Boiler Breakdown Advice
I have listed some of the most common boiler breakdown problems below to help you get the boiler backup and working.
You awaken one morning expecting to jump in the shower and then find you have no hot water, you go and check the boiler and notice a fault code is showing on the display, so what do you do?
You need to discover what the fault code is and just why it has made the boiler breakdown.
All boilers are supplied with a users manual, inside this manual will undoubtedly be listed all of the fault codes and the reason behind the code to display.
The fault code reason is a guide on what to check on for, sometimes it can be a mix of problems, but it is a starting place to try and trace the problem.
Sometimes it's a quick fix simply by pushing the reset button, other times it can be a bit more involved.
Most boiler breakdown fault codes could be avoided just by keeping your boiler on a regular basis.
All boiler manufactures recommend having a boiler service carried out each year to keep the boiler working since it was designed for.
A boiler is just like a car engine, if left un-serviced it is going to breakdown and could possibly be costly to repair.
Just about the most common boiler problems is low water pressure, that is due to the water within the whole of the system dropping to a point where the boiler sensor senses low water and throws up a fault code and locks the boiler out.
Low water pressure can mean many things, it could be a leak somewhere on the system, a radiator valve leaking or perhaps a leak on a pipe somewhere.
The most common response to this problem may be the expansion vessel. If your boiler has been dealing with no problems for the last after some duration, then suddenly you see the water pressure must be topped up every now and then, the chances will be the expansion vessel needs checking.
The expansion vessel is like a balloon, as time passes it'll loose its pressure and water will enter the vessel, once this happens you might have a boiler breakdown with a fault code displaying on the boiler screen.
The expansion vessel is a very important area of the boiler and needs to be maintained every year.
Another common boiler breakdown is because of dirty water, this is caused when no inhibitor is put into the system water.
You might have noticed if you have ever vented a radiator that the water is quite dirty when it comes out of the vent, this normally indicates no inhibitor within the system, even if inhibitor was added, overtime it will dilute down and will need to be topped up, this will be checked each year.
The dirty water will eventually block up the boiler heat exchanger, this cause the boiler to overheat and go to lockout.
Maybe you have encounter a boiler breakdown if it is snowing outside even freezing?
Click here for more are condensing boilers, so when the boiler is working it produces condense.
The condense must exit right into a drain, internally is preferable, but sometimes the condense pipe goes to an outside drain, if this is actually the case the pipe should be protected from the cold with pipe lagging.
Should the condense pipe freeze over, the condense will begin to back up into the boiler and eventually the boiler will breakdown, with a fault code displaying on the boiler display.
These are just a couple of the most frequent boiler breakdown faults that could be avoided if only you had the boiler serviced.
Boilers do breakdown even when serviced each year, however, not up to a boiler not serviced.
Will have your boiler serviced every year by way of a Gas Safe Registered company, don't use Joe Bloggs from down the road just because he is cheaper.
All Gas Safe Engineers need to re-sit their gas exams every five years to be able to keep on working within the gas industry.
I hope this advice can help you in keeping your boiler working and producing all of the heat and hot water you need.