Combi-boiler advice

[JediGoat]

Ok....I'm having a mare of a day :(

For the second time in 18months the flat above mine has had a significant leak from their kitchen into my bathroom.

Last time they merely threw some frighteningly caustic product down a blocked sink which proceeded to melt through the ceiling, my electrics, my light fitting, a bathroom unit, most of my towels, and start a fire on the floor. My insurance company said that as I could not prove they had done it deliberately, I would have to pay the policy excess (twice, if I wanted to claim for contents too!).

Almost two weeks ago I heard a dripping noise coming from the boiler cupboard in the corner of the bathroom. Lo and behold, there is another leak coming through the ceiling. I informed the tenants, they did **** all about it, and last night a bit a ceiling came down and my boiler refuses to work.

After much discussion with the tenants upstairs, I finally got hold of a new number for their landlord and got him to come out last night to see the damage and sort out the leak.

So now I have no hot water or heating. After much arguing my my insurers (who again insisted that I must pay for the excess), they did agree to let me speak to the legal department. The legal team say on the face of it I have a good chance of being refunded my excess (they will sue the landlord of the flat above mine for negligence), but in the meantime, I need to pursue a standard insurance claim so that I can get the repairs assessed and started.

And here is the rub.....apart from the fact that the assessors cannot come out until next Friday, neither the insurance company, nor the assessor/repairers have any heating engineers. They both say I have to get someone out, pay the bill, and then they'll decide if it is covered on the insurance :rant:

So, I need some general advice re my boiler (cos I can't afford to get an engineer out not knowing if I'll be refunded the cost). The fault at the mo is ignition cutout - it attempts to light the pilot light, and after 5 failures, it stops trying. My guess is that the wick-thingy (moving on to technical terms now) is damp so it won't light.

The destructions say not to remove the cover of the boiler without switching off at the mains and having a remote clue about what you are doing. I need to get the cover off to check it was just dampness causing the problem, if it was, will just letting it dry out solve the problem, or should I really get a corgi bloke in to look at it?

I tried standing in front of the boiler swearing at it, but this did not solve the problem :(

Any advice appreciated :smt023

Jo

[Sid Squid]

I tried standing in front of the boiler swearing at it, but this did not solve the problem :(

It's always the first thing to try, you'd be surprised how often it works.

Anyhoo, you have my number, call me.

[dirtydog]

I tried standing in front of the boiler swearing at it, but this did not solve the problem :(


Nah never works for me either!

There is a multitude of things that could cause it not to light could be that a cicuit board is damaged or the ignition is damaged loads of stuff really


sorry i'm not much use i'll see if i can work out a better answer for you

[-Ralph-]

I sympathise, I have a SIME combi boiler, the damn thing never stops breaking down, and they are a complete mystery to me. hasn't flooded me yet though.

[JediGoat]

Well (touching wood) I had this boiler installed when I moved in 7 years ago, and until now it'd never had a days sickness in it's life.

Some good news though....the leak from upstairs has stopped. I tried starting the boiler last night (i.e. i switched it in, then moved back a bit - god knows why, if it was going to blow, I'm sure it would take half the street out with it).

No joy though.....willl attempt again tonight. Heating I can manage without, but it's amazing how much we rely on instantly available hot water...

Jo

[Fizzy Fish]

Jo I can't help with your heating issues but sounds like you need a

:grouphug:

will be over later to deliver in person ;)

[Red ones]

Going back to the first claim, and it is relevant to the second problem too..you should claim against the landlord, not the tenant. Your tenancy (i.e. contract) is with the landlord and they will then need to counter claim against the tenant upstairs. It sounds long winded, but if you start chasing the landlord I bet you will see some action

[mac]

If the pilot wont stay lit the two most likely culprits are the pilot thermocouple (the wicky thing goes into the back of the gas valve) and the gas valve itself (it may have a pilot solenoid on the side of it - not sure without seeing it).

You shoulnt be playing with the gas side of your boiler, but if you are competant you can work on the water side.......

Not sure if that helps.......

[JediGoat]

Going back to the first claim, and it is relevant to the second problem too..you should claim against the landlord, not the tenant. Your tenancy (i.e. contract) is with the landlord and they will then need to counter claim against the tenant upstairs. It sounds long winded, but if you start chasing the landlord I bet you will see some action

Sorry, I may have been a bit misleading on this part. I own my flat, but the one upstairs is let out. I'm gonna give the upstairs landlord the opportunity to pay my excess (and not fill in the legal forms), although I'm not sure where that would leave me if there was another leak in future.

Jo

[JediGoat]

If the pilot wont stay lit the two most likely culprits are the pilot thermocouple (the wicky thing goes into the back of the gas valve) and the gas valve itself (it may have a pilot solenoid on the side of it - not sure without seeing it).

You shoulnt be playing with the gas side of your boiler, but if you are competant you can work on the water side.......

Not sure if that helps.......

Disclaimer - I may have used totally appropriate words to describe quite technical terms. Sorry :confused:

Well, I've tried to light it every morning and evening, and just get the same problem - the ignition gives up after 5 attempts to light the pilot light.

Now....I'm not sure if I'm imagining this, but this morning, I turned the hot tap on full while trying to get the boiler to light (my warped idea of trying to help it start by trying to light all the burners at once).....and although it gave up again, the water coming from the hot tap *did* warm up a little during the minute the boiler was attempting to light.

