argh boiler help!!!!
 

hey peeps,
my boiler (not the wife) has packed in, any experts out there?
its an instant gas water heater, powered by one of those small repsol orange gas bottles. the light is not coming on, but the batteries to power it have just been replaced. gas is fine as its working in the cooker.
when the hot water is turned on, nothing, no spark, no igniting...
its a junkers by bosch make. i've looked inside, no stray wires, or anything like that.
cheers, hopfully, in advance.
ps, yes we are therefore smelly today

Re: argh boiler help!!!!
 

One suggestion I have is if you have power from the batteries and there is no spark or the digits do not function then look at the water pressure. There is a filter inside the heater take this out and clean it.
HTH

Re: argh boiler help!!!!
 

hi- batteries are fine, but no life at the on/off switch at all (i know that this light flashes when the batteries are dead, happened a few moths back, but now ones re-installed today anyway) no spark at all, water pressure is not great, but no worse than its been.
where abouts would the filter be?
cheers

Re: argh boiler help!!!!
 

Where is the filter? It is difficult to explain, if you follow the water inlet pipe it is located where that pipe joins the body of the heater. This pipe is usually a flexible pipe.
It is illustrated in the instruction booklet. If you do not have one then you can download it from Junkers web site. I don't think there is an English version though

Re: argh boiler help!!!!
 

hi- ok, i can see where the cold water pipe hits the heater, around where the temp control switch is, so is the filter 'filtro de agua' in the diagram, sort of looks like its right where the water pipe connects?
thanks for the help incidently.....

Re: argh boiler help!!!!
 

thats ok.. I am off to bed now so you are on your own until tomorrow

Re: argh boiler help!!!!
 

Has the boiler been left unused for a period of time?

Re: argh boiler help!!!!
 

nope, ran out of gas on wed morning, picked up a new bottle today.

Re: argh boiler help!!!!
 

As CSE said it may be water pressure, try opening two taps at once.
If it ran out it may of got air in the gas pipe and will take quite a few attemps to light before the gas gets through unless you purge the pipe.
If it is still under the two year warrenty call the service dept and they will send someone out to fix it.
We had the same problem intermitently, first time he said it was an airlock, but just after he left it went again.
He returned the next day and put a new bit in the control box and it has been perfect since.

Re: argh boiler help!!!!
 

Who...are yes us. Sorry it is early in the morning! So how did it go Double D?

Re: argh boiler help!!!!
 

hi all, just got it sorted. i rang an explumber, who insisted the heater would have a trip switch somewhere, 10 minutes of hunting found the wee git - working like a charm....

thanks all - off the de-smell!
dd

Re: argh boiler help!!!!
 

Trip switch? where is that....not for us but some friends who have a similar heater. We still have a reliable non electrically controlled water heater.

Re: argh boiler help!!!!
 

right at the bottom (you dont actually need to even take the cover off).
on my model, theres a black plastic arm about 3" long connected to the bottom of the metal unit. on the bottom of this are is a wee round cover, just pop it off, and theres a push-in switch, using a screwdrier. hey presto!!hope this helps.

Re: argh boiler help!!!!
 

thanks for the info. It may help our friends if they have problems as their house is a holiday home and they disconnect everything whilst away.

Re: argh boiler help!!!!
 

Make sure you get gas boilers serviced regularly, and keep your eyes open for any fumes coming back into the room.

Monoxide is a real danger.

Me, I plan to set up a solar system with electric as backup.

Re: argh boiler help!!!!
 

So what caused this tripswitch to go off ?
Is the other end joined to a fume sensor on the flue ?
As bil said in above post.

Re: argh boiler help!!!!
 

i actually dont know what caused it, i do know that when the last bottle was running out, there was an un-normal extra heat out of the kitchen tap (hence how i knew it was about to go) once the bottle was replaced, no life in the old girl.
i have no idea if theres a fume sensor on the flue, but we did get it serviced by a repsol engineer, and he ran it for about 15minutes and said there was no fume problem, and boy, was there some fumes then! (the boiler is in our garage under the house). although you get a certificate for 5 years, that was some 2 1/2 yrs ago, so maybe its time to get someone out to service it just in case......

Re: argh boiler help!!!!
 

It certainly won`t hurt to get it checked out, i was in the trade all my working life and I can confirm if GORGI came to Spain every boiler I have seen would be condemned.

Re: argh boiler help!!!!
 

Yeah. I got my CORGI a couple of years back, but let it lapse.

As you say, I'd condemn most of the stuff I saw without hesitation.

Ideally, every year service, but whether you do that or not, learn what a good flame picture looks like, and if you get a yellow flame, start to investigate. ESPECIALLY if anything causes fumes to be released into the living space.

Re: argh boiler help!!!!
 

Yes I have the same boiler and used to have the same problem. Mine was water pressuse. Turn off and on the water stop tap located by the boiler, it may fire up. You will need to get a plumber anyway but might be a temp quick fix. Good Luck

Re: argh boiler help!!!!
 

Now you say it, Carbon Monoxide detectors from the British Gas online shops are dirt-cheap and definitely worth their price.

We Spaniards either don't care or have it really difficult to find anything that is both unexpensive and certified.

In any case don't go for less than a piercing-sound alarm, be sure to err on the side of too much ventilation and immediately open windows and stop using any gas appliance if the flame turns orange instead of blue (this could be either a dirty burner or monoxide building up)

You won't see fumes with Monoxide. You won't suffocate. It just puts to sleep for a long while :(

Re: argh boiler help!!!!
 

The small detectors that change colour, aren't that good, I reckon. They take a really high level to change noticeably.

Low level poisoning is hard to detect, but has serious effects too.

Also, where do you stick the detectors?

CO (monoxide) is technically lighter than air, so you would think that a high position is best, but since it comes out mixed with CO2, which is heavier than air, the mixture falls.

Re: argh boiler help!!!!
 

Colour detectors are maybe OK for kitchens, but alarms are unexpensive, will wake anybody up and will deal with levels both high and low but dangerously sustained.

Would place them between the appliance and the sleeping rooms. Out of any sleeping room but at a hearing distance. Close to the appliance, if possible.

CO2 and CO mix but won't bind. In any case slow-moving, low-lying CO2 would draw CO upwards, but the effect is usually deemed irrelevant so the CO diffuses to mix with all the air volume.

Re: argh boiler help!!!!
 

Given the weights of atmosphere and CO/CO2 are similar, simple diffusion would take some time, unless there were thermal effects?

It's a fairly confusing area.

A good audio alarm is definitely good, I'd probably fit them high and low to be safe.

Re: argh boiler help!!!!
 

I can remember Ascot water heaters being vented to just into the roof space.

Re: argh boiler help!!!!
 

hi
well, thanks for all the advice. been away the weekend, and on returning to the house, there seems to be no probs with the boiler, firing up no probs, BUT i'm taking all on board and getting it serviced. as i know nothing about these heaters, and the permanent risk to health..... its the only safe bet.ours is in the garage below the house, and there is no kind of alarm, so i think it may be a must-do to get something.
thanks all