Vaillant Ecotec Pro 28 Noisy and Leaking

I was asked to look at a Vaillant Ecotec Pro 28 R1 (GC No. 47 044 30) by a landlord as the boiler was leaking and was really noisy when the boiler was running. There was water dripping out of the bottom of the boiler and I noticed that the pressure gauge was at it's maximum. I then noticed that the external filling loop was fully open. Surprisingly there was not water pouring out of the PRV but it was drippping. The landlord opened the tap so I could hear the noise and it sounded like the pump bearings had failed. Apparently it had been noisy for a fortnight but only started leaking that day.

The water was dripping from where the cables entered the boiler on the rear left. I could see water sintting under the pump and using a mirror could not see any other leaks. It looked as if the water was leaking from between the pump and it's housing, then running down behind the plate heat exchanger and out on the left-hand side. The new pump 178983 comes with the housing and all the required o-rings/washers. I also picked up a new PRV 178985 and Reliance Filmaster filling loop with two taps.

I replaced the filling loop to start with making sure that the non-return valve was facing the right direction. I fitted the Reliance Filmaster as it has two taps so if one gets knocked or left on accidentally the boiler won't be over-pressurised if the filling loop hasn't been disconnected as it should be when not in use.

I started to drain the boiler and also checked the pressure in the expansion vessel. There was no pressure in the expansion vessel and so I pumped it up to help with draining of the boiler. I then removed the PRV. Undoing the nut which connects to the discharge pipe is awkward with a spanner or grips, but using a tap spanner made it relatively easy. It is necessary to remove the PRV when changing the pump regardless of whether the PRV is being replaced. To remove the pump the diverter also need to be disconnected. Once the diverter is disconnected it only needs to be pulled forward before the pump can be removed once all other connections to the pump have been removed. When refitting the pump it is easiest if the tube to the expansion vessel is fitted back into the pump housing. Replacing all the washers/o-rings supplied is always a good idea as the likelihood of leaks is reduced.

Once everything was back together I refilled and heat tested the central heating and hot water. There was a lot of air in the boiler and this cleared quickest when on hot water only. Everything was working quietly and leak free.

Disclaimer: The works described in this blog are a record of work undertaken and should not be taken as guaranteed to solve your problem. Work should only be carried out by persons qualified and competent to do so.

Glowworm Economy Plus Not Lighting

Was called by a customer today because they had no heating or hot water. The boiler sounded as if it was working but there was no flame. When I looked at it I could hear the fan running so I knew it was receiving demand. There was no flame visible and there was no sound of ignition.

Usually in most cases I would assume that the fan was running slowly or that the air pressure switch was not working. However, I have seen this problem happen a number of times on these boilers and new it was likely to be a blocked air pressure switch hose. I pulled off both the hoses at their connection to the fan and 'rodded' the connections using an Allen key (with the boiler off obviously). I then reconnected the hoses, replaced the cover, and fired up the boiler succesfully.

Disclaimer: The works described in this blog are a record of work undertaken and should not be taken as guaranteed to solve your problem. Work should only be carried out by persons qualified and competent to do so.

Potterton Promax Heating Coming On With The Hot Water

A common complaint at the end of winter is that the heating keeps coming on with the hot water. I immediately went to the airing cupboard to look at the motorised valve with the hot water set to be on. I felt the lever which in the photo below is on the underside of the valve and could feel that it moved freely from left to right. When the valve is in the hot water only position there should be little or no movement on the lever without force.

It could either be that the motor inside the valve has seized, their is a fault with the electrics causing the valve to open or that the paddle is stuck in the wrong position. I checked the electrics to ensure that there was not 240 volts at the white or grey wires to the motorised valve, which there was not.

In the case of this older Honeywell 3-port valve the power head is not removable from the body. If you try to remove it from the body it actually opens up the body itself and you will have water coming out. If the problem is with the body you can actually strip them down and grease it up after draining the system but it's usually better just to replace the valve which I did in this case. To tell the difference between the two types of Honeywell valves you need to look for the dimple on the silver case which can be clearly seen in the photo on the right circled in red. This is the same for both 2-port and 3-port motorised valve head made by Honeywell.

Disclaimer: The works described in this blog are a record of work undertaken and should not be taken as guaranteed to solve your problem. Work should only be carried out by persons qualified and competent to do so.

