wymberley Posted November 5, 2011 Report Share Posted November 5, 2011 Guys, Any Subject guys on board conversant with the described boilers? Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Kelly Posted November 5, 2011 Report Share Posted November 5, 2011 Yes... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wymberley Posted November 5, 2011 Author Report Share Posted November 5, 2011 Yes... Tim, Thanks. I have an ecoTEC plus 831 running in a sealed system. This is the one with the timer and OFF/ON/Clock(timer) switch behind a panel at the front. The thermostat is remote and wireless transmitting to a receiver which is wired to the boiler. The problem is that it only fires up intermittantly. The thermostat/receiver have been changed to no avail. I started poking around the timer switch and it would sometimes fire up. My installer/engineer thought that the switch or the small printed circuit board at the back of this timer panel could be defective so the unit was changed yesterday and BINGO - until last night when it got cold and we went back to square one. I have got it running by poking about again but it obviously isn't the timer unit but something behind it. My chappie doesn't work with these every day, so I would like to pick the brains of someone more familiar with that unit. Cheers, Phil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin2 Posted November 5, 2011 Report Share Posted November 5, 2011 turn up the thermostat so it is calling for heat ,turn the timer to on,now on the boiler there are 4 buttons press the I button what comes on the display ? did the boiler fire. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wymberley Posted November 5, 2011 Author Report Share Posted November 5, 2011 (edited) turn up the thermostat so it is calling for heat ,turn the timer to on,now on the boiler there are 4 buttons press the I button what comes on the display ? did the boiler fire. Turned boiler off, waited until 'radiator' stopped flashing and turned back on, code S or 5.2 came up. boiler fired up and code changed to S or 5.4. By the way, no problem with hot water. Cheers, Phil Edit: just read instructions, S it is and 2 and 4 is as it should be I think. I suppose I'll have to try it again and see what comes up when it doesn't fire up. Edited November 5, 2011 by wymberley Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin2 Posted November 5, 2011 Report Share Posted November 5, 2011 how long did the boiler come on for ,are the rads getting hot ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wymberley Posted November 5, 2011 Author Report Share Posted November 5, 2011 how long did the boiler come on for ,are the rads getting hot ? Yep, once you've got it fired up - you have to keep some finger pressure where you poked to initiate the sequence but once it's running you can relax and all will be well until the thermostat says enough. The starting problem then starts all over again when the house has cooled down. As a layman in this respect, I just feel it's an intermittant electrical contact. To be honest, it's the thought of the big printed circuit board in the drop down panel £wise that's frightening me!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin2 Posted November 5, 2011 Report Share Posted November 5, 2011 if you think its an electric fault between the timer and the pcb ,i would get your engineer to remove the timer and bridge out 3 and 4 on the main pcb thus bypassing the timer ,try it like that for a day if ok replace the the timer, hard to say not being there,the timer is alot cheaper than the pcb,the pcb on the ecotec is very good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Kelly Posted November 5, 2011 Report Share Posted November 5, 2011 Explain the "poking around". whatever you're doing obviously gets the boiler going, but knowin what it is that you do to ge the boiler going might provide some clues. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wymberley Posted November 5, 2011 Author Report Share Posted November 5, 2011 if you think its an electric fault between the timer and the pcb ,i would get your engineer to remove the timer and bridge out 3 and 4 on the main pcb thus bypassing the timer ,try it like that for a day if ok replace the the timer, hard to say not being there,the timer is alot cheaper than the pcb,the pcb on the ecotec is very good. Martin, many thanks and that is enough of your time which is greatly appreciated as it's a Saturday night. I'll mention your thoughts to Paul when he calls (left an SOS on his work phone). That's what he said about the main PCB price wise which is why we went for changing the timer/switch panel complete as a first and cheaper option but best laid plans of mice.... Cheers and thanks again, Phil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wymberley Posted November 5, 2011 Author Report Share Posted November 5, 2011 Explain the "poking around". whatever you're doing obviously gets the boiler going, but knowin what it is that you do to ge the boiler going might provide some clues. Tim, Literally applying finger pressure around the switch on the timer panel - I knew that there were 'push in' contacts at the back. I am doing exactly the same on the new replacement panel. One thing that I've just thought of, bearing in mind that this is intermittant, with the boiler switch 'on' and the timer panel removed - waiting for the replacement - the thermostat must have kicked in and the boiler fired up - it was Martin saying link 3 and 4 that reminded me - on this occasion, it fired up without the link. Cheers Phil PS Tim, as Martin, please don't waste your Saturday evening on my account. I have a bucket of Rioca and won't feel the cold! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Kelly Posted November 5, 2011 Report Share Posted November 5, 2011 3 and 4 should go through your room stat. If you pull out the timer it should be on all the time unless you turn the CH flow temp dial down, or the room stat down. Sounds like the contact between the pins on the timer and the PCB are a bit loose. If it works without the timer in place properly, it would be an easy fix to just wire in an external timer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wymberley Posted November 5, 2011 Author Report Share Posted November 5, 2011 3 and 4 should go through your room stat. If you pull out the timer it should be on all the time unless you turn the CH flow temp dial down, or the room stat down. Sounds like the contact between the pins on the timer and the PCB are a bit loose. If it works without the timer in place properly, it would be an easy fix to just wire in an external timer. OK, Guys, just to help me get my head around this for when Paul comes: Tim, can you confirm which pins for me, please? I think you mean the large pins on the back of the timer board which go into the holes that disappear through into the main PCB on the big drop down control panel and not the small set linking the rotary timer to the the little PCB in the timer panel. Secondly, I've just discovered S 30[installation and Servicing 8.1.1 Status Codes, All Boilers - No heating demand from external controls (clamp3-4 open)]. Before, I didn't know, now I'm confused which is worse. I've been told that the green light on the receiver (relay) means that the stat is sending a heat requirement signal and therefore the boiler should light. I have the green light but on pressing 'i' I get S 30. Does that refer to the stat or is that related to some other form of 'external controls'? Cheers, Guys, Phil PS Rioca working! At least something is! