Replacing a Glowworm PCB

skelly22

Hi all,

I've a Glowworm 18si gas boiler with an F1 fault and have been told by Bord Gais that it needs a new PCB which they say will cost me €600 supply & fit. I was thinking of going down the DIY route and was hoping someone could let me know if this could be easily sourced & fitted by myself. Any help appreciated.

Micky Dolenz

skelly22 wrote: »

Hi all,

I've a Glowworm 18si gas boiler with an F1 fault and have been told by Bord Gais that it needs a new PCB which they say will cost me €600 supply & fit. I was thinking of going down the DIY route and was hoping someone could let me know if this could be easily sourced & fitted by myself. Any help appreciated.

It is against the law to work on any gas appliance unless you are a Registered Gas Installer.

To keep cost down, stay away from Bord Gais. Ring a few installers from the www.rgii.ie list and get prices. Maybe tell them you have one and how much to fit.

skelly22

Ok thanks Micky, I'll give that a go

JohnnieK

I am an RGI and €600 is nonsense. People automatically think that because Board Gais supply the gas that they have to ring them for breakdowns and services. Micky is right go to www.rgii.ie and ring around.

Sorry about the rant

Joey the lips

The agents for glowworm in ireland is CF Quadrant however from memory they will not serve to joe public.. ie Trade only/

skelly22

Thanks for the sound advice guys, i'll let you know how I get on.

skelly22

Hi all,

Just to let you know I sourced a pcb for €250 in Naas and have an RGII guy coming to install for €60 - all in almost 50% cheaper than the price quoted by Bord Gais!! Hopefully it does the trick as I've been without heating now for 2 weeks!

skelly22

Hi all,

Things haven't worked out as I'd hoped! Had an RGII come to the house on Saturday to install the new PCB but still got the same F1 fault when fitted! He's unsure as to what is wrong. I've spoken to CF Quadrant since but they don't seem to want to know......anyone any advice as to my next move?

Ring the manufactures technical help 00441773 828300 they might be able to help you, Gary.

items

Sorry to hear, sounds like a right mess. Bord Gas RGII person suggests replacement of PCB to remedy boiler fault, another RGII person fitted PCB but boiler still shows a fault, service person doesn't know whats wrong with boiler?

Imagine leaving car in for fixing only to be told by mechanic, I don't know whats wrong with your car, I cant fix it.

I had imagined things have improved within Bord Gas since RGII came out, sounds like things are still the same. I cant understand how a RGI person can walk away from a faulty Gas boiler, makes no sense at all.

JohnnieK

The RGI you got was obviously no good. He should have been able to fault find the boiler. Every component on any boiler can be tested and he should have been able to do that.
The problem with RGI is you are registered as an installer but it dosen't mean they can fault find.

He probably thought because board Gais said it was the PCB this is a handy earner.

If you live in Dublin PM me and I'll see what I can do for you.

skelly22

I think you're probably right there Johnniek, in fairness to him though he insisted on not taking any money from me even though he'd spent an hour of his Saturday morning trying to sort it. That's not something you come by very often these days.

Thanks for that number Gary, I'll give them a shout in the morniing and see if they can point me in the right direction..

items

Fair play to the chap all the same, he was well out of his depth and had no problem admitting to it by not charging.

Bord Gas are displaying a poor show by providing a faulty diagnostics along with one of their registered gas installer not having enough experience to fault find. In any other country this would'nt be an acceptable standard.

If that was my boiler I'd be kicking up a fuss, you should go back to Bord Gas and complain, this kind of carry on will forever continue unless customers start making Bord Gas more aware of the problems.

JohnnieK

Fair play to him for not charging. My opinion has changed.

Micky Dolenz

It's true though about RGI personal. Some are service people and some are installers. I woud nearly see these are two seperate trades within the industry. In all sectors, Domestic, industrial and commercial, you have guys who install pipe work and applainces. Then you have guys who commission/repair and service.

skelly22

I'm becoming a little sceptical about the industry to be honest. I called someone else today who proclaimed to fix glowworm boilers in their Golden Pages add, had agreed for them to call out and waited for her to call back with exact time. She phoned me back 5 minutes later and said they were actually flat out and gave me the number of another company to ring!!

items

Sorry to hear, eventually you'll find the right service person / company, one who both knows that they are doing along with being interested in their work. Their is'nt many so once you find em, keep using them.

Best of luck with it.

Forgot to say, call into your local plumbing suppliers and ask about for a good service person, suppliers tend to know who's good and who's not, they will have a few service people to contract out service works on behalf of boiler manufacturers (warranty calls). Its up to the supplier to send out someone good or it falls back on supplier, not good for business. These service people are the type of people you should have for boiler service. Sound like they are expensive but I bet you'll be suprised.

Micky Dolenz

skelly22 wrote: »

I'm becoming a little sceptical about the industry to be honest. I called someone else today who proclaimed to fix glowworm boilers in their Golden Pages add, had agreed for them to call out and waited for her to call back with exact time. She phoned me back 5 minutes later and said they were actually flat out and gave me the number of another company to ring!!