Protherm 40-50 Ci Heating Not Working

A customer rang me complaining that her central heating was not working and that only the pipes to the radiators were getting warm.

I looked at the system and set the central heating to be on and turned the room thermostat up. Looking in the airing cupboard I could hear no noise coming from the pump. I checked the electrics to see where there was power, and there was power to the white, grey and the orange of the motorised valve. Therefore the boiler and pump should have been running. I removed the electrical cover from the pump and tested to make sure there was 240v at the pump, which there was.

After replacing the pump everything was working well again.

Disclaimer: The works described in this blog are a record of work undertaken and should not be taken as guaranteed to solve your problem. Work should only be carried out by persons qualified and competent to do so.

Central Heating Coming On With The Hot Water

A customer was complaining that their central heating was coming on with the hot water even though the heating was turned off and down. They usually set the central heating to come on an hour after the hot water but the gentleman had gotten up earlier than usual to notice that the radiators were hot.

The system was a three-port motorised valve set up and had a Drayton MA1/679-3 valve. I set the hot water to come on and could see from the indicator on the valve it was in the middle position for both the heating and hot water. I removed the head from the valve body to see if the spindle had seized or it was a problem with the head. I have had the same issue previously where there was an unusual amount of rattling coming from the valve head.  I didn't bother to open the valve head as I knew that both the return springs would be loose in the head, and that both of the plastic lugs that the springs attached to had broken off also. I replaced the head of the valve and the system was working as it should be.

Disclaimer: The works described in this blog are a record of work undertaken and should not be taken as guaranteed to solve your problem. Work should only be carried out by persons qualified and competent to do so.

No Hot Water After Draining Down

A customer of mine was carrying out some renovations to his house and had dug up some of the floor screed exposing some pipes. He accidentally holed one of the pipes causing a leak. He managed to repair the leak and re-fill the heating system. Unfortunately the next day he had no hot water when he went to have a shower.

When I arrived the Main HE boiler had locked out due to overheating as indicated by the LED's (flashing,off,on). The pump sounded as if the system was full of air and the automatic air vent was leaking. I bunged the system and replaced the automatic air vent. I also bled all of the radiators two of which were full of air. I then ran the hot water making sure the system was circulating before running the central heating system and making sure that it was all working as it should be.

Disclaimer: The works described in this blog are a record of work undertaken and should not be taken as guaranteed to solve your problem. Work should only be carried out by persons qualified and competent to do so.

No Central Heating After Draining Down

A friend of mine who is a recently qualified plumber drained a system to connect an extra radiator onto it. After refilling the system everything appeared to be working okay but the next day the central heating was not working. He asked me to go and have a look because he was unsure what the problem was and didn't know for certain if the motorised valve was working.

When I arrived the central heating was set to be on and the pump was running. The valve was a Sunvic SDMV230 valve. I removed the motorised valve head and switched between the heating and hot water to make sure the valve was moving, and the that the spindle was in the central heating position which it was.

The pipework was not set out as it should be to remove air efficiently from the system and their was a lot of air trapped in the airing cupboard pipework. There was an air vent in the airing cupboard which I opened regularly to bleed off air. I also opened the screw in the centre of the pump to release any air in the pump. After releasing as much air as I could from the airing cupboard I walked around the radiators. The three radiators upstairs were hot but there was not much heat in the three downstairs radiators.

I turned off the radiators upstairs and one of the radiators downstairs got hot so I turned this off also. Then both the other radiators started to get hot and there was some gurgling. I left these radiators running for five minutes to make sure all the pipework was clear of air before turning on the rest of the radiators. I left the central heating running for some time to ensure that the central heating was working correctly and that all the radiators were heating equally.

Disclaimer: The works described in this blog are a record of work undertaken and should not be taken as guaranteed to solve your problem. Work should only be carried out by persons qualified and competent to do so.

Remeha Avanta 35C No Pressure On Gauge

I was servicing a Remeha Avanta 35C combination boiler today and the first thing I noticed was that there was no pressure in the boiler and heating system according to the pressure gauge on the front of the boiler. I opened up the taps on the filling loop to put water in the system and increase the pressure. Still there was no movement on the gauge so I stopped filling with water as I did not want to over pressurise the boiler.