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Kelly Posted November 6, 2011 Report Share Posted November 6, 2011 Just pull the timer off the front of the boiler, there are a couple of little clippy bits that hold it into it's recess, but it will just pull out. When the timer is out of the boiler the boiler should run with heating as long as the room stat is made and the heating control dial on the boiler is set above nil! 3 and 4 are the contacts for external controls, so in your case the room stat. Leave them alone, the room stat appears to be working fine from what you have said. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wymberley Posted November 6, 2011 Author Report Share Posted November 6, 2011 (edited) Just pull the timer off the front of the boiler, there are a couple of little clippy bits that hold it into it's recess, but it will just pull out. When the timer is out of the boiler the boiler should run with heating as long as the room stat is made and the heating control dial on the boiler is set above nil! 3 and 4 are the contacts for external controls, so in your case the room stat. Leave them alone, the room stat appears to be working fine from what you have said. Magic, thanks,Tim. Final point, if nothing easy/cost effective is found by Paul, are you suggesting that a external timer unit (usual wall mounted type of thing) in lieu of the current unit is installed? Again, many, many thanks to you and Martin, Cheers, Phil Edit: PS Did that, nowt. Wound up stat til light indicated a demand plus a bit, green light on relay, pushed 'i' and got S30. Edited November 6, 2011 by wymberley Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Kelly Posted November 6, 2011 Report Share Posted November 6, 2011 I think S30 means no call for heating. Check terminal 4 for 230v. If the room stat's turned up high enough to be calling for heating and the receiver unit is indicating it is receiving the signal, then there should be 230v at terminal 4, which should get the boiler to fire up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wymberley Posted November 6, 2011 Author Report Share Posted November 6, 2011 I think S30 means no call for heating. Check terminal 4 for 230v. If the room stat's turned up high enough to be calling for heating and the receiver unit is indicating it is receiving the signal, then there should be 230v at terminal 4, which should get the boiler to fire up. Tim, You're correct about S30. However, whereas I have a multimeter, I'm only really happy with DC. Albeit retired now, as a trained technician I still remember sufficient to know that you don't fiddle with something that you don't fully understand. There are 5 pins from the timer PCB and haven't a clue which is 4. Also I'm not going to interfere by taking off the front cover and dropping the control panel. Between you and Martin, I now have enough understanding not to look too gormless when it's all explained tomorrow. More importantly, I'm aware of a possible more cost effective option to replacing the main highly expensive looking main PCB in the event that the problem should be the timer/PCB interface. I will advise on the outcome. Cheers, Phil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Kelly Posted November 6, 2011 Report Share Posted November 6, 2011 Nothing to do with the pins on the timer, it's the numbered terminals in the boiler wiring centre where terminals 3 and 4 are. Probably best you leave it for someone more conversant, save you causing bigger problems! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wymberley Posted November 6, 2011 Author Report Share Posted November 6, 2011 Nothing to do with the pins on the timer, it's the numbered terminals in the boiler wiring centre where terminals 3 and 4 are. Probably best you leave it for someone more conversant, save you causing bigger problems! Ah, with you, looked at the circuit diagram and am with you now. However as there's nowt I can actually do - the last time this happened the stat/relay was changed to no avail and while waiting for the new ones 3 and 4 were linked if I remember correctly so we had heating. Oh well, never mind, more Rioja! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Kelly Posted November 6, 2011 Report Share Posted November 6, 2011 If 3 and 4 are linked and you've pulled the timer out and the central heating doesn't just come on and stay on, you've got a bigger problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wymberley Posted November 6, 2011 Author Report Share Posted November 6, 2011 (edited) If 3 and 4 are linked and you've pulled the timer out and the central heating doesn't just come on and stay on, you've got a bigger problem. No, no link and timer unit back in, just relying on "Spanish sunshine" Tesco had an offer on!!! Cheers Edit: PS ****** ****** ******, ******* faux engineers and "experts" - ex isn't now, sperts - a drip under pressure, absolutely ******* useless load of *****. Thanks for your info, Guys. Changed my mind and with your help I felt confident to have a look after all. Front panel off, dropped the control unit and removed the cover. All as you described. I'd got a piece of cable and while debating one last time whether I should have a go, I undid 3, made sure the cable was home and retightened and gave the final little tug to make sure. Undid 4, seemed OK so retightened, final little tug and out it came. One highly paid engineer had failed to do the final little tug after installing the cable beside the terminal and not in it. No wonder the fault was intermittant. Magic, Guys, many thanks. Now, where's that Rioja, may as well anyway. Edited November 6, 2011 by wymberley Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin2 Posted November 6, 2011 Report Share Posted November 6, 2011 i was going to say are the cables in propley ,but did`nt like to as you had an engineer round ,good job have another glass Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.