Baxi Solo WM 30/4 RS No Hot Water

I was called to look at a Baxi Solo WM 30/4 RS which was not working and the lady had ran out of hot water. Immediately I could see that the pilot was not lit and attempted to relight the pilot light. It would not stay lit and being the SS version had an overheat thermostat interrupting the pilot thermocouple at the gas valve. Once I had reset the overheat thermostat I was able to relight the pilot light and the boiler was able to fire for the hot water.

As soon as the main burner came on I could hear that the boiler was unusually noisy and so checked the burner pressure which was as it should be. The pump which was adjacent to the boiler was fairly old and didn't quite sound as if it was running at the correct speed. I replace the pump and refired the system and the boiler was running a lot more quietly and didn't sound so scaled up.

After the boiler ran for about five minutes it started to crash and bang before cutting out on the overheat thermostat. I used my flue and gas analyser to measure the flow and return temperatures to find that the flow temperature was exceeding what it should have been and the boiler thermostat was not cutting off the boiler until the overheat thermostat kicked in. I replaced the Ranco C77P0135 thermostat and the system 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.

Ideal Classic Clicking Noise

My boss was called to look at an Ideal Classic boiler because the customer was complaining that it would regularly make a clicking noise for an extended period of time whilst the boiler was running. He visited but could hear no noise, although the customer said it had been making the noise all afternoon. He left them to monitor the situation.

They soon called him back because it was still 'clicking' more or less constantly. Once again the boiler was working perfectly upon his arrival. He assumed that it may have been one of the gas valve solenoids breaking down and causing the boiler to constantly re-light. He changed the gas valve and left with the boiler working perfectly.

Being on call the following week the customer called me out because the boiler was still 'clicking' and the problem had not been solved. Once again, I arrive to find a boiler working perfectly that had been 'clicking' all morning. Using my experience I looked at the PCB as I recall having the same problem before. I could see that there was some blackening to the relays on the PCB. When the relays become blackened I think it is more difficult for them to maintain contact and do their required task. I replaced the PCB and left the boiler working. I had to re-visit the customer a week later for an unrelated issue and he said the boiler had been working silently since my visit.

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 Cxi Dripping and G10 Seal

A friend of mine recently moved into a new house and asked me to look at his boiler as there was a couple of outstanding issues left by the previous owner. Before moving into the house he had been told by an engineer that inspected the heating system that the boiler required a new G10 burner door seal. He was also told by the previous owner that there was a regular drip, hence the bowl underneath.

Looking at the burner door I could see that the boiler had the earlier burner door seal fitted. The main seal looked to be ok, but there was signs of staining at the bottom of the burner door where the smaller seal is. I knew it was likely to be the earlier seal as the burner door was secured using the earlier nuts which are not of the Nyloc type. I removed the burner door and exchanged the earlier 'rubber' seal for the graphite one. The lower seal is still made of 'rubber'. I also filled in the label with the date and stuck this to the boiler so the seal should get replaced in five years time.

The dripping I immediately noticed was coming from the disconnnector. The disconnector valve is the fancy non-return valve they have fitted to the built-in filling loop. It is quite common for them to drip just after re-pressurising the system, and sometimes the dripping stops after a minute or two. Unfortunately  the disconnector had been dripping for an extended period and required replacement with part number 802600. This part comes with a new disconnector valve and an upgraded filling tap. The earlier taps were plastic internally and use to seize and break shut, whereas the new ones are brass internally.

Had the disconnector not been leaking it would have been cheaper, and quite easy on this installation to use a standard filling loop on the existing pipework. After installing the new filling loop I repressurised the heating system which due to the low local water pressure was a struggle to get to 1 bar. The disconnector dripped after filling for a short period which I expect is a consequence of the low water pressure and would consider fitting a standard filling loop on my next visit.

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 Compact No Central Heating

Was asked by a lady to look at her Glowworm Compact as her central heating was not working. The hot water was working, but she did complain that it was a too hot if anything of late. The lady could not understand why the boiler was constantly running even though the central heating was turned off on the timer.

Looking at the boiler it was running even though the timer was turned off. Looking at the symbols on the boiler I could see that the tap symbol was illuminated even though there were no taps running and the boiler pump was running. I turned the timeclock on but nothing changed with the boiler. I opened the tap and the water was very hot, and cooled a bit before the boiler fired up.

