T
TimP
Hi, my first post here. I've looked about and see many similar problems discussed but none quite like this.
I have a Halstead Finest Gold Combi boiler. The HW heating part is not connected - instead the CH part is managed by another timeswitch and pair of motorised valves. It is a pressurised system, and in Jan began to lockout-red led on the front of the boiler. It had previously been running OK for a number of years.
I noticed that pressure would drop to below 1 bar and that topping up the water would result in it running for a while. Water came out of the discharge pipe occasionally (gathered in a bag over the end of the pipe), replacing the water pressure relief valve (3bar) and checking that pressure doesn't drop by switching heating off, adding water to 2 bar and leaving it for a day convinces me there are no leaks. I've also checked the expansion vessel.
But-still a lockout problem - in a similar manner to when the water pressure relief valve was leaking. The boiler always fires, runs for at least 5mins, sometime hours but then red lockout. If it does it well enough that it gets hot, water pressure rises to approx 2-2.5 bar (ie hot running temp, approx 1.1 bar when cold) it tends to run continually. Higher pressure/hotter means it works better
A thread on here made me think there was air in the system - trapped and not in the top of the rads, although I've bled them and sometimes release air. A suggestion was to open a drain valve at the same time as the mains water in and this could push the air through. I did that, with a hose pipe into a bucket with the end of the hose always underwater. Bubbles appear as well as water (not just at first) for a whole bucket full. Turning the drain valve on and off can make big bubbles appear. The system runs well for a while after doing this (no/few lockouts) and then it gets worse.
Apart from the obvious "What's wrong?" question I'm wondering:
What is likely to cause lockout after the boiler has been running for a time, and how to test (The manual only helps fault find for startup problems)?
I think it's air inside the system preventing water/heat circulation so,
Do the bubbles in my bucket mean that air is trapped?
Where could the air be coming from?
Could the air release valve be faulty, and how would I check if this was so?
Thanks in advance for any help...
Tim
I have a Halstead Finest Gold Combi boiler. The HW heating part is not connected - instead the CH part is managed by another timeswitch and pair of motorised valves. It is a pressurised system, and in Jan began to lockout-red led on the front of the boiler. It had previously been running OK for a number of years.
I noticed that pressure would drop to below 1 bar and that topping up the water would result in it running for a while. Water came out of the discharge pipe occasionally (gathered in a bag over the end of the pipe), replacing the water pressure relief valve (3bar) and checking that pressure doesn't drop by switching heating off, adding water to 2 bar and leaving it for a day convinces me there are no leaks. I've also checked the expansion vessel.
But-still a lockout problem - in a similar manner to when the water pressure relief valve was leaking. The boiler always fires, runs for at least 5mins, sometime hours but then red lockout. If it does it well enough that it gets hot, water pressure rises to approx 2-2.5 bar (ie hot running temp, approx 1.1 bar when cold) it tends to run continually. Higher pressure/hotter means it works better
A thread on here made me think there was air in the system - trapped and not in the top of the rads, although I've bled them and sometimes release air. A suggestion was to open a drain valve at the same time as the mains water in and this could push the air through. I did that, with a hose pipe into a bucket with the end of the hose always underwater. Bubbles appear as well as water (not just at first) for a whole bucket full. Turning the drain valve on and off can make big bubbles appear. The system runs well for a while after doing this (no/few lockouts) and then it gets worse.
Apart from the obvious "What's wrong?" question I'm wondering:
What is likely to cause lockout after the boiler has been running for a time, and how to test (The manual only helps fault find for startup problems)?
I think it's air inside the system preventing water/heat circulation so,
Do the bubbles in my bucket mean that air is trapped?
Where could the air be coming from?
Could the air release valve be faulty, and how would I check if this was so?
Thanks in advance for any help...
Tim
