiler.

No HW this morning.

Boiler locked out, but upon reset fan ran, purge completed ok, ignition ok .... then cut out.

Replaced manky nozzle, did full service, checked oil present.

No joy.

Had to be solenoid or flame detector.

Remove photocell connector from control box.

Same symptoms.

Reset, then as soon as ignition had occurred, shorted photocell contacts in control unit.

All fine.

Double-checked and proved.

New part 16 sovs.

Job's a good 'un.

(Can't actually run it with the contacts shorted as the sequencer doesn't like it: Leccy shower in play and kettle on standby until Postie arrives)
 
Lazarus said:
Danesmoor Greenstar 12/18 Oil burning Condensing boiler.

No HW this morning.

Boiler locked out, but upon reset fan ran, purge completed ok, ignition ok .... then cut out.

Replaced manky nozzle, did full service, checked oil present.

No joy.

Had to be solenoid or flame detector.

Remove photocell connector from control box.

Same symptoms.

Reset then as soon as ignition had occurred, shorted photocell contacts in control unit.

All fine.

Double-checked and proved.

New part 16 sovs.

Job's a good 'un.

(Can't actually run it with the contacts shorted as the sequencer doesn't like it: Leccy shower in play and kettle on standby until Postie arrives)
Click to expand...
Good bit of fault finding there! Got a picture of this photocell, I wonder if you could just fit a 20p one?
 
No, it's a tailored fitting with a seal and a long neck, specific to Riello and a few other modern burners.

I have a spare from my previous boiler and the neck is too short.

No pics, courtesy of Microsh**t who've managed to render my Tablet Cameras u/s :rolleyes:
 
The thing about Oil Boilers is their relative simplicity - and safety.

Easy to fault find, easy to service and if fuel ever leaks you detect by sight and smell, with no fire or explosion risk.
 
In other plumbing related matters, I have just finished replacing the A/B diverter valve in our central heating system. It's been in service for 31 years so it's served its due but it had got to the point where, when the hot water tank was being heated up, some of the heat (a lot of the heat!) bled over into the radiators making for a very warm time.

I decided to clean and flush the system first of all so that meant running the whole system on and off for a few days with some cleaning agent in. After draining the system down of course. Today I drained it down again and very gingerly took the old valve out. The diverter flap was almost completely solid and I quickly fitted the replacement. I tipped a bottle of inhibitor into the header tank and filled the system up again. A round trip to all the radiators to bleed air out and then I started the water heater section off.

After a few minutes it was obvious that only the hot water tank was being heated so then I switched the central heating into action. Another uncomfortable 15 minutes or so and another bleeding session (‘You - what’s the bleeding time?’) and everything seems to be working fine. And no leaks either.
 
^^^^^^


Worthwhile hijack! :D
 
I'm hoping one of you might be able to pop over and sort our boiler out.

Lots of symptoms in an earlier thread, and on some bad days it can refuse to start for almost 12 hours.

For some reason, it has taken upwards of 36 hours to get going, following the last cut out Ive a feeling there might be an issue with gas pressure affecting the solenoid that forms part of the start up sequence, but I don't have the expertise to check this

Diverter, heater exchange and PCB changed in the past year, based on the flow chart analysis, and I think I replaced the hot water thermostat in December, which helped at the time.
 
It's so nice not having a boiler, no noises and nothing to worry about.
And I thought things would have been more advanced across the water :-rofl2
 
The only boiler issue affecting this house is loss of pressure resulting in the boiler crapping its' pants and denying hot water through the taps, think it's something around the boiler's water connections though as there's some rusty stains in the cupboard that the boiler lives inside of, so may just need a spanner to tweak the compression joints, when I can be bothered...
 
RustySpoons said:
Are you sure that's not just old underwear...
Click to expand...

No, unlike some, I've learned that washing goes in the washer, not the boiler cupboard... :-lmao
 
RustySpoons said:
It's so nice not having a boiler, no noises and nothing to worry about.
And I thought things would have been more advanced across the water :-rofl2
Click to expand...


So, there's just the astronomical bills to consider .......
 
Replacement photocell has just arrived.

Cup of coffee then the moment of truth ........ :eek:
 
That all seems fine. Hardest bit was threading the cable.
 
RustySpoons said:
It's so nice not having a boiler, no noises and nothing to worry about.
..
Click to expand...
And then - IIRC - no c/h or h/w in the middle of the Winter because valves or something else had failed in the building complex centralised heating systems, and the contractors couldn't get to you to fix the problems! :rolleyes: "Local" is good :D
 
2cvbloke said:
The only boiler issue affecting this house is loss of pressure resulting in the boiler crapping its' pants and denying hot water through the taps, think it's something around the boiler's water connections though as there's some rusty stains in the cupboard that the boiler lives inside of, so may just need a spanner to tweak the compression joints, when I can be bothered...
Click to expand...

More likely, I would have thought, for the h/w heat exchanger to be blocked (has happened to us).
 
jeallen01 said:
And then - IIRC - no c/h or h/w in the middle of the Winter because valves or something else had failed in the building complex centralised heating systems, and the contractors couldn't get to you to fix the problems! :rolleyes: "Local" is good :D
Click to expand...

It's not a building centralised system :) It comes from a HUGE boiler house that feeds 1000s of homes with a few backup boilers.
Interesting bit of kit going in over the next few months, a heat exchanger so I don't have to wait for the tank to warm up etc.
 
RustySpoons said:
It's not a building centralised system :) It comes from a HUGE boiler house that feeds 1000s of homes with a few backup boilers.......
Click to expand...
That's what I actually meant but didn't use the correct terminology!
 
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