Boilermate 2000 No Hot Water

I was called by one of our customers because she had no hot water, and running a hair styling business from home it was urgent. I visited to find a Glowworm Ultimate and Boilermate 2000 cylinder. The lady had tried to put the electrical boost function on the cylinder but was still not getting any hot water.

I looked inside the cover of the Boilermate 2000 cylinder and could see that the display on the PCB was blank, although two of the green LEDs were lit and two of the pumps were running. Pushing the little buttons on the PCB to toggle through the displays of the circuit board was not having any effect. For some reason the PCB had failed and was no demanding heat from the boiler or operating the boiler pump. There was no GT155 PCB in stock locally or available next day from our suppliers and had to be ordered for the following week.

I looked into the electrical side of the Boilermate Cylinder and could see that the immersion heater had been wired up, and that there was wiring to the cylinder for the electrical side. However, the fuses were pulled out and secured out with a cable tie and the electrical side had never been commisioned at installation. I advised the customer to contact and electrician to check the electrics which got the hot water heating again temporarily until I was able to return with a new PCB.

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 Ultimate Buzzing with Boilermate 2000

We were asked to check out a heating system and service a Glow-worm Ultimate boiler. As I removed the case I got a whiff of gas, and decided to carry out a soundness test. There was a drop on the test and I turned off the isolator at the boiler and re-tested which was successful. I replaced the gas valve and carried out the service.

A couple of days later I was called back because the hot water had gone cold, and the boiler had been making a buzzing noise the previous night. When I visited there was plenty of hot water and there was no sign of any problems with the boiler.

About a week later a colleague of mine was called out because the boiler was buzzing again, and so decided to replace the PCB.

Another week later and the boiler was buzzing again. I ran the boiler and again it was running as it should be. The boiler was connected to a Boilermate 2000 thermal store which controls whether the boiler was on or off and so I decided to look closer at the cylinder. There a couple of switches you can press to display information about the thermal store and when I pressed these there was no change in the display. I also tested the operation of the heating and hot water. Strangely the cylinder would call for heat from the boiler and the boiler would run for a while heating the store. When the cylinder was satisfied the boiler would go off  but the pump would continue running indefinitely. The hot water circulation pump also seemed to be running extensively. When running the central heating the central heating pump seemed to be stopping and starting as it should.

I removed the circuit board from the Boilermate 2000 and could see on the rear that there was a number of dry joints. I replaced the Appliance Control Board (PCB) XB255 on the Boilermate 2000 and all has been working well since.

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.

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.

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.

Gledhill Boilermate 2 Buzzing Loudly

Had to look at another common issue today with a Gledhill Boilermate 2. The customer was complaining of a loud buzzing noise coming from the airing cupboard which had woken her up and she was unable to stop.

I removed the front panel on the cylinder which houses the thermostat, electrics and PCBs. I could hear the buzzing was coming from the pump delay timer PCB. I turned off the power and replaced this little circuit board. However, when I turned the power back on the pump drive PCB began to buzz intermittently. It was not as loud as the original buzzing but annoying nonetheless. I replaced the pump drive PCB also and all is working 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.

Leaking Hot Water Cylinder

A customer had called out his home insurance company as he had a leak in the airing cupboard. They found the leak was coming from the hot water cylinder and would need replacing.

I visited to look at the cylinder, and after removing some of the foam lagging could see that the leak was coming from the backnut on the coil and could be repaired. I partially drained the central heating system and hot water cylinder, removing the pipe between the three-port valve and cylinder. I then loosened off the backnut, and wound some PTFE tape into the gap as can be seen in the picture below. I then tightened the nut onto the PTFE tape sealing the cylinder. I re-connected the pipework and re-filled the system and the leak was successfully solved

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.