After I turned off the tap, the boiler still continued to run for a while before getting too hot and cutting out. The tap symbol remained illuminated. I ran the tap on and off a couple of times and the tap symbol extinguished, then the heating symbol came on and the heating began to work. I tried the hot water once again, and after I turned the tap off the tap symbol stayed illuminated.

I removed the hot water microswitch on the right hand side from it's position over the pin which operates it. Once removed the hot water symbol extinguished and I could see that the pin was still out quite a way as if a tap was open. I was able to push the pin back in with my hand which I should not be able to do if a tap was actually open.

I replaced the diaphragm (Parts Center 440776) in case it had stretched and the diaphragm cover (Parts Center 440100) in case the pin was corroded and sticking. Another happy customer with working heating and hot water.

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 Cxi Dripping Water

I was called by a customer to look at a Glowworm Cxi which intermittently would have water dripping from underneath. The customer had a bowl underneath the boiler and pointed to the corner of the case on the front left at the bottom and had seen water dripping from there.

I looked around the bottom of the boiler and could not see any signs of water on any of the joints or at the disconnector. I opened the case of the boiler to see if there was any signs of water inside the case. I could see some brown staining on the 'floor' of the inner case and it ran across from the front left corner to the condense trap. There was a couple of droplets sitting on top of the condense trap.

I checked the route of the condense pipe which ran into the waste pipework below the kitchen sink. Fortunately it was connected using threaded fittings and so I was able to disconnect the condense pipe from the waste pipe easily. Sure enough it was full of gunge due to the way it had been connected in under the sink, waste had been slowly accumulating in the condense pipe before blocking it up. I managed to get a fair amount out into a bowl. Leaving the condense disconnected I poured a little water into the inner flue using a jug which flushed through the condense pipe.

During the summer their probably was not a great deal of condensate produced with just the hot water in use. However, turning the heating on revealed the problem as the amount of condensate would be increased.

This has solved the leak in the short term but have advised the customer to have the drainage altered to prevent the condense from blocking again because it could cause more expensive damage.

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.

Honeywell Programmer No Hot Water/Central Heating

I was called to look at a system because the customer was complaining that they had no hot water but that their heating was working. For a system with a three-port valve this is unusual but not impossible. Looking in the airing cupboard I remembered that I had fitted a new Honeywell motorised valve last year so thought it unusual that it should fail. Their was an old Potterton PTT2 cylinder thermostat so thought that this may be the issue.

I put the hot water on at the programmer and returned to the airing cupboard. The cylinder thermostat was lit to say it was demanding heat and I could feel that their was circulation around the hot water circuit. I turned the cylinder thermostat up and down and it was responding to my demands. All working with no problems.

I put the heating on and waited for the radiators to get hot. I waited and nothing happened. Strange, I've come to look at why there is no hot water which is working and now I have no central heating. Returning to the airing cupboard I checked the electrics in the junction box. There was no power on the white, and there was also no power to the room thermostat from the programmer.

I went back to the programmer, Honeywell ST9400, which I had fitted five months ago and turned the heating and hot water off. I then turned the heating back on, five seconds later the boiler fires up and the radiators have started warming. I turn the hot water back on, and now this isn't working. Usually when either the heating or hot water is switched on their is a click and the related green light illuminates. However, in this case both the lights would come on but their would be no click from either the heating or the hot water depending upon which you switch on second.

I fitted a new Danfoss FP715 programmer and set the dipswitches to the 7-day mode and everything 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.

Baxi Solo 3 No Heating

As always when it turns cold I get numerous calls to look at heating systems because the central heating is not coming on and the homeowner has no idea why. The lady in question had turned everything off because in the morning when the heating was supposed to come on she was disturbed by a loud clanging noise coming from the airing cupboard.

As I usually do I began by ensuring that the hot water was working correctly and set the hot water to come on. The pump kicked in and sounded as if it was working fine, I went to the garage to check on the Baxi Solo 3 which was lit and running. I returned to the airing cupboard and could feel that the hot water was circulating with no issues.

I then turned the hot water off and set the heating to be on, as I returned to the airing cupboard the clanging began. The motorised valve installed was a Tower valve with a red plastic body which in my experience are not the best valves. As it was trying switch over to heating the mechanism was slipping. It would open so far before the tension of the spring got too much and clanged the valve back to hot water. I drained the system and replaced the three-port valve leaving another happy customer.

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.