At my wits end with Ferolli Combi

Katykat

New last April, was fine when just using hot water but became a nightmare when we used the heating on timer. Its a digital 7 day timer as we have heating on at 5am in the week, but wanted it for a later start at weekend. On sundays, its OK, but come Monday when the clock reverts to days 1-5, the timing changes itself. for example, we set it to come on at 5, off at 7, on at 3, off at 10, but it changes itself to (for example) on at 5, off at 7am, on at 7am, off at 10pm. This means that if I go to work before 7 ( I sometimes do) then the heating is on all day. Up to now, Ferolli have repaced the clock 3 times, the flow meter twice & the fan once. Each time involves a VERY long frustrating wait on the phone to book a visit, then have to take a day off work because they will only give " between 8-5" as a time to call. I've used up 4 days hols & hubby 2.
The last time, the engineer said, there is nothing else it can be. Has anyone had similar problems, does anyone have any suggestions? Soon, the heating will be turned off, but its no use leaving it until it gets cold again. There's a 5 yr warranty on it.

mvteng

Sorry to hear about your problems Katykat.

Are you sure your Ferolli allows you to programme different times for different days? Ours lets you have multiple on/off times during the day, but doesnt allow you to set different times for different days.

I don't understand why they would change the flow meter & the fan for what seems to be a control problem. I know ours has a safety feature so that if it becomes too cold, the boiler comes on automatically.

He's not changed or suggested changing the circuit board. This would seem to be the only thing left to try to change.

Sorry I can't give any better advice or suggestions.

If its any consolation we've had our Ferroli for 8 years & its been really good, with only a few minor niggles which have all been promptly identified & rectified.

If your anywhere near Edinburgh I would recommend the company we use for servicing / repair.

Robbo77

Sounds like a strange one as i too would suspect a timer fault. Its unlikely that the pcb is at fault. Although both are wired together, they are seperate components and the pcb cannot alter the programmer settings. If the times are chaging by themselves, its definately a timer problem. If the times are ok but it just keeps going , it may be a pcb. I dont get the changing of the fan, very odd. Many modern condensing boilers have much more complex pcb's than the standard models. It may be a compatibility issue. If Ferroli cannot get to the bottom of the problem, i suggest you have them remove
the built in programmer and wire in an external one. The ACL LP522 would do the same job that your current timer does. Ferroli may be reluctant as an external programmer is not a Ferroli product. If thats the case, you can pick the timer up at B&Q for around £50 and any electrician could wire it up for you.

Hope this helps a little

Katykat

thanks guys. The timer is a 7 day clock, so yes, it is supposed to let us have different times at weekend. I'm a bit reluctant to pay for a part that should be covered in the warranty. We also had a ferolli for 20yrs prior to this one. We had quite a few problems in the beginning, but once it settled, we had no trouble, thats why we went for another Ferolli. Not sure where to go really, I might have to contact trading standards as Ferolli dont seem to be able to sort it.

Robbo77

Don't stand for it. I've worked in central heating for 15 years and i can assure you, there is nothing that cant be fixed. If replacing the clock isnt doing the trick then tell them to replace the entire control panel (clock, pcb, facia, the lot). Maybe an alternative clock may help but, as i said, the one you have may be incompatible. Ferrolis website should tell you which controls are suitable for your particular boiler model. If they "cant" fix it, suggest the external programmer. If they say the cant do it, offer to have the work done on condition Ferroli cover the cost.

JOROW73

I'm having major issues with the ferroli combi that I had installed in a property I rent out, back in Nov 05. It seems to be the water pressure keeps going down and when reset it won't fire back up therefore I have to call an engineer out...who is now on his 3rd visit in 2 weeks...and we are into the hunreds now...Its quite concerning to read all the other complaints about Ferroli boilers...a fellow frustrated ferroli boiler owner...

Katykat

Well, its been a while now, but thought I would update. I rang Ferroli again ( took me 45 mins to get through ), told them I wanted SENIOR engineer out. He duly came, I told him how thouroughly fed up I was & that I had been advised that it may need a new pcb or external clock. He agreed it may help, so I asked him to replace both of them, & he did. We got a new pcb and a wireless external clock. AND- its working perfectly. We've had it a few weeks now & had none of the previous problems. Not sure which part sorted it out, but I'm so relieved. Thanks for all your input guys..

smokeyblue

we have a low pressure problem. How do you lift the pressure?
Theres a bit about a car pump but where do you attach it?
Our engineer is never available by phone and does not reply to messages and we are left frozen with cold water.
Help

Travelman

I appear to be having a similar problem. The boiler cuts out when the outside temperature turns very cold. No amount of pressing Reset kicks it back to life. The error codes go from F1 to P1/P2/P3 [nobody seems to know what these P codes mean - they are not in the manual] and my plumber is getting weary keep coming to sort it out. The boiler is just out of warranty. Does anyone know what the P codes mean? More importantly, does anyone know if there is an Ombudsman we can complain to?

Katykat

Travelman, I'm the original poster. In my last post I said that the senior engineer had sorted the problem out. That was in April 09. Only used the hot water really after that. When winter came, we started having problems again. Like you, it kept throwing up codes that were't explained in the manual. In the end we had enough and decided to cut our losses. I had a major operation and just couldn't face any more hassle. So we changed it to a Worcester Bosch. Simple boiler, easy controls, no faffing codes to decipher and more importantly, it hasn't let us down (yet). We had the Ferroli just less than 2 yrs and I honestly wouldn't Recommend Ferroli to anyone. Yes, it may have been a rogue boiler, but Ferroli service itself falls farbelow the expected level. Dont know yet how Worcester Bosch will behave, but thankfully up to now, not had reason to test them.

ar1979

Ferroli have been extremely poor. Not has the boiler been poor but the customer service has been too. They have been out 8 times in the past 3 years and I still have the same issue. They have now moved the goalposts on the rules on when they need to come out (Booklets filled in and different pipework) without informing customers. The boiler was installed when I moved in to my property and fortunately the warranty is seven years but I would never buy one.