Any Plumbers in the Overclockers Forums?

Fluffybob · 20 Sep 2011 at 20:26

Not sure if anyone can help but I have a Halstead Ace High combi boiler and when I turn on the hot water or the heating comes on the burner fires up for about 10 seconds then the boiler 'Locks Out' but if I reset it it fires up and then works fine ? ? ? ? this only seems to happen when the boiler has been idle for a few hours... Any ideas welcome

ZombieFan · 20 Sep 2011 at 21:38

Call a plumber if your not confident with it, but combi boilers can lock down if the pressure has dropped in order to protect themselves from damage. There will be a pressure gauge on the front of the boiler and the instruction/maintenance manual should tell you the ideal value.

If the pressure is low then you will have to turn off the boiler and use the filling loop to put more water in the system.

Here's a video explaining all -

If it's not the pressure then I've no idea!

Hodders · 20 Sep 2011 at 22:15

Try the following:

1 - Check the closed loop pressure as the poster above suggested
2 - reduce the supply temperature of the hot water and then try to run the hot tap
3 - Check that the flue is clear - any rubbish in there will cause the boiler to cut out
4 - Using the observation window - check that the burner is igniting
5 - There may be an automated air bleed system from the closed loop. Check that there is no air in the closed loop and manually bleed it if possible.
5 - Check that there is no error code you can google

I'm not a plumber but these are the things that would run through my mind. Good luck !

Dandle · 20 Sep 2011 at 22:26

If it fires up again after the initial light then it wont be water pressure or anything like that as that wont have changed. Sometimes as the fans get old they take a little while to get up to speed, if the draw isn't sufficient then the boiler will shut down. Could be that the second light the fan hasn't completely stopped from the first attempt and can create sufficient draw the second time. My fault finding diagram for that boiler states first check fan has voltage, if it does and has sufficient starting speed replace the Air Pressure Switch and if they are both ok then it faults the PCB. As you can't really open the boiler up its time to call a plumber. If you email me in trust I'll send you the .PDF for the boiler.

P_A_N_I_C · 20 Sep 2011 at 22:29

mine was doing a similar thing, it would fire up then go off after a few seconds, it turned out that the flame detect needed to be cleaned iirc

Fluffybob · 21 Sep 2011 at 13:51

Dandle said:
If it fires up again after the initial light then it wont be water pressure or anything like that as that wont have changed. Sometimes as the fans get old they take a little while to get up to speed, if the draw isn't sufficient then the boiler will shut down. Could be that the second light the fan hasn't completely stopped from the first attempt and can create sufficient draw the second time. My fault finding diagram for that boiler states first check fan has voltage, if it does and has sufficient starting speed replace the Air Pressure Switch and if they are both ok then it faults the PCB. As you can't really open the boiler up its time to call a plumber. If you email me in trust I'll send you the .PDF for the boiler.

Thanks Dandle, it has a new pcb and Fan fairly recently and i've gone beyond my own knowledge/talent I have the install manual but getting a plumber round here is like the old needle in a haystack. I'll check the flame detect like PANIC mentioned then set off on my quest for a plumber..... Thanks for all the help guys.