Boiler serviced and now no heating :-(

Keeka · 16 February 2018 at 10:32PM

Hi All,
I have just moved house and had British Gas out to give the boiler a free service. The boiler was working 100% until then and had been installed by a BG engineer approximately 5 years ago, (it's a Vaillant Eco pro something). However, following the service I now have no heating although hot water is working fine. BG came back out twice but are flummoxed about what the cause could be. I have re-started the boiler by switching it on and off at the wall but the only symbol that appears on the boiler is the tap for hot water. Then all of a sudden the pilot light and radiator symbols appear as the boiler roars into life but then quickly disappear again. This always happens in the mornings - the evenings the heating comes on ok. I have tried switching the heating on and off at the thermostat as well but that makes no difference. The previous occupants had Hive set up but took the hub with them so I've just been left with the digital thermostat which i have reset and checked that the date and time are correct.
I am as baffled as the BG engineers . . .and wondering if it is a pure coincidence that it all went wrong after the service ?
Should i just get an independent gas man in that i have used in the past ?

CashStrapped · 16 February 2018 at 11:01PM

I would dump British Gas.... They will do the minimum servicing required and not hesitate to recommend a new boiler when an appropriate excuse arises.

If you have homecare as part of this agreement, you would be better off putting the monthly amount you pay british gas into a savings account. If/when the day comes it needs a repair, you have the funds available. After a while, you will build a big enough fund to replace the boiler.

If you want some guidance from a forum that has more expertise, use this one https://www.diynot.com/diy/forums/plumbing/ You will get some good advice there. But, since you should not try to fix the thing yourself. I would suggest getting an independent engineer out to give it a proper service. If you have one you have used before that you trust, great, just ensure they are gas safe registered.

Another option is to search the Vaillant website for a local accredited engineer/installer. That way you will get someone who has experience with Vaillants. But, they are pretty common, so most engineers should have worked on them and doing that is no guarantee of quality.

daveyjp · 17 February 2018 at 12:09AM

Call a local Vaillant engineer. Mine knows these things inside out.

AndyPK · 17 February 2018 at 12:02PM

that diynot is an excellent forum to use.

Also download the boiler owners manual and work out what the knobs do.
Service engineers tend to twiddle with them, and leave them in the wrong positions for your install. (and if that was the bit they touched...)

System · 17 February 2018 at 1:42PM

Unless the boiler shows a fault code, then is unlikely to be the boiler. Moreover, as you are getting hot water and heating in the evening, then it is unlikely to be the heating valve. My guess is that the servicing engineer has changed the setting on your 'timer' when testing the boiler. You need to dig out the manual for your thermostat and then you need to check the settings for the heat ON/OFF times. What is the model number of your thermostat?

AndyPK · 17 February 2018 at 2:17PM

You may just need to set boiler heating to on 24h and let the thermostat sort the rest

CashStrapped · 17 February 2018 at 2:43PM

Hengus wrote: »

My guess is that the servicing engineer has changed the setting on your 'timer' when testing the boiler.

If it is that, and it would be nice if it were something so simple, what does that say about the competence of BG engineers, that they can't work out that it is due to a timer switch.

matelodave · 17 February 2018 at 2:48PM

I'm guessing that you've got a combi if it's got a seperate tap and heating symbol.

Have you also got a time switch in the boiler as well as a programmable thermostat - a common problem is to set the timeswitch on timed and then try to set the programmable stat on differnt times and they then clash. I reckon the service man switched the timer on to timed

The boiler timer should be set to 24hrs and all heating times & temperatures shouklld be controlled by the programmable thermostat

Note I didn't call the man an engineer

Keeka · 17 February 2018 at 3:09PM

The BG engineer who was assigned to the 'free' service only checked the boiler - didn't look at thermostat so i know that wasn't changed. I have re-set all the timings on the thermostat but didn't want to fiddle with the boiler.

I have a Hive Active Heating Kit without Hive Hub.

This is what i have installed.
I fear i will have to pay a tried and trusted boiler man to come and fix this :-(

matelodave · 17 February 2018 at 4:07PM

You still haven't answered the question - has the boiler got a timeswitch built into it? Open the flapon the front it's fairly obvious what it looks like without having to fiddle with it.

They look a bit like this https://www.vaillant.co.uk/homeowners/products/vaillant-timeswitch-150-control-3713.html. The rotary switch should be set to ON not timed or off

Keeka · 17 February 2018 at 5:48PM

I haven't seen a timeswitch - I'll have to check the manual. To look at the boiler without opening anything all you have are two buttons on the left which you turn round from '-' to '+' for hot water and heating, then a digital display with 4 small black buttons underneath which show a flame with a cross through it, an 'i' and then a '-' and '+' buttons underneath.

Boiler serviced and now no heating :-(

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