Temperature control knob on Vaillant eco Tec Plus

[ShadyCove]

It seems that I am just the latest in a long line of people who have experienced the Vaillant broken temperature control switch problem. After researching the matter online , here and elsewhere , I have just surgically removed the broken switch stub from my pcb and can now control my boiler output temperature using a Bryant & May extra long match stick.
I just hope that Bryant & May engineer their match sticks to a higher standard than Vaillant do with their control switches.

 

[Nobbynobs]

Hey, I want to thank you guys for the information!

Same problem of a Vaillant ecoTEC plus 837 dial just falling away from the boiler when gently turned and then finding that there was no way of clicking it back on before finding it needed a more drastic solution.

Just spent 3 cold days waiting for the replacements to arrive (boiler CH dial broke in off mode) and followed carefully your guidelines. Out of warranty and there was no way I was going to spend out on a clear case of it being a manufacturing fault, on what seems to be ATM a great boiler. Had I not been able to mend it, I would have insisted that Vaillant fix it (4 year old boiler) .... I mean after spending out thousands to fit an all singing and dancing bit of hi tec kit only for the control knob to fall off!

One observation was that .... when trying to extract the broken piece of knob spindle out of the mother board thingy, I had to push through the broken bit from the back while using a screwdriver to pries through the housing case at the front. This is because the spindle was wider at the front end and there is no way you can push it through without breaking the motherboard. The new fitted knobs don't have this 'wider' at the front problem.

However, the reason why I even started to turn the CH dial on/off in the first place was because I could no longer trust my VRT 360f Room Thermostat after returning home after a week-end away to find that the CH was full on and the whole house was 35 degrees!

The 'wonderfully complicated ' VRT 360f room temp thermostat has an open battery compartment that allows any leakage from batteries to leak onto thermostat motherboard. For some reason, this then caused (several times) new batteries to drain dead after only two weeks. With the Batteries dead ...the boiler for some reason would turn the CH on, and with no thermostat to turn it off, continuous heating operated. Dangerous or what?


Anyone else had this problem?

 

[easyflow]

Fitted new heating dial to Vaillant ecotec pro yesterday and the same thing on another ecotec pro just before Christmas and atleast 3 more repairs for the same issue early 2013,
Users should lay off the shredded wheat.

 

[Screwed]

Hi All,

Guess what.....I have the same problem! Radiator temp control has snapped off. I will call Vaillant today and will post how I got on.

I understand the points about having your boiler set up correctly, and therefore not needing to use the manaul controls on the boiler itself, however, this is still clearley a manufacturing fault.

Out of curiosity, what thermostat does everyone have fitted to control their boiler. We had a Drayton, but that went wrong....I took a swift drive to the nearest Plumbing Merchant that was open (on a Sunday) and bought a Salus as a replacement - big mistake as it is rubbish - hence the need for me to use the controls on the boiler which have now broken.

Need to replce the Salus ASAP.

 

[Dan Robinson]

Funny how only those that have broken their knobs think it is a manufacturing defect, and the rest of us think it is just heavy handedness?

 

[Nobbynobs]

Funny how only those that have broken their knobs think it is a manufacturing defect, and the rest of us think it is just heavy handedness?

Excuse me, but I have very girly gentle dainty hands.

Knobs just shouldn't fall off in your hand and those experiencing this know exactly what I mean. Anyway, Knobs should be designed to be turned, even by a heavy handed Gorilla!

Since replacing knob with a tougher spindle ... so far, no problems and I have lost my fear of knob turning.

 

[Agile]

Not all women seem to be so dainty and gentle!



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nISNYYeC7ww

 

[alistairgd]

For the record, there is no club fisted heavy handed-ndess going on.

Mine has fell out twice nice now. The knob itself needs only gentle finger tip pressure to turn, and that's all it ever gets from me, yet still it has fallen off.

The poster who are criticising people for being heavy handed really have no clue what is going on because it has not happened to them. It takes such a soft touch to break I actually think these things are shearing off BEFORE the user even touches them as mine went loose the second I touched it.