I have seen this problem before on these boilers and so am always wary of believing what the pressure gauge says. I grabbed a bucket out of my van and a couple of manometer hoses and attached these to the drain plugs on the flow and return of the boiler. I drained the boiler through these drain plugs. Using a spanner I undid the gauge connection at the boiler and removed it from the boiler. The hole for the water that activates the pressure gauge is tiny and can only be unblocked with a fine pin. I unblocked the hole and re-assembled the boiler. Opening the filling loop I could see that the water pressure was rising and that the gauge was showing the correct reading again.

Disclaimer: The works described in this blog are a record of work undertaken and should not be taken as guaranteed to solve your problem. Work should only be carried out by persons qualified and competent to do so.

Boilermate II Hot Water Comes Through Hot Then Cold

I had to look at a Gledhill Boilermate II where the customer was complaining that the hot water would come through hot then moments later go cold or just lukewarm. When I first opened the hot tap the water would come through very hot for a few seconds and then reduce to a lukewarm temperature. If I turned the tap off and on again sometimes the water would be hot again at first other times it would continue coming through lukewarm.

The customer originally thought that there was a problem with the boiler but when I arrived at the property the thermal store was up to temperature and the hot water performance was still poor. Increasing the temperature on the Boilermate caused the boiler and pump to run straight away correctly as it should.

I then turned my attention to the Oventrop Blending Valve. These valves are designed to mix cold mains water with the hot water that comes through the thermal store hot water coil to a set temperature. The temperature of the hot water outlets can be adjusted using the plastic knob on top of the valve, turning this adjusts the amount of cold water that mixes with the hot water. In the case of the valve I was looking at, after I turned off the water and removed it I could see that the internal parts of the valve were loose and too much cold water was mixing with the hot.

I replaced the Oventrop Blending Valve with a new one and the hot water was adjusted to the customer's satisfaction. It is important to make sure you have the correct washers for these valves as they tend to fall apart when you remove the old valve.

Disclaimer: The works described in this blog are a record of work undertaken and should not be taken as guaranteed to solve your problem. Work should only be carried out by persons qualified and competent to do so.

Potterton Prima Profile Bottom Tray Controls Cover

Quite a common problem on the Potterton Prima, Potterton Profile and Potterton Netaheat Profile boilers is the that the plastic controls cover at the bottom of the boiler goes brittle. Over the years more and more of it breaks off until it doesn't fit very well or at all.

The boiler my customer had was a Pottetton Prima 30f and the part number for the controls cover on the Partsarena website is 907706. This is the same part for the Profile 30-40, Netaheat Profile 30 -40 and Prima 30-60. However, when I opened the box there was only replacement stickers for the Profile 30e and 40e. 

Disclaimer: The works described in this blog are a record of work undertaken and should not be taken as guaranteed to solve your problem. Work should only be carried out by persons qualified and competent to do so.

Glowworm Fuelsaver Mk1 25-30B Case Seal

I had a call from a lady asking me to look at her Glowworm Fuelsaver Mk1 25-30 boiler, GC No. 41 315 79.

The pilot light had extinguished and her son had fixed it by replacing the thermocouple but now there seemed to be a smell of gas coming from the boiler. The first thing I noticed when I arrived was that the case was not on properly at the top and assumed that this was where the smell was coming from. Removing the boiler front I could see that the case seal was not in the best condition and couldn't guarantee a good seal even if the case was fitted properly. There was quite a bit of damage at the top in the centre either where engineers had levered the case open at the top or where the retaining clip of the case front had damaged the rubber.

I carried out a tightness test and found a 1 Mbar drop which is enough given the smell of gas to switch off the appliance. There was no drop indicated when the appliance was isolated and so it was definitely a leak at the boiler. Using leak detector fluid and my Anton gas sniffer I could not detect a leak so it may be that the gas valve was actually passing gas.

I made the boiler safe and made enquiries into a replacement case seal and gas valve but both these parts are obsolete and no longer available for this boiler.

Disclaimer: The works described in this blog are a record of work undertaken and should not be taken as guaranteed to solve your problem. Work should only be carried out by persons qualified and competent to do so.

Radiator Tail Leaking

I was left a message on my answerphone overnight due to a leaking radiator connection which by the morning had slowed. The lady had wrapped a kitchen towel around the connection which was quite damp. The radiator had been replaced at some point but was not quite as wide as the original radiator. Because of this the engineer had used an extendable radiator tail and this is where the leak was coming from. Where the tail extends on an o-ring I was able to flex the joint a little which caused water to seep out. I also noticed that the door was unable to open fully because it hit the radiator valve. I guess that the door had hit the valve causing the joint to move causing the leak.

