any gas boiler engineers ?

[Saltire]

my gas central heating boiler which does both my hot water and heating seems to be playing up i think.

we can be sitting like in normal summers day and the heating unit is setup same as it always is, hot water is on so that we get hot water from the tap if and when required, and the central heating is off obviously as even the scottish summer is too warm for that, lol, so basically to me that should mean the boiler should be inactive while theres no'one running the hot water tap, correct ?

But anyway, now and again you can hear the boiler and burners fire up just same as if someone was actually running a hot water tap in the house, but theres no one running a tap, and we have checked to make sure that theres not a dripping tap or summit, even though i know that wouldnt cause the problem anyway, but yes, you hear the boiler fire up, go and look at the display on the boiler and the little flame icon thingy actually shows as if someone is running hot water.

blah blah blah, i know you get the jist of what iam meaning.

so can someone give me an idea whats going on please as this has been going on for months and i would imagine its costing money everytime that boiler rumbles into action.

cheers.

[bobby1551]

Hi, I had a similar problem, it turned out to be a faulty microswitch in the actuator on the diverter valve.

I have two diverter valves one to supply hot water to the heating system and another for the supply to the hot water cylinder.

The faulty microswitch was in the hot water to cylinder actuator, now changed and working OK again.

Regards bobby1551

[Saltire]

Hi, I had a similar problem, it turned out to be a faulty microswitch in the actuator on the diverter valve.

I have two diverter valves one to supply hot water to the heating system and another for the supply to the hot water cylinder.

The faulty microswitch was in the hot water to cylinder actuator, now changed and working OK again.

Regards bobby1551

hmm, ok mate, i guess thats a possibility. cheers.

[Saltire]

UPDATE ::

had the gas boiler engineer out today (what a joke).

told him the problem and he says "it looks ok to him" as he just gazed at the boiler unit without even opening it, then he says "do you have the boiler manual for me to look at", wife was like ermmm no !! lol, so then he says maybe it will help if he puts the hot water on the timer mode, ilmao.

when the wife told me what happened i was raging man as i know that putting the hot water onto timer mode basicallly just means that at certain times of the day you will and wont get hot water depending on what times you have set on the timer, correct ??

Well anyway, away he went and that was that, so now i dont know wtf to do man, lol.

[thered]

what is your boiler do you have a hot water tank

[Saltire]

what is your boiler do you have a hot water tank

i dont have a hot water storage tank no, just a normal gas central heating and hot water unit, its a " iIdeal HE30" make/model.

[smoggy]

I have nothing to do with combi boilers but I have a limited knowledge about them

I think bobby1551 is right that it is probably a faulty valve or switch.

when you open a tap for hot water the pressure across the rubber diaphragm operated valve changes and cause the plunger of the diaphragm to move upwards and come into contact with the microswitch which then fires up the boiler.
normally the fault with the valve is the diaphragm (like a split or perforation) and this reduces the pressure drop and prevents the plunger from moving up far enough to make contact with the switch, can't see any way it could work the opposite way so most probably the fault is with the microswitch.
you can generally see this valve and if you get someone to operate the HW tap you will be able to see the plunger moving up and down (you may need a torch), if you can find this valve you could check next time it mal operates, if the plunger is extented and making contact with the switch its the valve, if it isn't then it must be somehow associated with the microswitch

here's the manual it won't help with this problem but maybe of some use in the future http://www.idealboilers.com/docs/pdf/icos_he_30_36_manual.pdf

[thered]

I have nothing to do with combi boilers but I have a limited knowledge about them

I think bobby1551 is right that it is probably a faulty valve or switch.

when you open a tap for hot water the pressure across the rubber diaphragm operated valve changes and cause the plunger of the diaphragm to move upwards and come into contact with the microswitch which then fires up the boiler.
normally the fault with the valve is the diaphragm (like a split or perforation) and this reduces the pressure drop and prevents the plunger from moving up far enough to make contact with the switch, can't see any way it could work the opposite way so most probably the fault is with the microswitch.
you can generally see this valve and if you get someone to operate the HW tap you will be able to see the plunger moving up and down (you may need a torch), if you can find this valve you could check next time it mal operates, if the plunger is extented and making contact with the switch its the valve, if it isn't then it must be somehow associated with the microswitch

here's the manual it won't help with this problem but maybe of some use in the future http://www.idealboilers.com/docs/pdf/icos_he_30_36_manual.pdf

i can more or less guarantee you have the same problem as smoggy has stated i had exactly the same problem last week and changed the diaphram which was split the boiler is now fine

[Saltire]

ahh i see, so its a switch problem when the hot water heater go's on and off by its self, i see.