I don't follow the reasoning behind this being a design feature to protect the PCB, there are other ways to protect a PCB from damage, and a brittle spindle is not the best idea.

 

[ALEC1]

if you use vaillants ebus comoensation controls as they do in Germany, they just get left on maximum..

I gues thats why they are such poor quality..

 

[Bunnyman]

As dan said knobs don't break themselves, if u snap it u turned it to hard, ,! The other 999999 boilers are ok why do you think yours isn't

 

[alistairgd]

As dan said knobs don't break themselves, if u snap it u turned it to hard, ,! The other 999999 boilers are ok why do you think yours isn't

Uhm no, I did not turn it too hard, I barely touched it and it went loose.

There are other factors to consider, for example the flap cover that springs back to cover the knobs can be quote strong, you have to gentle place the cover back or else it can snap back against the unit, possibly hard enough to shatter a brittle knob so that next time you open it, it is already broken.

No matter if it is that or something else, these things can break far too easily, that's obvious to anyone who has had this happen to them.

Anyone who has not had it happen to them, well, you haven't experienced it yet so can't comment on how easy it is for the knob to break, you can only comment that yours has not.

 

[Dan Robinson]

Bunnyman.... How many Vaillant boilers have you seen? Ffs, it's obvious you don't know anything about them

Panel snapping back too hard? I've heard it all now

 

[Gian]

Both knobs came off 2 days ago. (Vaillant eco Plus 296)
Bad-knob day.

So now I'm stuck, the people who installed them say that I should be able to just 'click' it back in place but this is absolutely not the case and I have no idea what mechanism kept it in place so I can not 'reason' how to do this.
I looked at Vaillant's webiste but ordering a knob directly from them is probably going to be a complete pain as they try to direct you to the installing company first.
So are any of you capable of posting a picture of what the knob looks like when it is not broken ? I assume that my knobs are broken but I do not really see where it broke off from... Very strange.
I have a red plastic 'thingy' that fits inside the knob but it's only purpose seems to be to make noise when the knob is turned and other from that there's just the knob which has a 'stem' about an inch (2.5cm) long.. not long enough to click inside anything ! Was that stem longer originally ? Is that what broke off because there is no obvious sign of 'damage' at the end of it.

Hello,my problem is same-the heating knob fallen off Getting colder every day an I dont know,what to do.Have You solve that knobs problem?

Ok. I can help you now
First off, I send an email to Vaillant telling him that I had this issue after I found out that the part you need is 1117319 (which are actually 3 knobs in a plastic bag, 2 big ones and one small one, the ones that are on the front panel).
They send me the part for free since it was still in Warranty.
The repair itself isn't hard really but obviously you can always have somebody do it for you.
What needs to be done : first take the front cover off, there is only ONE screw that you need to loosen for this : it is underneath the CV heater, right at the front. Once that is loose you can take the whole front metal sheet off.
Now you can see the innards , you will see that where the knobs go in is really a plastic box. And this plastic box can be released from teh frame easily, no screws or anything. Then you can open the plastic box open, if you wiggle with it you will probably already hear that there is something loose inside : it's the stems of the broken off knob(s) !
Look at the box, I believe there are 4 plastic lips that you need to loosen (just tilt them over the knobs that hold them in place). Once inside you will see the socalled motherboard, or PCB. And you will see that are two round places that oppose the place where the knobs would be inserted.
You may have to release the PCB (also held with plastic thingies) to remove the broken plastic stems but once they are gone you can easily insert the new knobs from the front. You will need a little power to click them in place though. The new knobs will have a longer stem than the original ones. Note that you can already get your heater to work without the knobs : all you need to do is take something that fits inside the round shapes on the PCB and turn them in the right direction (you can also use the broken off stem for this : just place it in the round shape and turn it counterclockwise to turn up or clockwise to turn down the 'volume'.

best regards, if you need more help just let me know.
Benny

B B

Benny dear, I followed your advice and installed new control. It was a little tricky but patience paid off and happily there. Thanks a ton.