I turned off the radiator valves, drained the radiator and removed it from the wall. I then removed the extendable radiator tail from the radiator using an 8mm allen key. In my vaan I had an old radiator union tail to fit the existing valve and a solid 20mm radiator tail extension. I fitted both of these and reinstated the radiator. Hopefully, being a more solid joint will prevent leaks even if the door does contact the radiator valve.

Disclaimer: The works described in this blog are a record of work undertaken and should not be taken as guaranteed to solve your problem. Work should only be carried out by persons qualified and competent to do so.

Heating Staying On With Hot Water

A customer asked me to look at their heating as the radiators had been coming on whenever the hot water was heating. Sure enough the heating was a three-port motorised valve system and had the ACL Drayton Lifestyle valve that pre-dated the latest MA1 version.

Unlike the MA1 version the earlier one does not have a "snap-on" actuator. For this reason it was difficult to discover whether the spindle was seized or the synchron motor. It was late on a Friday when I looked at the job and wasn't going to be cold, so I opened the actuator, removed the sychron motor and forced the mechanism to the hot water only position. This kept the hot water working correctly until I was able to return and replace the motorised valve.

Disclaimer: The works described in this blog are a record of work undertaken and should not be taken as guaranteed to solve your problem. Work should only be carried out by persons qualified and competent to do so.

Glow-worm 30 CXi Flue Sampling Point Cap 0020031334

I went to issue a Landlord's Gas Safety Certificate at a property which had a Glow-worm 30 CXi fitted. I stripped down the boiler for a service and as I did so noticed that the cap which usually covers the flue probe hole was sitting on top of the boiler. At first I assumed that the previous engineer had forgot to replace it. I tried to thread the cap back on but it was not screwing on. Looking at the plastic cap it had started to degrade, the threads were worn away and the condition of the plastic was deteriorating. The thread on the flue which the cap screws onto looked to be in good condition.

The boiler is the older version which had an earlier Vaillant flue terminal. The flue sampling point is on the bend of the elbow unlike the equivalent Vallaint combination boiler which has a separate flue adaptor on top of the boiler with an inner and outer flue sampling point and different caps with different threads.

I asked in Parts Center regarding this part and was given a retail price of £53+VAT and told they only come in packs of five. The part number is 0020031334. The going rate appears to be around £40+VAT online, but our price at Parts Center was £30.10+VAT which is still a lot for 5 plastic caps and washers. For a critical safety item to have failed at this boilers age is not good and these new ones I hope are better made. There is a Technical Bulletin which covers this issue, number 138.

Disclaimer: The works described in this blog are a record of work undertaken and should not be taken as guaranteed to solve your problem. Work should only be carried out by persons qualified and competent to do so.

Heating Coming On With The Hot Water

I had to look at a system where the heating was coming on with the hot water even though the heating was turned off and down. The system was a three-port motorised valve set up and had a Drayton MA1/679-3 valve. The valve was stuck in the middle position as I could see from indicator on the side. I removed the head from the valve body to see if the spindle had seized or it was a problem with the head. The spindle was free, but there was an unusual amount of rattling coming from the valve head. I opened the valve head and both the return springs were loose in the head. Both of the plastic lugs that the springs attached to had broken off also. I replaced the head of the valve and the system was working as it should be.

Disclaimer: The works described in this blog are a record of work undertaken and should not be taken as guaranteed to solve your problem. Work should only be carried out by persons qualified and competent to do so.

Jaguar Combi Boiler F1 and F3 Error

Another engineer had been to look at a Jaguar Combination boiler that was coming up with the error code F3 and not giving good hot water. He stripped out the plate heat exchanger and cleaned the dirt build up out which seemingly solved the issue.

However, the problem started occurring again and so I booked an appointment to have a look at the problem myself as the other engineer was on holiday. The next day the F3 fault had escalated to an F1 fault and the boiler was failing to light so I attended the same day. I looked at the boiler and it was a sparking but failing to light, but there was no problem with the gas supply. I realised that the F1 code was due to the overheat thermostat cutting the boiler out and not allowing the boiler to light. I reset the overheat thermostat and the boiler was able to light again.

