Heating problem

Bulmers

Hi,

I have a problem with the heating in our house, we have a Volkera Mynute 16e but it's not working correctly at the moment.

We have had gas people out to have a look but after 4 visits since 29/12/11 i am wondering do they have any idea what the problem is so wondering is someone here might be able to help.

Our heating stopped working 28/12/11 - basically when we turned it on at the panel, you could hear the "click" sound but it wouldn't fire.

Gas service came out and thought it was the PCB board - tried new one, no luck, power connections all looked ok etc.

What i thought was odd was the pressure was just 0.1 bar above 0, so after they called volkera, they believed it was the water pressure switch, so new swithc installed, system brought back up to 1 bar, all working fine for an hr but then pressure dropped off again to 0. Turned heating off and same problem again, it woudn't turn on

So service came out again and re-presurised and closed the valve to the tank ( i believe he was thinking maybe water getting back up through valve ) but again after hr, pressure back to 1bar ( note he is re-pressuring by putting hose over the external copper pipe outside the house )

So out agin this evening saying he's really confused so what they have done now is by passed the water pressure switch with a loop wire and all seems ok so far - i asked him what the problem was but they are nto sure and i'm not sure what they are doing is good idea, bypassing the water pressure switch?..system is at 0.1 bar constantly now, but is working.

Anyone any thoughts on this, i am far from expert on these systems so trying to learn a bit but main problem seems to be the drop in pressure, which from reading the net can point to a leak ( checked all major rad connections and cant see anything obvious ) or some sites are talking about an expansion valve but i am not sure if this volkera has this or not?

If the pressure is dropping from 1bar to 0 quickly when the heating is turned on, does this point to a major leak - strange one, anyway any thoughts appreciated as losing faith in my supplier and not sure that looping a component out isn't a good idea either but am not sure what the impact of looping the water pressure switch out is?

cheers

B

heinbloed

Get a different boiler specialist/heating engineer in.
Your system is certainly leaking.

The pressure switch is vital, it is a safety feature and should not be bypassed.
If the pressure is to low and the boiler fires a steam explosion can ocure.

...some sites are talking about an expansion valve but i am not sure if this volkera has this or not

They might talk about an expansion barrel ?

youtheman

I have the same type of Vokera boiler. It nearly drove me to drink during last years artic winter. So in the end I decided to ring Vokera directly. They have a fixed price service visit and it includes all parts except a heat exchanger and one other part (can't remember, but it might be the PCB).

Can't remember the cost, I think it was about 150 euros. But when the guy called I was able to list all the problems, and he replaced several 'expensive' parts. I reckon he replaced parts worth way over and above the cost of the service visit (including a new fan). Plus they gave me a written guarantee with the service.

So if you local RGI is not up to the mark get a 'maker's man'.

Bulmers

Tks guys,I was thinking about calling vokera directly,leak seems to be a horror story to try to fix from reading other websites!
Will let you know how it goes.

Yes the other sites were referring to an expansion barrel,not sure if my system has one of these

sullzz

turn off the 2 valves under the boiler and also the gas , remove the boiler from the wall , stand at your front door and throw it as far as you can . Thats the best thing you could do with that boiler .