help desperately needed... boiler not working

minimas230

I woke up this morning and my 2 month old firebird oil fired combi boiler is not working, The 'limit stat' light is on and despite pressing it as advised on the instruction manual the light is still on.
The boiler has been working fine since being installed and nothing has been touched on it.
Please please does anyone know why its doing this and how to fix it, i have a 2 year old daughter and a little blow heater keeping us warm (ish)

meercat

most likely no oil?have you checked.where is the limit stat light.how have you tried resetting it

Wile E. Coyote

I had an issue like this with my firebird boiler last year. Had the plumber out on 4 consecutive weekends and in the end he had to replace it as he couldn't figure out what was wrong with it. I really hope this is not the same with yours. Ours went during the snow last spring and we were left for a month in the freezing cold with no heating.

minimas230

There is still half a tank of oil so def not that, the light is on the front pannel of the boiler where the temperature gague and that is and the reset light is just behind it when i took the lid off.

Really hope its not the same as yours Wile E. Coyote, keeping my fingers crossed.

meercat

there should be a reset button to press somewhere(dont press the light)Any chance pic

minimas230

http://www.heatandplumb.com/brochure_downloads/firebird/ENVIROMAX-MANUAL.pdf

Thats the link for the manual, its on page 15 and 16 under :
4. Boiler technical specification,
This shows both the light and the reset button at the rear.

Hope that helps, im not the best at explaining things, shopping, shoes and handbags is more my subject rather than boilers

Pete67

What model of boiler is it exactly? There may be two reset buttons, one on the burner and one on the thermostat. The one on the thermostat is the high limit reset button - on the Enviromax models designed for indoor installation you remove the front panel and the high limit reset is just under the main temperature control dial on the thermostat assembly.

meercat

looks like you need to take bottom cover off to access high limit switch.it should be on plate behind time clock.push it and it should click.
NOTE make sure power is off

minimas230

The box it came in said it is the firebird combi 50/70
i have just taken some pics that i'll try to upload now

meercat

section 4 page 15

minimas230

yeah thats the one we've tried pressing and the light goes off while the button is pressed in but comes back on straight away as soon as you release it, It says on the following page that if this does not work then to call a service engineer but im worried about costs what with christmas just passing so thought i would look here.
Dont understand why its suddenly started as its been fine up to now and nothing has been touched on it to 'upset' the boiler so to speak!

items

Have you turned up boiler stat recently? If so it may have over heated, this problem happens often. After boiler goes off, boiler metal is still hot which heats up water even more, due to no circulation boiler water quickly heats up to temperatures hot enough to trip out high limit stat.

On boiler control panel, their is a small black cap next to temp dial, open up cap, under cap is high limit reset button, push button in, if it clicks boiler should come back on.

Turn boiler temp down and monitor boiler for a while, make sure all is running well, then increase temp, if boiler trips out again then its time to call out a oil boiler service person.

A boiler tripping out on high limit can be dangerous. If boiler continues to trip out on high limit something is wrong which requires the attention of a oil boiler service person.

Have a pipe stat fitted, this way circulation will continue after boiler is off, it will continue to circulate until boiler return pipe reads a low set temperature. Never a problem with over heating boiler once pipe stat is fitted, boiler can be run at max temp day and night, boiler wont overheat.

minimas230

weve tried pressing the reset button and it wont reset, it did go off on one occasion after a while standing but as soon as we fired the boiler up it cut out almost straight away and the limit stat light re-appeared.
Would understand if the temperature had been changed but its been the same since we got it 2 months ago.
Could it possibly be the thermostat itself? do they normally burn out? there are 3 different thermostats going in to the top of the boiler, is there any way of knowing when they are damaged and need replacing?

meercat

are you pushing reset button in far enough.try tip of a pen to help reach position..Note power off

items

minimas230 wrote: »

weve tried pressing the reset button and it wont reset, it did go off on one occasion after a while standing but as soon as we fired the boiler up it cut out almost straight away and the limit stat light re-appeared.
Would understand if the temperature had been changed but its been the same since we got it 2 months ago.
Could it possibly be the thermostat itself? do they normally burn out? there are 3 different thermostats going in to the top of the boiler, is there any way of knowing when they are damaged and need replacing?

Its hard to tell from here, from what I do know, your boiler has locked out on high limit more than once. Water in boiler is overheating, not really anything to do with other stats, they can be turned up full etc and wont bring temp up that high to lock out high limit.

You problem could be circulation, either circulation pump giving trouble or boiler might have some trapped air. Do you know how to tell if pump is circulating?

If not, reset boiler again, turn temp to full cold, find circulation pump, on top of pump is 3 speed settings, if you locate the pin / switch in between any of the settings it will turn pump off, flipping the pin between speed settings will help you tell if pump is running by ear, if no water moving sounds at all while moving switch then pumps not circulating.

Not sure if your able for this stuff, best call person who fitted boiler, 2 months old still under guarantee, most installers have a 12month guarantee covering works.

minimas230

the pump is working fine, my boyfriend opened the screw on the front of the pump to bleed any air out and moved it between settings, all seemed fine. think i might have to call someone out as the lights still on.
Thank you all for your help, if you have any other ideas in the meantime i would be greatful to hear them

items

If pump is circulating then boiler may not be filled correctly, find heating fill valve and make sure its open, go out to boiler and find a fitting, ontop of boiler to open slightly to vent out air, all boilers are fitted with a bottle vent to let air out but sometimes bottle vent wont allow certain trapped air out. Once boiler is full of water right up to top with no pockets of air, circulation pump running it should run without locking out on high limit.

Turn boiler temp to cold and let it run on, this can also remove trapped air, make sure fill valve is open, let it run for a while without burner firing.

minimas230

thank you all for your helpful coments. my boiler has now fired up and has been running for about half an hrs now without high stat light coming on.i tried all your suggestions before this to no avail. my boyfriend who has a little knowledge on plumbing and heating says it has got him baffled!!! touch wood it will be ok. thanx again for all your help.

items

minimas230 wrote: »

thank you all for your helpful coments. my boiler has now fired up and has been running for about half an hrs now without high stat light coming on.i tried all your suggestions before this to no avail. my boyfriend who has a little knowledge on plumbing and heating says it has got him baffled!!! touch wood it will be ok. thanx again for all your help.

Glad to hear, what did you do as a matter of interest? Bring heat up gradual as boiler is now working.

meercat

Great. Keep us updated. Might be advisable yo get installer to check as items said.