For help, advice and discussion about stuff not related to aviation. Play nice: no religion, no politics and no axe grinding please.
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By Paul_Sengupta
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1884684
Big Dex wrote:stay away from ...Potterton boilers.


:shock:

My 1990 Potterton Flamingo has never missed a beat! :D

Well I say that, it does go out very occasionally when it's really really cold and the gas pressure drops.
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By Propwash
#1884728
When I bought my current house it had a Potterton boiler, a vast heavy cast-iron thing housed in its own boiler shed against the real wall of the house. It must have been a couple of decades old then, but as it was always reliable I saw no point in changing it.

When I retired we decided to have the house completely renovated to provide more space as we were going to be there much more. We moved out while the work was done, so although knew it would involve new heating system, plumbing, wiring etc, didn’t think about specifying the make of boiler. That was a mistake. In the event we got a combi (because we had built into the loft space and had no water tanks any more) and a brand I had never heard of and since forgotten. It was nothing but trouble from the off and lasted about 10 years before replacement, but with lots of maintenance visits in between. “You did well out of this” was the judgement of our heating engineer. I suspect the old Potterton would still having been chugging along. :roll:

Current boiler is a Viessman with which we are very happy. Wasn’t so sure in its first winter as it is our first condensing boiler and the Beast from the East froze the outlet pipe. I have since heavily lagged that to hopefully prevent a recurrence. As it has a 10 year warranty I’m hoping it will fare slightly better than its processor, but nothing these days seems built to last. :(


PW
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By Sir Morley Steven
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1884732
Get a new boiler. You won’t believe the money you save. I have an unvented “mega flow” system running off a Worcester Bosch boiler. This gives me fab heating and piping hot water at mains pressure so showers aren’t a pathetic dribble.
By Boxkite
#1884758
I have an old unpressurised boiler and I wouldn't get my money back on a new boiler over a 10 year period , and then somewhere along the way I would have to fork out £400 for a PCB or whatever.
By Big Dex
#1884770
Paul_Sengupta wrote: :shock:

My 1990 Potterton Flamingo has never missed a beat! :D

Well I say that, it does go out very occasionally when it's really really cold and the gas pressure drops.


100% agree Paul, this used to be the case. Back then, the heat exchanger was a block of cast iron, the pump was a universal Grunfoss 15-50 and not part of the boiler, the only moving part was a honeywell gas valve. Bomb-proof things, but miles of the effiency standards and requirements currently in force. They lasted decades; I know of an old Vulcan of similar format still going strong at 40 years old. As mentioned above, I bin cheaper combis on their first significant breakdown beyond 7 year warranty expiry; the boiler itself is a consumable part imho!
By Bill McCarthy
#1884774
I reckon I could make a decent job of making my own oil fired boiler using a pressure washer heating coil latched on to a Riello burner, all contained within an old calor gas cylinder. Most oil fired units use the Riello unit or very near version of it.
I am nowhere near mains gas.
By chevvron
#1884775
Paul_Sengupta wrote:

Well I say that, it does go out very occasionally when it's really really cold and the gas pressure drops.

I have an ICOS HE18 (13 years old) which sometimes fails to fire up in those circumstances.
By Bill McCarthy
#1884777
There is a raging storm going on outside right now and our house has the heat retention of a wicker basket. The wind turbine is going flat out and the best heating of all is a small 1/2 kw fan heater (using 1kw) running in one room. Another in the kitchen would be quite adequate for our needs - and the leccy is free.
By riverrock
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1884782
I knew (on my last boiler) that the plumber had no clue what he was talking about, when he said the diverter valve had failed (it didn't have one - it had separate heat exchangers for hot water and CH).

A boiler should last more than 7 years. Most Vokeras have a standard 10 year warranty, as do many other brands.
My experience is that plumbers will fit which ever brand they are most familiar with (and the various brands will provide kick backs to plumbers who recommend that brand). There is a Vokera training center in Glasgow - and they have part-sponsored lots of people in getting their qualifications, so unsurprisingly there are a lot of Vokera boilers installed around here.
By riverrock
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1884787
a pet peeve - people always want "bigger and better" so rather than work out what size of boiler to buy, most people just get one slightly bigger than the last one (or the same size) rather than working out the max output of all their radiators.
Modern boilers can throttle down (some more than others) but if they have to constantly stop/start to keep a set temperature in the circulating water, they are constantly wasting energy. The vast majority of installed boilers are oversized.

The Vokera I have can throttle down to 15% rated output - much lower than most, which reduces the risk of this. We increased the size of the boiler slightly after installing a house extension. Even with the temperature -10degC last winter, it still never outputted more than 65%, other than very briefly at start up.
By Bill McCarthy
#1884795
If the boiler rating is above that required, for an oil fired boiler just fit a smaller fuel nozzle, reset fuel pressure and airflow, check combustion.
By avtur3
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1885033
Big Dex wrote:Speaking as a qualified boiler chap (and I think possibly local to you @avtur3 in South Manchester, and happy to look FOC, definitely not touting for business), a PCB diagnosis is normally "engineer can't find an obvious fault". I presume that the switched-live to the boiler is getting the appropriate 240v signal when there is a demand? If not, the fault likely lies with a zone valve, time clock or thermostat.

If it is getting a demand signal, the order firing sequence is:
Fan switch detects no pressure
Fan runs
Fan switch detects pressure
Igniter sparks
Gas valve opens to low burn
Vitiation sensor detects flame
Gas valve opens to full burn

Most of these actions are visible or audible; be it the quiet click of a the fan switch or through the little sight glass in the combustion chamber.

If any of these actions occur, it is likely that the PCB is ok. If none of them occur, a thorough check of the wiring harness is in order. If all here is well; PCB is a probability (but check the little fuse on the PCB first!).

That being said, a Baxi Solo wasn't much good when it was new, and I would question investing £400 in a 12 year old one! It is very near the end of life, and that's half the cost of a replacement unit.


Thanks for the offer Big Dex, if I was still resident in south Manchester I would take you up on your kind offer. However since June 2018 I'm now resident in mid sussex way down south!!

We have a gas fueled Aga cooker which we have serviced by a friend/neighbour, he charges brilliant "mates rates" because he makes a fortune on his work up in London. We went to him for a recommendation for our CH boiler problem.

The replacement PCB did not solve the problem, further investigation indicated that an air switch also needed replacing. Reading the engineers report the air switch had failed "in the open" condition and this had caused the PCB failure. To be honest I'm not at all happy with that explanation, but what can I do???

To get us out of a very cold hole the engineer has temporarily fitted a 'used' air switch which he had from a recent boiler un-installation

A new air switch will be fitted on monday, by which time the total cost of this episode will be £550.

I'm now left wondering if the PCB replacement was necessary, how could a sensor 'failing open' cause the PCB to fail.

As things stand, the system is now working and Mrs A is happy, which is a good result, but I am far from happy about how the result has been achieved.