My boiler has started shutting down too soon. It runs for about 1 min
and then waits 5 mins to start again.

It's a Potterton Envoy 80. The three thermistors which check flow,
return and dry are all OK. The pump is running OK, too.

The result is that the rads warm up very slowly as a "plug" of heated
water circulates followed by tepid water as the boiler waits its
standard 5 mins.

Ideas?
Naffer

"naffer" wrote in message
ups.com...
My boiler has started shutting down too soon. It runs for about 1 min
and then waits 5 mins to start again.

It's a Potterton Envoy 80. The three thermistors which check flow,
return and dry are all OK. The pump is running OK, too.

The result is that the rads warm up very slowly as a "plug" of heated
water circulates followed by tepid water as the boiler waits its
standard 5 mins.

Ideas?

It's ****ed
Get a man in

I "got a man in".
That's how I know that the thermistors are OK as is the pump. The
thermistors were replaced and the pump was shown to be running at 2400
rpm or so, its rated speed.

The problem is that if it's the control board both the Potterton
handbook and the diagnostics in the "bloke's" laptop says, "Do not
change the Control Board unless the display is showing an error code".


Since there's no error code showing, the "bloke" says it isn't the
control board, which, of course, it might be.

Naffer

On Thu, 16 Nov 2006 02:11:42 -0800, naffer wrote:

I "got a man in".
That's how I know that the thermistors are OK as is the pump. The
thermistors were replaced and the pump was shown to be running at 2400
rpm or so, its rated speed.

The problem is that if it's the control board both the Potterton
handbook and the diagnostics in the "bloke's" laptop says, "Do not
change the Control Board unless the display is showing an error code".


Since there's no error code showing, the "bloke" says it isn't the
control board, which, of course, it might be.

If cetltd do a spare board it's worth a try. The thermistors would be the
first port of call, especially the main working one. In principle there
must be ways for the PCB to go down without it telling you it's gone down?!
What if there a short on it?

The manual is possibly trying to resist the culture of 'blame the PCB when
you don't know what's wrong'.



--
Ed Sirett - Property maintainer and registered gas fitter.
The FAQ for uk.diy is at http://www.diyfaq.org.uk
Gas fitting FAQ http://www.makewrite.demon.co.uk/GasFitting.html
Sealed CH FAQ http://www.makewrite.demon.co.uk/SealedCH.html
Choosing a Boiler FAQ http://www.makewrite.demon.co.uk/BoilerChoice.html
Gas Fitting Standards Docs he http://www.makewrite.demon.co.uk/GasFittingStandards

Folks,
I think Ed is right, that no-one wants to have to replace expensive
bits needlessly, even if they're broken and the diagnostics don't show
it.

So, having seen that the thermistors are OK and the flow rate is OK ,
there's not much else to check. (I vacuumed the dead wasps out of the
PCB last night but it ain't better).

I am planning to order a re-furbished Potteron Envoy PCB from some guys
on EBay,
I think they are in the Midlands, they have lots of re-furbished PCBs
and look OK.

The PCB is offered at £55, way way under the new price.
It's a sort of last chance before I dump the horrid thing!

Anyone able to add any constructive comment?

Naffer

PS...... " Call a Bloke" isn't much help !

On Fri, 17 Nov 2006 13:07:42 -0800, naffer wrote:

Folks,
I think Ed is right, that no-one wants to have to replace expensive
bits needlessly, even if they're broken and the diagnostics don't show
it.

So, having seen that the thermistors are OK and the flow rate is OK ,
there's not much else to check. (I vacuumed the dead wasps out of the
PCB last night but it ain't better).

I am planning to order a re-furbished Potteron Envoy PCB from some guys
on EBay,
I think they are in the Midlands, they have lots of re-furbished PCBs
and look OK.

The PCB is offered at 55, way way under the new price.
It's a sort of last chance before I dump the horrid thing!

Anyone able to add any constructive comment?

