Potterton HE Gold 24, E160

[JohnConrad]

Hi all,

I have a Potterton HE Gold 24. About 4 weeks ago it began to develop an intermittent E160 (fan wiring / fan error). Maybe once or twice a day, after running hot water, the boiler panel would indicate an E160. Resetting the boiler temporarily fixed the problem with the boiler happy to run both the central heating circuit and hot water. However, more recently the occurrence of the error has become more frequent and I was having to reset the boiler 4/5 times per day. In between, the boiler seemed to operate perfectly reliably, no abnormal sounds from the fan and hot water and central heating temperatures stable according to settings. This morning, I once again encountered an E160, however, this time I also noticed that the fan was running continuously very quietly when I put my ear to the boiler. This time when I attempted to reset the boiler, the boiler proceeded through the reset sequence but then immediately indicated an E160 and the fan started to run very quietly as before. I am going to take a look inside today but was wondering if others have noticed anything similar in terms of a progressive development of a fault like this. I am assuming initially that this is more likely a control circuit fault rather than the fan directly, given the intermittent nature, no untoward sounds from the fan and now the slow running but I don't have any experience in this area so any advice would be much appreciated.

Best wishes,

John

 

[Puddle]

With the greatest respect

If you have no experiance of boilers and are not competent in this area,what do you hope to achieve by going inside your boiler and poking about apart from maybe causing more damage, leaving in a unsafe condition and possibly putting all the occupants of the property in danger

Get a gas safe person out who is qualified to work on boilers and get the thing repaired and left in a safe operational condition

imho

 

[Hardy1]

saved me a whole lot of typing ^ cheers puddle..and yes to the op get a gas safe engineer in he'll sort it o and remember to check the ID card dont let no cowboys through your door.

 

[JohnConrad]

Hi all,
Thanks for the feedback Puddle and imho. I’m not entirely a novice. Although I don’t have the paper work I consider myself reasonably competent in this area.

I Proceeded to dismantle the boiler to take a closer look at the fan where I consider the fault most likely to lie. One thing I noticed after removing the inner door panel on the steel base below the fan was a very small amount of a sooty black deposit as if produced by electrical over-heating in the vicinity of the fan.



I then proceeded to remove the fan and pcb to inspect this in more detail and noticed one area of the pcb that seemed to show signs of overheating. There was some blackening on both sides in the region of the rectifier, voltage regulator and the three resistors indicated on the figures below. The overheating didn’t look particularly serious, there was no damage to solder joints in the area and I realise that that regulated power supply circuits often run warm. In addition, none of the electrolytic capacitors nearby showed any signs of stress. However, this part of the circuit is obviously running pretty hot during normal use of the boiler. Over time I guess this could result in fluctuations in the regulated supply delivered to the remainder of the fan circuit and possibly long term changes in the voltage level.



I have had a bit of a hunt around for info. regarding testing of the fan pcb but could not find too much relevant material. A circuit diagram would be a big help or a few tips on basic tests. However, I am not sure this is necessarily the cause of the problem.

This is because I after reassembling the fan and boiler the E160 error seems to have disappeared, at least temporarily. This makes me think it could just have been a connection issue and simply remounting the connector blocks and fan-pcb to fan -motor connections may have solved the problem. However, any feedback from people who have noticed a similar progressive development of an E160 and the associated changes to the fan pcb would be welcome.

Best wishes,

John

 

[JohnConrad]

Hi all,

After about 2hrs error free operation, the intermittent E160 has returned. Any advice appreciated.

Best wishes,

John

 

[Poxi]

New fan mate..Job done

 

[diamondgas]

Hi all,

After about 2hrs error free operation, the intermittent E160 has returned. Any advice appreciated.

Best wishes,

John

I've tried finding out whether these pcb's are replaceable but alas it is the whole unit John .... Let us know if you find out otherwise 🙂

 

[JohnConrad]

Hi Poxi & Diamondgas,

Thanks for the advice. I will go ahead and replace the fan. I did notice that the part number 5121447 has superseded the original fan assembly part number 5119648. I guess they may have identified a long term performance issue with the previous component, or is 5 years the kind of lifetime one would expect for the fan?

I'll let you know how the repair goes.

Best wishes,

John

 

[Poxi]

Hi Poxi & Diamondgas,

Thanks for the advice. I will go ahead and replace the fan. I did notice that the part number 5121447 has superseded the original fan assembly part number 5119648. I guess they may have identified a long term performance issue with the previous component, or is 5 years the kind of lifetime one would expect for the fan?

I'll let you know how the repair goes.

Best wishes,

John

Yep the original fans suffered from earth spikes causing them to blow, The yellow capacitor has now been changed and a earth wire was also removed from the chasis to the pcb

 

[JohnConrad]

Yep the original fans suffered from earth spikes causing them to blow, The yellow capacitor has now been changed and a earth wire was also removed from the chasis to the pcb

Hi all,

Just in the process of replacing the new fan (5121447) and notice that this has an additional earth connector on the metal base of the fan assembly that is not present on the old fan (5119648). I presume this should be connected to the chasis of the boiler or appropriate earth terminal. Is there a specific lead for this or am I okay to simply make one up myself?

Thanks for any help.

Best wishes,

John

 

[JohnConrad]

Hi all,

Just in the process of replacing the new fan (5121447) and notice that this has an additional earth connector on the metal base of the fan assembly that is not present on the old fan (5119648). I presume this should be connected to the chasis of the boiler or appropriate earth terminal. Is there a specific lead for this or am I okay to simply make one up myself?

Thanks for any help.

Best wishes,

John

Update --- Just spoke to heat team and turns out earth connection on new fan assembly chassis is not used in this configuration. Boiler fires up and so far no errors. Thanks for all help.

Best wishes,

John

 

[jandap]

Like John I have the same boiler with what appears to be the same fault E1 60. I also have a modicum of gas knowledge although not Gas Safe. I intend to replace the fan with what I hope is an updated model (5121447). If I may I'll let you know if replacing the fan rectifies the fault.
Excellent post, very informative John. Thank you.
Cheers.
Jandap

 

[Dotty]

Then you are incredibly stupid and deserve all that is coming to you!

You need a gsr in to look at your boiler. We cannot and will not give advice on the installation or repair of boilers for your own safety.

Please go to Gas Safe Register | Ensure your gas engineer is registered. or post a thread in the 'I'm looking for a plumber / gas engineer' section of these forums remembering to include your location. [DLMURL="http://www.ukplumbersforums.co.uk/im-looking-plumber-gas-engineer/"]I'm looking for a Plumber or Gas Engineer[/DLMURL]

If you are gsr please increase your post count to 10+ then send a pm to either Gas man or Redsaw who will then check you and then give you access to the gsr private forum.

Thank you.

http://www.ukplumbersforums.co.uk/central-heating-forum/42241-notice-gas-safety-related-advice.html