Can you solve my Vaillant combi boiler problem, Sherlock?

[werewolf]

Grimly

The diaphragm on your water section is knackered.It can be replaced providing the screws on the water section undo.Also change stuffing box as well.Your diverter valve is fine.
The diaphragm has been the underlying fault all along.You`ve needed a far to high a flow rate to get the boiler on.Which i pointed out a LONG time ago.
The leaking dhw h/exchanger was a red herring.

Paul

 

[Grimly Feendish]

Thanks lads, I do believe we have cracked it! I've spoken with my engineer and he's going to order the part and fix it for me.

Oh, and FULL MARKS TO NAMSAG for spotting my dual identity!!!! Scrufflepeck is indeed the alter ego of Grimly Feendish. He cunningly acted as agent provocateur (and dangerously incompetent gas installer) in order to keep interest alive and the posts lively, so we got there in the end!!

Thanks all!!

Grimly Feendish
Scrufflepeck

 

[sooey]

Grimly, who's getting the tenner? Don't be feendish

 

[Agile]

Thanks lads, I do believe we have cracked it! I've spoken with my engineer and he's going to order the part and fix it for me.

I am not very impressed with your engineer who was unable to notice the boiler was not responding to a demand for hot water and that the flow rate was far too high.

Now perhaps you will understand why I was trying to get a scientific measurement of the hot water flow rate. Without that diagnosing the fault cannot begin.

Tony

 

[Grimly Feendish]

The tenner should clearly go to Paul (werewolf), so if you give me your address Paul it will wing its way towards you!

Grimly

 

[Scrufflepeck]

Glad we were able to sort out your problem Grimly.

It's always best to consult the experts like me on complicated boiler problems, and I'm glad my advice got you there in the end. But you should know that this is only a temporary fix and when the heap of junk finally packs up I can offer you a great deal on a Ravenheat!

Scrufflepeck

 

[Agile]

Hopefully both of you will be quicker to carry out simple tests like flow rate immediately you are asked to as that will greatly speed up helping you.

Merely telling us that YOU think the flow rate is fine is useless. WE need a scientific measurement to compare with the boiler spec.

Tony


PS I think this fellow suffers from a split personality! And he talks to himself too !

 

[werewolf]

Cheers Grimly

Ow`s about you givin me your address and i`ll send you a diagnostic bill?

LOL!!!!

 

[namsag]

Having worked and drunk with BG management it was quite easy to spot someone two faced.

 

[blather]

Personaly I think all this tosh about ascertaining the flow rate reveals a great deal about the so called competence of the respondent. In my considerable experience,flow rate is completely useless as a diagnostic tool. A method which I have never known to fail yet is what I call ' the naked hand method' or nhm for short. It requires a great deal of patience but always gets to the heart of the problem. So if you use nhm you fire up the boiler in the normal way and then apply the naked hand to the front of one of the ground floor radiators palm flat against the face of the radiator. If after two hours of holding this position, no heat can be felt, then it is clear that the boiler is broken and a suitably qualified tradesman should be summoned to repair it. Hope this helps.

 

[HarrogateGas]

Personaly I think all this tosh about ascertaining the flow rate reveals a great deal about the so called competence of the respondent. In my considerable experience,flow rate is completely useless as a diagnostic tool. A method which I have never known to fail yet is what I call ' the naked hand method' or nhm for short. It requires a great deal of patience but always gets to the heart of the problem. So if you use nhm you fire up the boiler in the normal way and then apply the naked hand to the front of one of the ground floor radiators palm flat against the face of the radiator. If after two hours of holding this position, no heat can be felt, then it is clear that the boiler is broken and a suitably qualified tradesman should be summoned to repair it. Hope this helps.

no your wrong!! It could be the clock or room stat at fault..............

 

[Merv the Perv]

Grimly, the factual matrix you describe is in fact internally inconsistent and carries within it its own refutation. If (as the concensus now seems to be) the cause of your malfunction is simply a defective water valve diaphragm, perhaps your new found friends would like to explain how it is that the dhw functions admirably when the CH is engaged? The problem lies elsewhere, I can absolutely assure you of that. If you employ a gas fitter to fiddle with the water valve you are throwing your hard earned cash into the toilet. If you really want to know the cause of your problem then you should consult the Oracle - Mr Horace Gripe, who worked on VCW boiler design and is now the leader in his field. Contact details through Vaillant.

Yours ever

Mervyn

 

[controlsrus]

I've had a similar problem to what you've experienced on Valliant Turbomax combi boiler (I know its different before anyone says its)
The problem I had was the DHW would only function if you turned the flow down to a trickle. The CH work fine. Eventually I tracked it down & replaced the NTC temperature sensor. I don't know your boiler but mine has three temperature sensors a CH flow, a CH return & a DHW return. Basically when the boiler lights up due it detecting a flow of water the PCB compare the flow & return & if the difference between them is small then the burner is modulated (turned down). My sensor didn't seem to reponde to the change in heat & so hence the only way to get any hot water was to turn the flow right down so that the minimum burner flame had sufficient 'power' to heat the water. My boiler has an LCD display that is supposed to display any fault code, unfortunately this one isn't programmed. These sensors are about £ 8 -10 each & so long as you can use a spanner it is a very simple job to replace.

 

[Grimly Feendish]

Mervyn, I have just called Vaillant's technical help line and they have never heard of Horace Gripe. Do you have his contact details?

cheers

Grimly

 

[Merv the Perv]

I may have Mr Horace Gripe's contact details but then again I may not. Indeed it would be quite wrong and inimical of me to pass on to a complete stranger confidential and personal information of this nature. As a favour to you, however, I am willing on this occasion to use my good offices to approach Mr Horace Gripe and entreat him to review this discussion perhaps with a view to letting you have the benefit of his very considerable skills. I personally have attended a lecture given by Mr Horace Gripe on the subject of fluid thermodynamics, and I can assure you that his powers of analysis and deductive enquiry are a joy to behold. Mr Gripe is, however, a busy man who is, I believe, continually engaged on projects of great magnitude and confidentiality - some say of national importance from the state security perspective - so I cannot say whether he will condescend to spend his valuable time in resolving someone's difficulties with their domestic boiler. Keep your fingers crossed!

Mervyn