Potterton Boiler playing up.

[rustic]

Hi, we have a potterton profile boiler it failed to light the main burner.
I have checked all the controls, and logic said it was the control board.... Aghh it wasn't...

The Fault finding chart said if pilot is lit and spark keeps going, measure current to electrode, some sort of gas ionisation I guess, OR replace board...
So I thought replace board.... £130 later Aghh :doh

Have an engineer coming out this afternoon.
Has anybody else experienced this problem?:nenau


And now the main question, can you still buy boilers for use with header tanks and hot water cylinder without going down the pressurised combi boiler route and instant hot water on tap, which possibly give greater problems than my 16 year old boiler.?
Thanks, best regards,
Richard (Rustic)

 

[makeitfit]

No idea about gas, we dont have any out west :augie
Re new boiler though, YES , std boiler avail and easier to link up to solar etc

 

[rustic]

No idea about gas, we dont have any out west :augie
Re new boiler though, YES , std boiler avail and easier to link up to solar etc

Solar... room for expansion.... that might convince the other old boiler in the house, she wanted to go combi, :lol

My other concern with combi is the disruption of running new pipework under floors etc.

We also have power cuts so having 22 gallons of hot water is useful when you are in a rush.
Thanks for the quick reply.

 

[makeitfit]

No worries, just happened to be here:thumbs
We too have power cuts when I'm skint :doh Water in the tank keeps the kids from showering for hours on end too They soon give up when the hot runs out :lol

 

[BigBlack]

Have an engineer coming out this afternoon.

Unforunatly I'm the only one in my familly who aint a qualified plumber!!! :doh

But if you can hear your ignition 'ticking' and trying to light it sounds like your thermocouple might have gone buggered and might need replacing... it is the thermostat sensor which turns the main gas valve on and off when the water temp as been reached.

One note on Combi boilers I would steer well clear!!! When I moved to my house 7 years ago we replaced all the heating (like I said familly are plumbers - so got it done cheap!!) In 7 years combi boiler has had more parts and money spent on it then the boiler cost in the first place!!! ... not forgetting I get labour free!!!!!!

 

[geoffdown]

Unforunatly I'm the only one in my familly who aint a qualified plumber!!! :doh

But if you can hear your ignition 'ticking' and trying to light it sounds like your thermocouple might have gone buggered and might need replacing... it is the thermostat sensor which turns the main gas valve on and off when the water temp as been reached.

One note on Combi boilers I would steer well clear!!! When I moved to my house 7 years ago we replaced all the heating (like I said familly are plumbers - so got it done cheap!!) In 7 years combi boiler has had more parts and money spent on it then the boiler cost in the first place!!! ... not forgetting I get labour free!!!!!!

what was the make of boiler you got

 

[solarman216]

The Profile does not use a thermocouple, it uses ionization, the flame sensing electrode is either whiskered, has bad connections to the lead, or has eroded and is not long enough to produce the correct current to tell the board that a flame is established, so it keeps sparking, Rick

 

[rustic]

The Profile does not use a thermocouple, it uses ionization, the flame sensing electrode is either whiskered, has bad connections to the lead, or has eroded and is not long enough to produce the correct current to tell the board that a flame is established, so it keeps sparking, Rick

Solar man Spot on, this is exactly what the problem is.
It uses a small current to sense that the flame conducts high voltage.
I have investigated it and don't ask me how....
But I increased the pilot flame with the addition of a gas lighter, and ..... Main burner sprung into life.

The problem is that the pilot light is too small, since this is the gas bit.... I won't touch it.

But saves me ££££ on diagnostics, just tell the engineer to make pilot bigger.

I think it's the jet partially blocked. The pilot adjusting screw is set correct.
So if the enginner makes it......


Thanks to the rest of you guys re:- combi boilers, I don't want to go down that route because of reliability.

Thanks again.
Much appreciated.
That's my tenners worth already this year on just today's advice.
Thanks, Great club.
Regards, Richard

 

[solarman216]

Glad you got it sorted, combis are not just about reliability, is is also to do with your mains water supply, very simple test if you have more than one tap on the mains (do not forget the garden tap) how many can you turn on together before flow at one becomes unacceptable, two? maybe three, this is what you will get with a combi, most housholds I know that have one get into the habit of calling to other occupiers "I am going for a shower" this is the signal for everyone else not to draw water or flush a WC, Rick

 

[rustic]

Well the engineer came, sorted in 30 min plus a cup of tea.
It was a blocked pilot jet as we predicted.
He removed the jet + pipe, and used my airline to blow it back.
Since I did all the work, with some help from my friends:clap, we agreed on £20.
Not bad. :thumbs
Now warm as toast again.:thumbs
Wife coming home now.... JOKE...... just in case she reads this:lol

The new controller was a good investment, as these were unreliable anyway, I found several failed components, mostly capacitors that had changed their capacitance by drying out in all that heat. I found a good fault finding web site for Potterton Profile.
http://kaijaks.co.uk/blog/nick?blog=2&title=dodgy-old-boiler&disp=single&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1

16 years at 80 Centigrade no good for electronics.

Should be ok for another 16 years.......
Better than a combi...... I hope.

Thanks all.
Best regards, Richard (Rustic)

 

[geoffdown]

Unforunatly I'm the only one in my familly who aint a qualified plumber!!! :doh

But if you can hear your ignition 'ticking' and trying to light it sounds like your thermocouple might have gone buggered and might need replacing... it is the thermostat sensor which turns the main gas valve on and off when the water temp as been reached.

