Worcester Condenser Boiler

calleyw · 7 January 2009 at 4:06AM

Suffered this on new years eve at about 10.45pm. Was lucky I have neighbour who is corgi registered. Came and had a quick look and said thought it was frozen pipe. Came back on new years day and sorted it for us. The trap was of course full so the boiler went out.

The pipe runs out in to an outer unheated single skin porch then out side in to the down pipe. We have the boiler fitted for three years with no problems. We have had frosts nearly every night for the past 3 or 4 weeks with the day time temps not getting higher enough.

He lagged it on the inside of the porch. Nice to know (not in a nasty way as not nice have no heating or hot water) that we are not the only people to have suffered.

If we had the boiler in the bedroom suppose this would not have happened as not long enough run on the pipe to get frozen up.

Yours

Calley

Canucklehead · 7 January 2009 at 10:39AM

Sally_K wrote: »

BIG thank-you to canucklehead & yrwyddfa,

You've saved ( or should that be warmed?) my bacon!
Thanks to your advice I've managed to defrost my iced up pipe - it was actually under the floor in the eaves of our chalet style house!

I used a hairdryer to warm up the space - suddenly a great gurgle from the pipes - and after switching the boiler on again and re-setting it worked! I can at last take off the Puffa jacket I've been wearing all evening!

We'd been lucky enough to get a Heating Engineer out - but he said he didn't know what the code meant; was very helpful though!

It's interesting to note that Worcester Bosch have a message on their phone line about this error now!

Thanks again

You're welcome;) Worcester Bosch now have a section on their website about frozen condensate pipes

My OH hasn't had any calls from customers for his Vaillants or Viessmanns...fingers crossed:D

HTH

Canucklehead

glitter123 · 7 January 2009 at 11:02AM

That was my problem too. Plumber is adapting the pipework as I type.

Norroy · 6 January 2010 at 4:33PM

The above posts almost exactly describe the problems I am having with my Worcester Greenstar. I know Worcester are blaming shoddy workmanship, but it sounds to me like a design fault on their part, especially if Vaillant condensing boilers aren't doing the same thing.

My boiler is one storey up with another flat below. Hopefully my heating engineer will be able to reach out and get to it.

mikey72 · 6 January 2010 at 5:32PM

They all do it.
The Worcester actually have a syphon type arrangement to empty in 100ml or so at a time, most of the others just drip continuously.
So in theory the Worcester ones should freeze less. Be interesting to know if it actually makes the problem worse.
Having said that the Ariston I fitted years ago has never had a problem either.
(with anything)
I have seen some really bad pipe runs by RGI's that cause problems on condensate pipes though. I've got one to change when it warms up a bit.

nathanmdrew · 7 January 2010 at 8:37PM

Hey,
my combi boiler stopped working earlier today, the error message said the flame was not firing, when I reset the boiler it tried firing up for a few seconds then stopped again.
I called a boiler repair man, the cheapest quote was £75+vat to come out!!!
I then figured it must be all due to this extreme cold weather, as I've had it for 3 years and no problems. I then looked at the manual which said the error message either meant the flame detection electrode was broken (sounds expensive), or the condensate pipe was blocked or frozen. I then found this thread your reading now, and did what everyone was suggesting, not expecting it to work really...... I simply boiled a kettle, poured it over the condensate pipe, pressed the reset button, said a prayer, and amazingly it worked straight away - I could hear the water gushing and flowing like it was breaking free fom the pipe coming out the underneath of the boiler!
(Note, I poured the water on outdoors part of the pipe only!)
If your searching for an answer to the same problem, reading this message could save you £90:j

mikey72 · 7 January 2010 at 9:54PM

Just been out and done another one, frozen solid over today, just quit tonight.

RealJC · 8 January 2010 at 12:33AM

I thought I'd share with you my experience with my Worcester boiler and its condensate pipe.

Had the boiler nearly four years, no problem. Then comes the current big freeze and tonight I get home to no power in the house. Odd thinks I, so switches everything back on at the consumer unit, goes back into the house to find a flooded kitchen and a considerable amount of water dripping from underneath the boiler.

Thought this was due to something in the boiler breaking, but in fact was due to how the condensate pipe is fitted, and the current cold snap. Whilst the condensate pipe itself is not frozen, the fall pipe to which the condensate pipe attaches is frozen at the bottom. This blockage caused any melt water, condensate and anything else in the pipe to back up the fall pipe, the condensate pipe and into the boiler. It proceeded to fill up the fan, heat exchanger, gas valve, the whole thing. It was this that tripped the electrics in the house. Right now I have a partly flooded kitchen and a bolier in bits overnight - will be a cold one for sure!

Folks, anyone who's condensate joins to another pipe please do check that it is not getting frozen up, otherwise you could an up with water backing into your boiler...

I have a feeling that this is a risk with any fall pipes that don't carry much waste (as with the offending one of mine), with the small amounts of condensate, plus a little melt water, building up frozen layers over time until it is blocked.

All the best,

RealJC

M271 · 8 January 2010 at 10:46AM

RealJC wrote: »

I thought I'd share with you my experience with my Worcester boiler and its condensate pipe.

Had the boiler nearly four years, no problem. Then comes the current big freeze and tonight I get home to no power in the house. Odd thinks I, so switches everything back on at the consumer unit, goes back into the house to find a flooded kitchen and a considerable amount of water dripping from underneath the boiler.

Thought this was due to something in the boiler breaking, but in fact was due to how the condensate pipe is fitted, and the current cold snap. Whilst the condensate pipe itself is not frozen, the fall pipe to which the condensate pipe attaches is frozen at the bottom. This blockage caused any melt water, condensate and anything else in the pipe to back up the fall pipe, the condensate pipe and into the boiler. It proceeded to fill up the fan, heat exchanger, gas valve, the whole thing. It was this that tripped the electrics in the house. Right now I have a partly flooded kitchen and a bolier in bits overnight - will be a cold one for sure!

Folks, anyone who's condensate joins to another pipe please do check that it is not getting frozen up, otherwise you could an up with water backing into your boiler...

I have a feeling that this is a risk with any fall pipes that don't carry much waste (as with the offending one of mine), with the small amounts of condensate, plus a little melt water, building up frozen layers over time until it is blocked.

All the best,

RealJC

I had the same problem on my Worcestershire Bosch 18Ri overnight (-12c), the condensate pipe from the boiler was not frozen but further down the outlet pipe from the sink to the outside was.

Fortunately I can detach my condensate tube where it exits the bottom of the boiler and the boiler is now working by dumping the condensate into a washing up bowl, when conditions improve I'll connect the tube back up.

trf1960 · 8 January 2010 at 12:35PM

M271 you have done exactly what my OH (who is a heating engineer) has either been telling customers to do or done for them. He has been called out on so many occasions recently to deal with frozen condensate pipes on ALL makes of boilers (so Worcester's are not the only ones). I think we all have to appreciate that this extended freeze is unprecedented in most parts of the UK so problems are occurring which may not have necessarily occurred previously.

Worcester Condenser Boiler

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