Combi boiler expert advice required please

[kiwifraser]

Hi all,

I'm a regular on the TV&S PH forum, and 400 miles from home at my inlaws in Uddingston, Scotland. After enjoying a brilliant sledging day, we came home to find the boiler had thrown an error code

I'm hoping someone on here is either a gas fitter, or just has some knowledge of what might be up with it. I'm pretty handy with fixing most things but just need some advice on what to check next.

Its a Potterton Promax Combi HE Plus, and installed 18 months ago

Error code is 133 - Interruption of Gas Supply or Flame Failure

We still have gas pressure in the house, as the cooker works as normal.
Water pressure is 1.5 Bar
Flue exit is clear
Water overflow from condensor is checked and clear (not frozen )
Pump runs as normal
Fan runs as normal
Connections for spark ignition electrodes and flame sensing electrodes are checked ok
We have not checked for gas at the burner itself, nor purged the gas as I did not know how to do this.
There is good spark at the ignition electrode (after each reset it sparks for 3 attempts, for 5 seconds each time).
However the burner does not light, and then the error code comes up

We have electric heaters, so we (and the wee kids who have about 3 layers on in bed )won't be cold tonight. If someone has an idea on what it could be, I will head out to get whatever parts are needed tomorrow- in the snow friendly Disco

I've cross posted this in the Scotland regional forum, in hope that a gas fitter is local and can fit in a visit despite the heavy snow here.

Many thanks in advance
Fraser

[kiwifraser]

After 5 hours not working, we tried a second hard reset (rcd off for 10 minutes). It miraculously all started up again. Not sure if it will keep going, but for now it all looks to be sorted

[N Dentressangle]

kiwifraser said:

After 5 hours not working, we tried a second hard reset (rcd off for 10 minutes). It miraculously all started up again. Not sure if it will keep going, but for now it all looks to be sorted

If it fks up again, this guy seems to know more about boilers than a person ought to:

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/profile.asp?mem...

HTH

[kiwifraser]

Well the excitement was short lived, and its cold again. Not surprising since Glasgow was -7 degrees outside overnight

It stopped again about 4am, and now won't reset.

After checking all the quick fixes, it seems like gas valve has gone and no gas is going into the combustion chamber.

It's heating engineer time I think. Anyone PH'ers know one in Scotland central belt in please?

Will try a PM to Ferg as well

[dirkgently]

kiwifraser said:

Will try a PM to Ferg as well

I have a feeling that you wont like his call-out charge

[kiwifraser]

Just a bit far to come in snow, especially in either the Libra, or bus

[Dr_Rick]

kiwifraser said:

It's heating engineer time I think. Anyone PH'ers know one in Scotland central belt in please?

I'm based in Lenzie and have the good fortune to know a really good plumber/heating engineer. He's CORGI Registered and while he specialises in Vaillant I can't imagine he'll be devoid of knowledge of Potterton stuff.

Give John Reid a call ( www.johnreidplumber.co.uk) and see if he's available. He's always done us a good turn for boiler, radiator and pipework needs, is prompt and a good price (not sure about emergency costs though).

Tell him Rick Haynes pointed you in his direction.

Dr Rick

[kiwifraser]

Dr_Rick said:

kiwifraser said:

It's heating engineer time I think. Anyone PH'ers know one in Scotland central belt in please?

I'm based in Lenzie and have the good fortune to know a really good plumber/heating engineer. He's CORGI Registered and while he specialises in Vaillant I can't imagine he'll be devoid of knowledge of Potterton stuff.

Give John Reid a call ( www.johnreidplumber.co.uk) and see if he's available. He's always done us a good turn for boiler, radiator and pipework needs, is prompt and a good price (not sure about emergency costs though).

Tell him Rick Haynes pointed you in his direction.

Dr Rick

Cheers Rick. He is calling me back in a few minutes when he finishes his current job

[Dr_Rick]

kiwifraser said:

Dr_Rick said:

kiwifraser said:

It's heating engineer time I think. Anyone PH'ers know one in Scotland central belt in please?

I'm based in Lenzie and have the good fortune to know a really good plumber/heating engineer. He's CORGI Registered and while he specialises in Vaillant I can't imagine he'll be devoid of knowledge of Potterton stuff.

Give John Reid a call ( www.johnreidplumber.co.uk) and see if he's available. He's always done us a good turn for boiler, radiator and pipework needs, is prompt and a good price (not sure about emergency costs though).

Tell him Rick Haynes pointed you in his direction.

Dr Rick

Cheers Rick. He is calling me back in a few minutes when he finishes his current job

Not a problem. He's a good bloke and hopefully he can sort you out.

Dr Rick

[kiwifraser]

After 10 minutes with the multimeter checking voltages and resistance on key components, it turns out the PCB is stuffed (£116 + VAT), and the overheat stat is a bit dodgy too (£16 + VAT). Apparently they are a very cheap boiler, and prone to problems. I couldn't get a new PCB as they are out of stock at the 2 biggest plumbing merchants in Glasgow. British Gas are one of the only ones to fit the boiler model, as they are the cheapest available on the market. The good news is that they should have stock of teh PCB on the van.

We have a BG engineer coming tomorrow for a one off cost guaranteed fix solution. Fingers crossed they have the parts.

Thanks to Dr Rick and John Reid for the help