One note on Combi boilers I would steer well clear!!! When I moved to my house 7 years ago we replaced all the heating (like I said familly are plumbers - so got it done cheap!!) In 7 years combi boiler has had more parts and money spent on it then the boiler cost in the first place!!! ... not forgetting I get labour free!!!!!!

i bought a revanheat back in 2003 from b&Q for £650 very cheap for a condensing combi its gone wrong 3 times and everytime its been the thermo coupler which i have replaced my self cost £15 my gas man says reavenheat r crap they r cheap for a reason he only fits whostcher but they are 3 time the money i will just keep replacing the sensor in the hot water pipe till something really bad happens and it needs replaceing other than the sensors nothing else has gone wrong and u can run any tap in the house while showering and you dont get any problems but then the water pressure round use is very good.

 

[rustic]

u can run any tap in the house while showering and you dont get any problems but then the water pressure round use is very good.

Good point, our water pressure varies so much hour by hour, we are at the top of a hill, and if the people in the valleys want a shower....
Last week we had no water pressure the local mains water pump failed, now we can always run a warm bath to rinse off the soap, but if we had a combi.....:doh

I heard from several friends that the best combi is a Worcester Bosch combi :nenau
But I am now an expert (self taught) on the potterton profile.:thumbs


Think what would happen if your heating failed, how would you keep warm, get hot water etc.
We have a gas fire in the lounge, 2 fan heaters, and an electric element, 400W in the towel rail in the bathroom. The radiator is also connected to the central heating, you put the heater on when needed eg the summer, but close one of the valves (not the lockshield) to prevent circulation. Great. :thumbs

We were ok with no heating, but the fabric of the house is cold and will take a while to get back to normal.

 

[geoffdown]

Good point, our water pressure varies so much hour by hour, we are at the top of a hill, and if the people in the valleys want a shower....
Last week we had no water pressure the local mains water pump failed, now we can always run a warm bath to rinse off the soap, but if we had a combi.....:doh

I heard from several friends that the best combi is a Worcester Bosch combi :nenau
But I am now an expert (self taught) on the potterton profile.:thumbs


Think what would happen if your heating failed, how would you keep warm, get hot water etc.
We have a gas fire in the lounge, 2 fan heaters, and an electric element, 400W in the towel rail in the bathroom. The radiator is also connected to the central heating, you put the heater on when needed eg the summer, but close one of the valves (not the lockshield) to prevent circulation. Great. :thumbs

We were ok with no heating, but the fabric of the house is cold and will take a while to get back to normal.

hi if gas failed and we could not use the gas centrel heating thats fine as so far have not fired up the boiler for heating this year as we have a really nice woodburner:sly when light the house stays around 27 to 30 degs:augie (me not like this heat but guys with gfriends and wifes have to have the house as hot as you can get it) didnt light it today and doors open as had large sainburys del to day and remember the fire went out last nite round 10pm ish temp dropped to a nice 20 deg but also my house is almost 200 years onld and made out of 4ft thick cow shit beats any new build house as the log burner heats this up and it acts like areally big night storege heater

 

[solarman216]

my house is almost 200 years onld and made out of 4ft thick cow shit beats any new build house as the log burner heats this up and it acts like areally big night storege heater

This I love, really big storage heater, and so environmentally friendly, well done mate, Rick

 

[rustic]

This I love, really big storage heater, and so environmentally friendly, well done mate, Rick

That's the problem with modern houses, there is little thermal capacity with thermal breeze blocks, and cavity fill, under floor insulation, thick carpets etc, there is nothing to hold the heat. ( or tmaintain lower temperature in the summer.)

Advantage, room soon gets warm, but it is only the air you are heating.
When the heating goes off the air cools rapidly.

Older houses heated by a single coal fire heated the chimney and warmed the brick work upstairs.
I miss those fern like ice patterns that used to form on the inside of drafty single glazed sash windows. (not):doh

I remember outside toilets, and the need to have the po under the bed, and that froze too.

Give me central heating any day. :thumbs

 

[geoffdown]

That's the problem with modern houses, there is little thermal capacity with thermal breeze blocks, and cavity fill, under floor insulation, thick carpets etc, there is nothing to hold the heat. ( or tmaintain lower temperature in the summer.)

Advantage, room soon gets warm, but it is only the air you are heating.
When the heating goes off the air cools rapidly.

Older houses heated by a single coal fire heated the chimney and warmed the brick work upstairs.
I miss those fern like ice patterns that used to form on the inside of drafty single glazed sash windows. (not):doh

I remember outside toilets, and the need to have the po under the bed, and that froze too.

Give me central heating any day. :thumbs

i love central heating too my house has upvc double glaze windows its not listed you c and the central heating is only there as a back up if we were out for the day and fire not lite are last gas bill was £265 for the year are logs cost us £250 and we also get free logs so we are covered if the boiler does go wrong oh and yes the old hot water tank is still here plumbed in so all i have to do is turn a valve to stop water coming from the boiler turn another valve to allow it to come from the hot water tank which would be v.expensive as its now only heated by electric:doh but it gets us out of a problem c when i did the plumbing in the house for the combi boiler i made sure i had back ups for most things, if power cut which we r lucky we dont get very often we can heat the water for a bath on the gas hob and but a kettle on the log burner to heat up think i coverd most of the problems most people get with new houses when boilers go wrong and you get power cuts.