Atleast they phoned you back. Probably the admin took call, talked to boss on the ground and found out they were too busy to attend.

Merch

Micky Dolenz wrote: »

It is against the law to work on any gas appliance unless you are a Registered Gas Installer.

To keep cost down, stay away from Bord Gais. Ring a few installers from the www.rgii.ie list and get prices. Maybe tell them you have one and how much to fit.

Have you got any info on that, does that mean you cant (not meant to) even replace a pcb which has no connection with/affect on the gas piping.
Obviously if i paid someone to work on a boiler I expect them to a reg gas installer,
lets just say my pcb went, it'd be a matter of plugging out the old one and plugging in the new one? no

Micky Dolenz

Merch wrote: »

Have you got any info on that, does that mean you cant (not meant to) even replace a pcb which has no connection with/affect on the gas piping.
Obviously if i paid someone to work on a boiler I expect them to a reg gas installer,
lets just say my pcb went, it'd be a matter of plugging out the old one and plugging in the new one? no

No, any work on a gas applaince is forbidden unless you are a RGI. So in short, unless you are RGI, you can't as much as take the cover off an applaince, even in your own home and on your own appliance.

JohnnieK

Skelly

The fault that is coming up on your boiler F01 is no gas to the burner or an ignition problem!!

There could be a number of things causing this.
1) No gas, but I'm sure you would have noticed this be now.
2) A faulty ignition transformer
3) The electrode has gone to earth
4) if it's sparking the gas valve would be a suspect. It could have become blocked by sulphidation, the armature is stuck or the solenoid has become faulty.

This could be a bit of fuel to use if you get another RGI

Merch

Micky Dolenz wrote: »

No, any work on a gas applaince is forbidden unless you are a RGI. So in short, unless you are RGI, you can't as much as take the cover off an applaince, even in your own home and on your own appliance.

Oh dear I better not tell anyone I had the covers off then
Any ideas where to get a qualification to become an RGI, not interested in the actual work (just the qualification and experience).
I'm not a plumber or electrician but I am from a technical trade background, I've done most, actually all of my own electrical and plumbing work, usually small jobs but some troubleshooting and repairs.

Micky Dolenz

Merch wrote: »

Oh dear I better not tell anyone I had the covers off then
Any ideas where to get a qualification to become an RGI, not interested in the actual work (just the qualification and experience).
I'm not a plumber or electrician but I am from a technical trade background, I've done most, actually all of my own electrical and plumbing work, usually small jobs but some troubleshooting and repairs.

You need a relative trade qualifaication to proceed witrh gas course. ring METAC in Mountrath, they will inform you if you are egilible or not.

Merch

Cheers, I'll look them up, what do you mean a relative trade apart from plumbing/ electrician?

Micky Dolenz

You should have an Irish craft certificate or equalite. A refrigeration, welding, air con qual would probably do too.

Merch

Cheers, I have a national craft certificate from my apprenticeship
Looked at their prices, pretty steep for me at the moment,

skelly22

Thanks items, i'll let you know when I get to the bottom of it. I've someone coming with a gas valve tomorrow so hopefully that will be the end of it, I'll be armed with your diagnosis JohnnieK just in case,thanks for that.

Funnily enough, as the last RGI guy I had over was replacing the PCB, he suggested I'd be able to do it myself next time as it was supposedly pretty straightforward. When I told him I thought that was illegal he seemed bemused and said that as it was electrical work only there shouldn't be a problem.....

wadk

I'm a registered service engineer and i've never had to replace
a gas valve on an 18si,have u a card meter system in the house or any other gas appliances, i take it they are all ok if u hav any others,does the boiler go through a cycle of 3 times before locking out? if so it could be the spark electrodes which i've had to change and adjust on numerous occasions.

GopErthike

wadk wrote: »

I'm a registered service engineer and i've never had to replace
a gas valve on an 18si,have u a card meter system in the house or any other gas appliances, i take it they are all ok if u hav any others,does the boiler go through a cycle of 3 times before locking out? if so it could be the spark electrodes which i've had to change and adjust on numerous occasions.

Thumbs up! Just about to say the same, very much doubt it's the gas valve.

skelly22

wadk wrote: »

I'm a registered service engineer and i've never had to replace
a gas valve on an 18si,have u a card meter system in the house or any other gas appliances, i take it they are all ok if u hav any others,does the boiler go through a cycle of 3 times before locking out? if so it could be the spark electrodes which i've had to change and adjust on numerous occasions.

It attempts to fire up twice but at the third attempt goes straight to F1. The guy who fitted the pcb also said there was no spark - would this also suggest it's not the gas valve? Gas fire in the living room is working fine - just as well! Thanks for the advice!

GopErthike

No spark is the key, probably electrodes damaged.
You need to get it diagnosed correctly from the start or it will end up costing more.
Bord gais saying it was a pcb over the phone was silly. A guy changing the pcb without diagnosing is too. At least he didn't charge!