Running the boiler for the hot water, the boiler got up to temperature quickly and cut out before the hot water was hot at the tap. The hot water would then got quite hot and then the boiler would relight as the boiler cooled down. The water would cool before the boiler could catch up. The boiler was also quite noisy suggesting that the circulation was poor. There didn't feel like there was much vibration coming from the pump. I removed the central screw on the pump to check that the spindle was free. When the boiler was running the pump was spinning but it didn't look as fast as it should be.

Fortunately the customer had a replacement pump and housing in his garage. When changing the pump I changed the fibre washer on the top connection as they don't seal very well when reused. I also had to clean the brass spindle that the pump slides onto as there was a fair amount of scale build up on it which was preventing the o-ring from making a good seal.

Replacing the pump solved the F1 and F3 errors and the boiler was running well although the hot water was still quite hot it was modulating well.

Disclaimer: The works described in this blog are a record of work undertaken and should not be taken as guaranteed to solve your problem. Work should only be carried out by persons qualified and competent to do so.

Potterton Profile Not Lighting

Had a call to look at a Potterton Profile today which was not working properly. The customer said that the hot water was only lukewarm and the boiler was lighting but not staying lit for long, or not lighting at all. When I arrived the fan was running, but the boiler was not lit or trying to light. I reset the thermostat and it lit without any trouble and continued to run. I reset the thermostat a couple of times and again it lit and ran as it should. I opened the case and looked inside the boiler but there didn't look as if there was any issues. I checked the burner pressure which was correct. I lowered the controls cover and made sure that the air pressure switch tubes were connected properly and not kinked. All of the electrical connections looked good to.

I put the boiler back together and as I was screwing the screw that holds the grey bottom cover on it started playing up. The boiler was running but cut out and the fan continued to run but did not try to light. As I moved the screw the boiler was cutting in and out, making a sort of juddering noise. The customer said it had been making this noise for months and assumed it was limescale. I lowered the controls cover again to and the boiler cut out again, moving the connections to the PCB I could see a small spark due to a poor connection. There was a dry joint on the longer multi plug at the connection of the brown wire. The brown wire connects to the air pressure switch which explains why the boiler was not always trying to fire when the fa n was running. I replaced the PCB to solve the problem.

Disclaimer: The works described in this blog are a record of work undertaken and should not be taken as guaranteed to solve your problem. Work should only be carried out by persons qualified and competent to do so.

Boilermate II Tripping Electrics

I received a call from a customer to say that his fusebox kept tripping out when the heating and hot water circuit was on and therefore didn't have any heating or hot water. There was also a leak in the airing cupboard.

The first thing I looked at was the airing cupboard which housed a Boilermate II. As water and electricity don't mix I assumed that the leak in the airing cupboard was related to the tripping electrics. I correctly guessed that the water was leaking from the thermal store. It is quite common for the small header tank on the top to perish and start leaking onto the top of the main cylinder, this water then runs down inside the controls cover and onto the electrics.

In this case, the leak was due to the ball valve failing. The ball valve inlet and overflow outlet were at similar heights so when the water filled to overflow there was some minor escape from the hole for the ball valve. The ball valves fitted to these thermal stores is different to the standard ball valve in that the float arm is a different length to enable you to install it through the hole in the header tank. If you are unable to purchase one swiftly you should be able to swap the float arms over by removing the split pin.

Disclaimer: The works described in this blog are a record of work undertaken and should not be taken as guaranteed to solve your problem. Work should only be carried out by persons qualified and competent to do so.

Protherm 40-50 Ci No Heating Or Hot Water

I was called to look at a system with a Protherm 40-50 Ci as the customers were getting no heating or hot water. When I arrived the heating and hot water were set to be on but there was nothing happening. After sliding the bottom tray off I could see an orange glow coming from the control box so I knew that the boiler was receiving power. The overheat reset button had not popped out on the front of the control box.

I asked the customer if the boiler had been behaving itself over the last week,and they said that it had been getting noisier. They described the noise as a loud whining. I opened the case and checked for power to the fan, which there was but it was not spinning. I replaced the fan and the boiler was working quietly and correctly again.

Disclaimer: The works described in this blog are a record of work undertaken and should not be taken as guaranteed to solve your problem. Work should only be carried out by persons qualified and competent to do so.