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Boiler issues

Former Community Member
Former Community Member
We have a Potterton Combi boiler, it was losing pressure. Engineer replaced the diverter valve and said it was corroded. It worked fine for a few days before making a loud banging noise for s few minutes which stopped when the sink taps were on. It was ok for a couple of days and then went off completely. The engineer says the circuit board needs replacing but I'm wondering what caused the issue with the circuit board & whether it will just blow again. I think the boiler is about 8 years old. Any advice welcome.
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    How on earth did folk manage so well with gas taps for the gas poker, and cooker with a  'gas wand' for lighting the grill - by today's standard we'd expect folk to be stepping over dead bodies every morning in the 19970s, and more not that much earlier when the gas had been about 50% carbon monoxide and a lot of hydrogen, and while folk did die, it was quite rarely by accident.

    I remember being rather amused that when someone I knew moved into her university accommodation in the 1980s, the provided kettle was on  a portable gas ring ending in a orange red rubber hose, to be connected to the gas tap in the fire place as required. She did not smoke, so some chivalrous young fella would step up to lend a light. Mind you the wiring in those halls would not have withstood an electric kettle..


    Mike


    PS for those wondering what a cooker with a gas wand is, when you turn and pull the handle out of the holster it turns on the gas though that flexible white tube, so you then wave it near the central pilot light, and you have have a hand held flame on metal stick for lighting the rings, the grill, the oven or with a bit of cunning, also for those home chemistry experiments..  (sorry about that hole in the lino mum.. )

    But as almost everyone had one, not that dangerous, as we knew what to do with it.

    63d9b2a1dcdc5140119f4ce6f53009df-original-oven_gas_wand.png

  • 0
    mapj1:

    Mind you the wiring in those halls would not have withstood an electric kettle..


    Mike

     


    I worked in a teachers' training college building many years ago called Shoreditch Teachers' Training Collage in Egham Surrey I believe.  All of the student accommodation only had 2 Amp 3 pin sockets in the rooms. The local electrical shop made up and sold converter leads from the 2 Amp 3 pin sockets to a trailing 13 Amp socket. Needless to say corridor supply fuses were forever blowing.


    Also, 98 per cent of the trainee teachers had a copy of Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon album. Perhaps they needed to plug their record players in.


    Z.


  • 0
    About ten years ago someone I knew found both her parents dead in bed from CO poisoning from a faulty gas boiler.
  • 0
    wallywombat:

    About ten years ago someone I knew found both her parents dead in bed from CO poisoning from a faulty gas boiler.


    Zoomup:

    He has used a 1970s gas room heater for decades. He has not serviced this and the flames lick up the "mantles" in varying colours of yellow and blue. I told him that the room needs a permanent air brick to allow fresh air into it. He said that air comes in through the cracks in the floorboards. (Through the carpet?). But the CO alarm does not sound.

    I thought about an air brick when I installed a wood burner a few years ago. Leaving aside the draughty windows, the gaps between the (bare) floorboards are about 220 linear feet. If the average width is 1/8", that equates to a hole of 2¼ sqin, which is plenty.


    We never used to have CO alarms, but we did have a lot of open fires and mostly we survived.


    As much as anything, the real risk seems to be related to modern hermetically sealed dwellings.
  • 0
    open coal fires and badly fitting sash windows. no colds, no wet windows , superb ventilation and we all survived
  • 0
    ebee:

    open coal fires and badly fitting sash windows. no colds, no wet windows , superb ventilation and we all survived


    I didn't ?


    Z.


  • 0
    wallywombat:

    About ten years ago someone I knew found both her parents dead in bed from CO poisoning from a faulty gas boiler.




    I have an old gas boiler, I also have three CO alarms around the house including our bedroom.


    The boiler is in the kitchen there’s an open gas fire in the lounge, do there’s a CO alarm in both rooms with the third alarm in our bedroom.


    I have been draught proofing at home and upgraded the loft hatch with insulation and seals, as well as fitting a aluminium cill under the back door and seals around it, plus more insulation in the loft.


    My wife asked this morning what ventilation there is, I pointed out there is still a four inch hole in the wall to let air in whilst it’s being drawn out by the extractor fans in the kitchen and bathroom, the open gas fire hasn’t been used for quite some time, but as it vents into the old fireplace flue so that’s the hazard in our house.


    We are a long way off being completely sealed in.


  • 0
    Zoomup:
    mapj1:

    Mind you the wiring in those halls would not have withstood an electric kettle..


    Mike

     


    I worked in a teachers' training college building many years ago called Shoreditch Teachers' Training Collage in Egham Surrey I believe.  All of the student accommodation only had 2 Amp 3 pin sockets in the rooms. The local electrical shop made up and sold converter leads from the 2 Amp 3 pin sockets to a trailing 13 Amp socket. Needless to say corridor supply fuses were forever blowing.


    Also, 98 per cent of the trainee teachers had a copy of Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon album. Perhaps they needed to plug their record players in.


    Z.




    Hello Zoom,


    That's interesting... so could, (I have a couple for my car, when needed), you do this to a 13amp outlet?? 


    I would guess that that would save some costs, in the electrical bill???


    Regards... Tom


     


  • 0
    I was called to a gas boiler today. The home owner's parents are house siting and don't want the pipes to freeze up. The gas boiler was not working and the parents though that the house had an electrical fault. When I arrived I saw that the pressure gauge on the boiler was indicating low. Not being familiar with the make and model I could not find a filling loop. I went to the local plumbing shop and was told that I could not touch the boiler as I was not a Gas Safe registered person. I explained the position and said that I was only touching the plumbing and not the gas. Anyway, after talking to the maker's tech. dept. bloke I was told hoe to re-pressurise the system. It involves a silly plastic key system situated under the boiler.


    Do I really have to be Gas Safe registered to re-pressurise an unvented boiler? It is only like pumping up a car tyre. And yes, I do know not to over pressurise the system as the pressure increases with temperature.


    Z.
  • 0
    Zoomup:

    Do I really have to be Gas Safe registered to re-pressurise an unvented boiler? It is only like pumping up a car tyre. And yes, I do know not to over pressurise the system as the pressure increases with temperature.


    You may have to be if you do it in the course of trade. Otherwise, a householder, or his chum, or a neighbour, etc. may re-pressurize it.


    The expansion tank bit is like pumping up a car tyre, the other bit is more like filling a kettle. But you knew that.


    If you ask me, a thermocouple is an electrical item, but Screwfix will not sell them to me. ?


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