My new strategy is to spend today thinking positive happy thoughts about my boiler in the hope that this will help when I try to light it tonight (seeing as cursing it hasn't helped).

Jo

[JediGoat]

Jo I can't help with your heating issues but sounds like you need a

:grouphug:

will be over later to deliver in person ;)

Dunno about a hug....I could do with a shower though :smt003

j/k

Jo

[timwilky]

I don't think you have said what type of boiler you have, mine is a Worcester. I had to have a plastic joint replaced that was weeping. When the guys from Worcester changed it the control panel got wet and the pilot light would not latch in. Fortunately it dried out with a hair dryer.

A few months ago the pilot light again went out, lo and behold the wife had moved the kettle under the boiler. The steam from the kettle had got to the control panel. Again a hair dryer fixed the problem

[JediGoat]

I don't think you have said what type of boiler you have, mine is a Worcester. I had to have a plastic joint replaced that was weeping. When the guys from Worcester changed it the control panel got wet and the pilot light would not latch in. Fortunately it dried out with a hair dryer.

A few months ago the pilot light again went out, lo and behold the wife had moved the kettle under the boiler. The steam from the kettle had got to the control panel. Again a hair dryer fixed the problem

Yep, it's a Worcester boiler. Not knowing how to get the cover off (and since Sid Squid gave me a stern glance when I suggested such a thing), I think I may just wave my hairdryer through the gaps tonight to see if that helps.

[timwilky]

Assuming it is like mine, a 28 CDI It is not too difficult, Turn it off at the main switch to the boiler. No not the switch on the boiler. Lift the front panel off and there are two screws that hold the control panel front. undo these and the panel will swing down. examine the back of the panel enclosure for evidence of damp. Assuming there is then that is the likely cause of the problem.

You then have the fun. there is a plastic shield that needs to be prised off my removing the push pins and then unscrew the back to give access to the panel. Then it is hair dryer time. gently and all over. Reassemble and try. It took about 5 minutes of warm air on my board to cure it of exactly the systems you describe.

[gazman]

Whats the exact make of boiler out of interest? From the sounds of it it hasn't got a permanent pilot. Can you actualy see/hear it sparking (as in click, click, click) or does it just sound as though the fan is running? Do any lights come on after its failed its ignition sequence??

[JediGoat]

Whats the exact make of boiler out of interest? From the sounds of it it hasn't got a permanent pilot. Can you actualy see/hear it sparking (as in click, click, click) or does it just sound as though the fan is running? Do any lights come on after its failed its ignition sequence??

It's a Worcester 28Si. When I hit the reset bitton, everything starts whirring, and you can hear the 'phumph' sound that you get when the burners light, but they don't seem to catch, so after a few seconds (plus a couple of knocks and clicks) it has another go. You may be right about it not having a permanent pilot as it's the same noise as it makes when the heating comes on or I turn the hot tap on.

The lights on the front are behaving correctly - i.e. the 'central heating demand' light is steady green, but after 5 failures, it flashes once per second, which according to the book means ignition cuttout, which stops electrical power going to the gas supply. Also, if I turn the hot tap on while it's trying to light, the hot water light comes on.

I cannot seem to get the main cover off (although I haven;t tried to hard - don't want to break it!), but I have turned the boiler off at the mains, and removed on of the lower panels. There's a lot of wire type thingies in there, but I've left it off it the hope that it will dry out quicker.

Jo (smells)

[gazman]

The leak that came through the ceiling, was it a drip, trickle or as though someone had chucked a bucket of water over it? It sounds as though its not "rectifying" this could be due to a few things but seeing as its happened since it got wet, its likely it is either igntion/flame rectification electrodes or the printed circuit board. You can try drying it as much as you can with a hair dryer inside the lower panel bit with the wires. To gain better access theres a bit of trim on the bottom of the lower panel you can remove by removing a couple of screws from underneath the lower panel. Just make sure you've got the electric is turned off at the fused spur/plug!
But if this isn't succesful I'm afraid your probably going to need a corgi engineer to take a look. It may be worth having a word with the upstairs tenants landlord, They may know someone as landlords tend to use someone regulaly for their landlords gas safety check or problems with their tenants appliances & they might want to keep you sweet if you decide to claim against them?? Just a thought :-(

HTH

[JediGoat]

The leak that came through the ceiling, was it a drip, trickle or as though someone had chucked a bucket of water over it? Just make sure you've got the electric is turned off at the fused spur/plug!

It was just a constant heavy dripping. I noticed it two weeks before the boiler went phut, and notified the tenants upstairs. I think it may have been going on longer though, as the boiler is in a cupboard, and so any leak is hard to notice.

I've switched the boiler off at the main socket.

Jo

[JediGoat]

I Have Heating! :smt026:smt026

The insurance company insisted on me getting a cause of damage report from a Corgi registered engineer, so I ended up calling a company out.

The fella turned up just after 8am today, and has fixed the boiler. I must say, even he struggled to get the cover of the damn thing. No damage to ECU, but generally the whole thing was soggy inside (although the water hadn't reached the gas inlet).

The boiler has been left on low while I'm at work today to finish drying any dampness out.

The nice fella even fixed the faulty valve on my livingroom radiator :D

A big thank you for all those who offered help and advice.

Ta
Jo <- Can't wait to have a shower tonight!

[gazman]

Glad to hear yo got it sorted :thumbsup: