Halstead Boiler problem - Any ideas?

[VictorDelta]

Hi

We have a Halstead Boiler Eden SBX 30 (about 7 years old and worked generally ok over this period) which is playing up a bit.

When heat starts being demanded it runs for about a minute and then trips. A few minutes later, it repeats this cycle, and so over a period of an hour or two it the water (CH and HW) gradually gets hotter. When it gets to a certain temperature it stops tripping out and then runs normally for a couple of hours or so until the time switch goes off.

No one I've contacted seems to have any idea what the problem might be - general scratching of heads!

Any ideas please, or even where I might find anyone local (Bournemouth area) who has any knowledge of Halstead Boilers (who closed some years ago I gather).

 

[VictorDelta]

Can anyone help on this please?

 

[muggles]

What happens if you try turning it back on immediately after the timer has turned it off?

Might be the PCB. As Halstead no longer exist, the cost of parts is now rather eye-watering, and you might be best to cut your losses and get a new boiler. Having said that, it might also be worth contacting one of the big nationals to see if they'll do a fixed price repair - Google "Fixed Price Boiler Repair"

 

[VictorDelta]

Thanks. It fires up again.

Hadn't thought about going down the fixed price repair route, that might be a good idea as I suspect you are right about it needing a new PCB (pump also runs occasionally during day and night when time switch is off). Have done some googling and there seem to be a lot of firms offering this - presumably some are better than others. Can you or anyone else recommend a good one please?

 

[mcmoby69]

If you have trv's fitted take the head off one or open it up fully, see what happens.

 

[VictorDelta]

Don't have any trvs...

 

[mcmoby69]

Rules one theory out then.
Bit far for me here oop Norf
Needs a visit

 

[Agile]

Bournemouth is a nice holiday place.

But not over the winter!

 

[muggles]

Thanks. It fires up again.

Hadn't thought about going down the fixed price repair route, that might be a good idea as I suspect you are right about it needing a new PCB (pump also runs occasionally during day and night when time switch is off). Have done some googling and there seem to be a lot of firms offering this - presumably some are better than others. Can you or anyone else recommend a good one please?

Check the T&Cs but most firms offering a fixed price repair will throw parts at your boiler until it works, then guarantee it for a year. Whether you can find a firm that will take on a Halstead, however, might be a different matter entirely!

 

[Aquaheat]

Thanks. It fires up again.

Hadn't thought about going down the fixed price repair route, that might be a good idea as I suspect you are right about it needing a new PCB (pump also runs occasionally during day and night when time switch is off). Have done some googling and there seem to be a lot of firms offering this - presumably some are better than others. Can you or anyone else recommend a good one please?

Check the T&Cs but most firms offering a fixed price repair will throw parts at your boiler until it works, then guarantee it for a year. Whether you can find a firm that will take on a Halstead, however, might be a different matter entirely!

That was going to be my response @muggles I very much doubt that it would be taken on either through a service contract or fixed price repair.

@VictorDelta if you do try this route could you please let us know the outcome as it would be of interest to a few of us RGIs. Cheers

As has been said before though, it may be worth biting the bullet and putting this boiler where it belongs! They aren't great and you will find very few good guys that will touch them, including myself. Reason being not that we don't think we can fix them but that parts are prohibitively expensive and makes us look like cowboys and also that when one part goes they all tend to follow and that will always lie at the feet of the guy who touched it last. We don't like to open a can of worms and get tarred with the part changer brush.

Those that will touch them tend to be desperate for work and most probably haven't seen them before.

I once did a diaphragm on a divertor on one and it worked for a month. Next it was the pressure dropped, turned out gauge was blocked sorted that for free, then it kept overheating, sorted that for next to nowt, then the PCB packed in! all in 9 months. Safe to say I steer clear if I can nowadays.

God I sound like @Agile now! Just need a random fact to through in and I'm sorted! (no offence Tony you know we loves you)

 

[Agile]

The Eden is a premix boiler and not all that old.

Mostly sold as a 32 kW.

Most of the faulty ones I have been to were just as a result of a totally over powered boiler on a small system. Putting 10 kW into a small house and it just turns off for the anticycle delay and the customer wonders why its not heating up the rads!

This one sounds like that although why it apparently runs OK later I don't know unless its just the pump running and its not firing up.

Just remembered, I did see a faulty NTC on one.

I don't think I ever saw any faulty PCB.

Tony

 

[VictorDelta]

Thanks, but don't think ours is too overpowered and has run perfectly well for the last 7 years.

What symptoms would a 'faulty NTC' give and is it easy to replace? (the two sensors have already been replaced recently).

Despite the reservations above, can anyone recommend a good fixed price repair company to try (in case they will tackle a Halstead boiler)?

 

[mcmoby69]

The one I went to had no external bypass. Customer had a thermostatic valves fitted. A tiny towel rad that was turned off and was supposed to be a bypass. This boiler was about 8 yrs old. No thermostat fitted. Customer was constantly resetting, after a previous guy changed thermistors and pcb, he called me.

Told customer he needed a bypass fitting, which he chose to ignore and a thermostat. I left Hall radiator on to dissipate the heat, it worked for a couple of days until he turned it off to prevent his grandchildren burning themselves on it.
Last I heard he was mumbling about a new boiler, I haven't heard anything since.
Customers like that I can do without.
Halstead boilers have usually been thrown on the wall from my experiences.

 

[Agile]

I have to say that most awful boilers have equally awful customers who will just not listen to any advice!

 

[VictorDelta]

Thought you might like to know what happened on this...

Tony's (Agile) comment about "I don't think I ever saw any faulty PCB" made me think twice about going down the fixed price route and so I called another local heating engineer to come and have a look. He turned out to be a genius and very quickly located a faulty flue sensor (the other two sensors had been changed previously by another engineer, with no improvement) and now the boiler is working normally again.

You can probably sense the relief at this end! Thanks for all the helpful comments above.