Ferroli woes.

[tomwykes]

Hi,

I'm Tom, a Handyman by trade. I'm trying to diagnose a problem with my Ferroli HE31 C. I know the problem was buying it in the first place, but I'm stuck with it now.

The fan runs constantly, I've changed the flue sensor but that did nothing.

The boiler makes all the right noises and can be made to work by flicking off then on the mains plug. However once it reaches temp and cuts off it then just won't light again without the switch trick. the LCD shows that it thinks it's on and if there is DHW demand, it even makes all the right noises right up to the firing bit. There are NO error codes on the screen.

It has a new mother board as of today but this solved nothing. SO it's either the fan module (not sure how to test this) Or my wife has changed the TS code by button pressing. Does anyone have the TS code sheet that I could study to see if any of the perameters have be changed?

Any help or advice would be welcome.

If I can't sort it out I'm going have to bite the bullet and have it swapped, I'm eyeing up the Alpha CD50, can anyone recomend that boiler?

Thanks

Tom.

 

[Toned.f]

Are you GSR??

 

[tomwykes]

No, not GSR. but Terry a close friend is so he does those bits but he is so busy at the moment that I siad I'd try to find out what the problem was and if it is his department then eh'll fix it but if it's simple I'll do it. The boiler is in my own house and I'm not going to put my family at risk fiddling with stuff I don't understand.

Tom.

 

[julesverne]

get a gsr breakdown engineer and get it sorted. By fiddling with your boiler you are putting familes life at risk we take all the qualifications and recertify every 5 years for a simple reason SAFETY. by swapping parts and it's still not working clearly shows you dont understand how a boiler works. as it stands so far it seems you have changed a flue sensor and pcb. if you had got a gsr out in the first instance it probably would have been cheaper.

 

[justalex81]

doesn't matter whose house it's in if you're not competent you shouldn't touch it. you've already put your family at risk.

 

[tomwykes]

Thanks guys, I'm on a very tight budget, Gas safe engineers are too busy at this time of year so they either ignor my calls or want to charge the earth. My gas safe mate is up to his eyes in it, so I can't expect him to turn up more than he has to.

I could have lied and said I was gas safe registered, so a bit of slack would be appreciated. I'm not incompetent, I studied marine engineering, I have plumbed my own house, I have wired my own house, which has been signed off by a qualified electrician. I do know my limitations too, I'm not about to start stripping down the gas valve and burner components.

All I'm asking, is does anyone know what might be wrong?

Tom.

 

[sparra1100]

Hi,

I'm Tom, a Handyman by trade. I'm trying to diagnose a problem with my Ferroli HE31 C. I know the problem was buying it in the first place, but I'm stuck with it now.

The fan runs constantly, I've changed the flue sensor but that did nothing.

The boiler makes all the right noises and can be made to work by flicking off then on the mains plug. However once it reaches temp and cuts off it then just won't light again without the switch trick. the LCD shows that it thinks it's on and if there is DHW demand, it even makes all the right noises right up to the firing bit. There are NO error codes on the screen.

It has a new mother board as of today but this solved nothing. SO it's either the fan module (not sure how to test this) Or my wife has changed the TS code by button pressing. Does anyone have the TS code sheet that I could study to see if any of the perameters have be changed?

Any help or advice would be welcome.

If I can't sort it out I'm going have to bite the bullet and have it swapped, I'm eyeing up the Alpha CD50, can anyone recomend that boiler?

Thanks

Tom.

should have a 5 yr guarentee carnt be that old, have you got enough gas pressure coming in the house defo need someone gas safe to check the inlet pressure from the meter

 

[tomwykes]

Thanks Sparra1100
Sadly it's out of warrantee as I missed a servie date. The gas gooker is still firing fine and the boiler does work but only if I do the swich trick. So I guess the gas pressure is fine.

The fan is my main suspect, The boiler must think it's not working although it is so the won't kick in. And as the fan is constantly running the mother board won't turn it off because it doesn't think it's on.

How would I test the signal from the fan to the mother board?

Thanks
Tom

 

[sparra1100]

it wouldn,t work full stop mate if it was a fan fault cos thats how there designed no fan no ignition no inbetween the have a slow running on them 31c,s like its in standby if theres a blockage in the pipework or rads low gas pressure wouldnt make any diffrence to you cooker lighting, just the way the flame burns hence why i said someone gsr if you were near me ad have a look for ye

 

[tomwykes]

Ok, that makes it out of my depth, But a least I know where to point a GSR person to rather than him having to waste his time and my money going over old ground. Thanks Sparra1100

When you say pressure at the meter, is it possible for the house's gas pressure drop enough to affect the boiler? What sort of things make this happen?

Or are we talking about the gas pressure from valve to burner in the boiler, as in the valve not opening enough.
This is what my GSR mate said was the problem from his flying visit at 7am the other day. he put it down to the mother board not powering the gas valve, hence the motherboard swap. So if it's not the "household" pressure then the valve is sticking or dead.

 

[GasmanxxxR1]

Why buy a ferroli for your own house?

 

[tomwykes]

I'm wiser now! Oh, and poorer.

Any one have an opinion on the Alpha CD50, as That is the direction I think I'm going to end up going?

 

[Toned.f]

Thanks Sparra1100
Sadly it's out of warrantee as I missed a servie date. QUOTE]


Have you rung ferroli??

 

[tomwykes]

I'm getting a direct line installed to Ferroli I'm ringing them so often.

£130 for the first hour NOT including parts then £55 for every half hour after that. 8p a minute when you call them. With the reputation their boilers have no wonder they are happy to sell them cheap in the first place.

 

[sparra1100]

if the regulaters on your meters got a fault on it ,it could be down to that some of them break the spindle inside and depending were it breaks depends on the pressure you get,its a transco problem but gsr person would need to check it first the optimax is a decent boiler regardless of whats said about them my mates fitted loads for landlords cos of the 5 yr guarentee and not been called back very often your always going to get the odd one ,am not a lover of forrolis but 31c is ok ive talked to the forroli enfgineer a few times and he,s had a few gas valve changes but never said much about the boards on them and he was quite open about them can you not get some gsr to fill in the service bit and backdate it then call forroli out

ps could be faulty overheat stat

 

[scoullar]

could be the electrodes aint sure if the ignition goes through the pcb if it does change lead and electrode may have a separete spark generator you might aswell change aswell dont go near a alpha parts are extorsionate my i always fit worcester bosh cant beat em

 

[tomwykes]

Thanks for all help guys, I've bitten the bullet and on Thursday a guy is coming to install a Vailliant 837 Which is almost a straight swap. I had another GSR bloke around yesterday and he couldn't diagnose the problem either.
I guess like all things they are great when they are working and it also is not so urgent at other times of the year.

over and out

Tom.