Help! Boiler won't light! (update: temporarily fixed)

Crabman

We have a Glow worm Micron 60FF boiler, it's about 5 years old and has been working without problems until this evening.

The pump is circulating water around the radiators but the boiler itself won't light.

There are two lights, the reset light is flashing twice per second and the burner light once per second.

The only switch on the boiler is a dial going from 0 - min - max. I tried turning it to 0 and then back up, and then switching off the heating but nothing seems to be working.

When I turned the switch back to 0 the reset light remained lit and the burner light went off. I can hear a buzzing sound inside the boiler but the gas meter indicates no gas is flowing.

Any help/advice would be greatly appreciated, this just had to happen at a time when nobody's available!! :wall:

jennihen

Is it a condenser boiler?

Crabman

jennihen wrote: »

Is it a condenser boiler?

Thanks for the reply. I had to look it up but according to British Gas (scroll down to the purple section) it is a non-condensing boiler.

Crabman

Found the manual. The LED flash sequence appears to point to a "Lighting Sequence - Fan/APS" fault.

Normally when the heating/hot water is switched on the fan comes on straight away and can be heard. At the moment it isn't doing that.

Nile

Hello Crabbie

I'm sorry that I can't help you with your boiler but I just wanted to suggest that take a hot water bottle to bed.............to help you to keep warm through the night. Also, try not to open room doors too much...........which will hep to keep the warmth in for a while.

If you don't get your boiler fixed, wear lots of layers (rather than one thick jumper) to keep warm.

I hope you get it sorted soon.

Happy New Year.

Nile

andrew-b

I'd try cutting off the electrical power to the heating system (maybe flick relevant switch at consumer unit etc), wait a minute and turn back on again. Doubtful it will make much difference but worth a try.

Crabman

andrew-b wrote: »

I'd try cutting off the electrical power to the heating system (maybe flick relevant switch at consumer unit etc), wait a minute and turn back on again. Doubtful it will make much difference but worth a try.

Thanks andrew-b - just tried that, no luck I'm afraid. Seems the fan is the culprit.

We have an electric fan heater as well as a less powerful electric radiator now in use (although the ENVI energy monitor is not liking the large increase in energy usage!). Hopefully we'll be able to get it fixed soon. If anyone has a rough idea for a price on a new fan it would be much appreciated so we know what sort of quotes to expect.

Thanks Nile and Happy New Year to you too (I was in the garage at midnight! ).

andrew-b

Looks like the same/similar problem as this one from a search: http://groups.google.com/group/uk.d-i-y/browse_thread/thread/fe148be03f0379b9/fd7a1ccbb1cff9b4

Sounds like it's repairable but as to how much not sure...time to get get someone in i think to diagnose exactly which bit is broken. Not the best of times to breakdown!

Hope you get it sorted and Happy New Year!

Alison_Funnell

We had British Gas out today as our boiler stopped working Xmas Day and that was the earliest appt we could get. If it is like ours it is the gas inlet valve but they can't get a part for ours till Monday. We have been quoted £180 for the work.

TimBuckTeeth

Crabman wrote: »

Found the manual. The LED flash sequence appears to point to a "Lighting Sequence - Fan/APS" fault.

Normally when the heating/hot water is switched on the fan comes on straight away and can be heard. At the moment it isn't doing that.

Likely that the fan has seized. I have just replaced the fan in my Worcester boiler, about 5 years old too. The fan started making a noise a couple of days ago then stopped due to failed bearings. A pressure sensor detects that the fan is not running and prevents the boiler firing up.
The fan cost around £80 but should be fitted by a competent person.

Crabman

We had an engineer out to look at it this afternoon and the fan was indeed seized. A new part will be ordered on Monday but thankfully the existing one is working again following WD-40 treatment and a few taps to get it working.

Fingers crossed that the fan remains alive until the new part arrives. Thanks to everyone for the above replies which were very helpful & reassuring! :cool: