Baxi Bermuda Inset 2 50/4E - Gas escaping

[Gardnjam]

Hi guys, we had the above boiler installed in 2003 and up until the last year - 18 months has worked perfectly.
The problem, which the Gas Engineers have thus far been unable to diagnose, is as follows:

(I must stress that this problem is intermittent).

The boiler goes through its usual start-up routine - Click...Click...Click followed by the noise associated with the pilot light igniting; however, approximately two seconds after this the flame will extinguish and the same process will continue again and again and again. The problem is, and I believe this is a very big one - though correct me if I'm wrong, that each time the boiler repeats this process, gas is escaping into the room. Therefore after several attempts the room begins to fill up with gas. According to Baxi, there is a fail-safe to prevent this from happening.
The company we've been dealing with have replaced nearly, if not all, the parts of the boiler.
1) A new gas valve/solenoid was initially fitted; the problem persisted, again intermittently so we did not know that the problem hadn't been solved. (It can be days, weeks or months between failures).
2) A new pilot assembly has been fitted.
3) New PCB (not 100% sure on this)
4)Ignition cables have been insulated as, according to Baxi, this can cause problems.
The company also checked the gas injector (I think) in case any fluff was obstructing the flow of gas, but this did not change anything.

On one occasion I let the boiler try to ignite for up to 2 mins before shutting it off from the main switch in the airing cupboard. Despite this the boiler still refused to ignite.
The problem can be rectified by turning off the boiler as mentioned above and waiting 3-4 minutes.
I'm now so stressed by all of this and just want the problem sorted. Due to our fear that the house may go up in flames, whenever we go out we end up turning off the Central Heating. I would appreciate any advise anyone may be able to give.

 

[powell30]

Unless there is something i am missing here rest assured your room is not filling up with gas (i am assuming natural not lpg) as it is lighter than air and will be dispersed via the flue.

If the main burner ignites, even for a short period any gas is also ignited. If it fails to ignite the boiler will lock out after 3? attempts so if your out there worst that can happen is that you will need to reset when you return.

Sounds like a rectification problem to me tho

 

[Gardnjam]

Hi Powell, thank you for your reply.

I understand what you're saying but the smell of gas when this happens is to such an extent that it is necessary to open the window.
Does this indicate a blocked flue?
The boiler is serviced regulary.

The boiler does ignite but shortly afterwards goes out and so never goes into lockout.

 

[Gardnjam]

Any thoughts?

Another engineer is supposedly coming out this afternoon to look at the boiler again, but I'm not especially confident that he will be able to shed any further light on our predicament.

 

[Vic Spanner]

Ask them what the Burner and Working pressures are and report back..Unless i posted this to late..Sorry

 

[Gardnjam]

Ask them what the Burner and Working pressures are and report back..Unless i posted this to late..Sorry

Thanks for the reply Poxi.

I was mistaken; the had not fitted a new pilot assembly, although this was fitted just today. The engineer believed that the pilot was extinguishing because the sensors on the pilot/burner were not detecting the flame and hence why, despite initially lighting, the whole ignition process would happen again and again.

If this does not solve the problem, and the unfortunate fact is it might be a while before we know this is the case, then I will certainly mention what you've just suggested.
Thanks again.

 

[Vic Spanner]

Ask them what the Burner and Working pressures are and report back..Unless i posted this to late..Sorry

If this does not solve the problem, and the unfortunate fact is it might be a while before we know this is the case, then I will certainly mention what you've just suggested.
Thanks again.

I Would

 

[Gardnjam]

This is beyond a joke now: on two occasions since the new pilot assembly was installed the boiler has malfunctioned. The last time was just 30 minutes ago.
The annoying part is that the gas engineer who has attended does not seem to appreciate how much gas is entering the room.
Tonight, my mum was in the kitchen whilst I was out; meanwhile, the boiler had been attempting to fire up from anywhere between 2 - 5 minutes, which consequently meant that, once discovered, all the windows in the room needed to be opened. The company we have used, in all honesty, do not seem to have the slightest idea. The last thing we were told was that if this last part did not work, then the PCB, or one of the other parts they fitted must be faulty, which is totally unacceptable. Clearly they're clutching at straws, so to speak, whilst we are being put in a potentially dangerous situation + charged for the priviledge. It is getting to the stage were we do not want the boiler on unless we're in the same room. We can't even get them to call us back to discuss the problem.

Having scoured the internet, admitedly I've not found a case identical to ours i.e. boiler lighting, extinguishing but gas being expelled into the room.
99 times out of 100 this problem occurs between 18:00 & 19:30 - could this point toatmopheric conditions and an incorrectly set gas regulator.

I think Baxi's own engineers may be my next stop!

 

[rojaca]

the timing is definitely a period where gas demand is at a peak.
you haven't posted what the inlet working pressure is yet.

 

[Boilerman2]

if it's passing that much gas, the house has probably blown up by now

 

[Gardnjam]

if it's passing that much gas, the house has probably blown up by now

Fortunately my mum came into the room, quite by chance, opened the windows and turned the appliance off.

Transco (National Grid) have since deemed the appliance immediately dangerous and have disconnected it at the mains.

Engineer from Baxi is attending tomorrow - fingers crossed.

 

[Vic Spanner]

Any news..????

 

[onlyfitidealboilers]

dont think he will be happy if he has to get his blow lamp out to re connect the blr! at least he can practice tho

 

[Gardnjam]

Any news..????

The engineer arrive at 10:00 A.M as promised, stripped everything out, tested continuities/voltages etc, replaced the PCB and adjusted a setting relating to the amount of heat needed for the size of the house.

He noted that there were minor problems with the PCB connections and that the engineer from the other company had inadvertently caused a gas leak, among other things, whilst replacing the parts mentioned in my first post.
Apparently, our boiler was set for a three bedroom house when in fact it is only a two bedroom, which could, he said, cause the pilot to go out if it came on with too much force.

I must say that I was suitably impressed with how thorough he was - he was hear for over an hour and a half.
Although no obvious faults were evident, he surmised that these few small faults he found may just be the cause. Either that or a problem with the gas supply due to atmospheric conditions in the evening.

So far so good. As the problem is intermittent, though, I will not know that it has definitely been fixed until a passage of time has passed.
I will, of course, keep you apprised accordingly.

Thanks.

 

[Gardnjam]

the timing is definitely a period where gas demand is at a peak.
you haven't posted what the inlet working pressure is yet.

I believe he said it was a constant 19 MB