 

[washere]

EASY & CHEAP FIX:

+ Temporary Fix
​

The knob broke on me, ecotec 824. It is easy to fix, even if you are not handy or elderly or a lady who does not do DIY, most ecotec models conform to below instructions:

* Switch off boiler at front (lower right) & also switch off external plug/switch if accessible

* Unscrew the single screw at front-bottom of boiler body

* Slide front metal panel up & remove (does not affect plastic knobs / control panel)

* Unclip the 2 large side clips holding the white plastic box to the body at bottom.
Pressing the metal body in helps ease it off by hand, if not strong use screwdriver or butter knife (if you have no screwdriver)

* The plastic box slides out & down, stops at an angle, do not press it all the way down, leave it be

* Unclip the 4 Plastic clips on the white box: 2 on top, 2 on the sides, use your flat screwdriver again gently
Open plastic box

* Green Motherboard & Control panel etc are now visible: Remove the broken stem
It should still be in there in most cases
BE CAREFUL YOU GET THE RIGHT ONE (orientations upside-down, can mistake)
Gently move the broken stem before removing: To make sure you got the broken one
BROKEN ONE SLIDES OUT EASY (don't drop it into box)
Chances are it will be extractable from behind motherboard because like mine the thicker end broke off with knob

* You can turn it with the stem to required temperature for a temporary fix

* Remove & hold on to the broken stem to complete temporary fix in next steps

* You can now close up the boiler again by clipping the box back in

* Slide the large front metal panel slightly up before sliding into place, make sure it is clicking at top of boiler into place
No gaps
Screw in the front bottom screw again

* You can turn on the boiler again

* Completing Temporary Fix:

* Chances are your broken stem is about an inch & a half like mine

* Take some sticky tape: I used guerilla tape but can use any tape: duct, masking, electrical or even normal paper tape (scotch). Whatever sticky tape

* Wrap lots of tape at the few milimetres on top of broken stem: TO FORM A KNOB to control temperature
+ This also stops it falling in again, saving you to open up the boiler again

* Insert stem & rotate till it clicks into it's slot

* You can wrap a little more tape further in from the sicky tape knob you wrapped: KEEPS IT TIGHT & IN PLACE

Now You have a working knob again.

* You can also use a long piece of small square wood, shaved to fit at end, if your stem is too short (unlikely, they all break at the same place as mine)
Just need to shave the end precisely to fit


CHEAP PERMANENT FIX:

* Now you need to buy knob to replace
The set is usually £7 to £8 for all 3 knobs plus postage or have to go pickup

* That is using google shop search. BUT you can buy only the one knob:
The one knob (with stem) is about £5 BUT:

* If you search ebay uk for:
Vaillant knob
Can try other words like ecotec knob or model number etc, but narrows down your choice
Just search for: Vaillant knob

* You see lots of sellers, but then:
Sort by LOWEST PRICE as I did at top drop-down menu, change from Best-Match default

* Most of them might not look the same on the inside:
I bought one that did not have inner central rings like my broken one, I bought it yesterday morning
It arrived this morning. I paid £2.50, arrived in a box and the 24-hours royal mail delivery signed for was free

* There was even a green one (not beige) which I am sure would have fitted, it was only £2 delivered!
I splashed 50 pence extra for the original colour.
Most single knobs were about £4.50 to £7 on ebay
The green knob is actually not bad for quickly knowing which knob is which, depends which on your taste/need

* Once you get the new knob:
No need to open up the boiler again

* Mine seemed to have a thicker stem than the broken one with tape-knob
It did not go in
However as I rotated it to fit into it's slot shape (has a slit on a side, need to align correctly) IT FITTED IN
see where the slit on the broken stem is as you remove it
Can put a bit of oil or butter on the stem to fit easier, but not needed really

That is it, you have an easy temporary fix ANYONE CAN DO +
A permanent fix within a day or two for a couple of quid.

Sorry about any typo, have to finish cooking now. Hope this helps someone.
Good luck & All the best.

 

[ianmcd]

This post is 8 years old, if you feel the need to post something please start a relevant post