Naffer


Make sure you don't pay the same or more than cetltd recon board which
comes with a 12 month guarantee, and has been tested.


--
Ed Sirett - Property maintainer and registered gas fitter.
The FAQ for uk.diy is at http://www.diyfaq.org.uk
Gas fitting FAQ http://www.makewrite.demon.co.uk/GasFitting.html
Sealed CH FAQ http://www.makewrite.demon.co.uk/SealedCH.html
Choosing a Boiler FAQ http://www.makewrite.demon.co.uk/BoilerChoice.html
Gas Fitting Standards Docs he http://www.makewrite.demon.co.uk/GasFittingStandards

In message .com,
naffer writes
Folks,
I think Ed is right, that no-one wants to have to replace expensive
bits needlessly, even if they're broken and the diagnostics don't show
it.

So, having seen that the thermistors are OK and the flow rate is OK ,
there's not much else to check. (I vacuumed the dead wasps out of the
PCB last night but it ain't better).

I am planning to order a re-furbished Potteron Envoy PCB from some guys
on EBay,
I think they are in the Midlands, they have lots of re-furbished PCBs
and look OK.

Walsall ?

3 month warranty ?

ooer




The PCB is offered at £55, way way under the new price.
It's a sort of last chance before I dump the horrid thing!

Anyone able to add any constructive comment?

Naffer

PS...... " Call a Bloke" isn't much help !


--
geoff

I think it's fixed.

Bought a new PCB, (list price inc Vat about £200), on e-bay for £16
plus postage. The logic being that at that price it could be dumped
with the boiler if it didn't work.

New PCB (and it was brand new and boxed), gave same symptoms, i.e.
shutting down too soon. I assumed that the problem must be in the wet
side of the system, a blockage preventing good flow perhps. So I
drained and flushed it.. Also stripped the pump which looked OK. Same
symptoms.

The thermistors had been checked originally and were OK. Swapping them
(they are all the same) made no difference.

Had a good look at the circuit diagram and saw that whoever had worked
on the boiler last had connected the flow thermistor to the dry fire
sensor wire and vice versa. This meant that the PCB was getting a high
reading on what it thought was the flow and then shutting down too
soon. The PCB was doing it right! Connecting the wires as per the
diagram fixed it.

Now, who did it? I know I didn't but I did have a new burner fitted by
BG in the summer, since when the boiler has not been much in use, (warm
weather and our being away). The wiring would have had to be
disconnected from the thermistors to do it. Perhaps it was BG or maybe
the tooth fairy.

At at least I have only wasted £16, plus postage of course!

Naffer

Re-post to make the solution visible

Re-post to make the solution visible

In message .com,
naffer writes
I think it's fixed.

But my reader has expired your earlier posts and I don't remember who
you are or what the problem was

--
geoff

In message . com,
naffer writes
My boiler has started shutting down too soon. It runs for about 1 min
and then waits 5 mins to start again.

It's a Potterton Envoy 80. The three thermistors which check flow,
return and dry are all OK. The pump is running OK, too.

The result is that the rads warm up very slowly as a "plug" of heated
water circulates followed by tepid water as the boiler waits its
standard 5 mins.

Ideas?
Naffer

1) get another boiler

2) you have a blockage / pump problem
the heat is not getting out of the heat exchanger

--
geoff

naffer wrote:

Re-post to make the solution visible

Who would have expected that?

;-)

Chris
--
Chris J Dixon Nottingham UK


Have dancing shoes, will ceilidh.

Thank you "raden" but everyone on this site, indeed in the whole of W
Europe, knows that the Potterton Envoy is a dog. Observations about
"bears in woods " and "Is the Pope a ..." come to mind.

But if I don't want to spend the £1400 or so to replace (add £1000
for BG), it seemed a good idea to get it fixed for the moment. So, the
£16 spent on the PCB was wasted but thinking it thru' got it fixed.
(It foxed BG)

Chatting to a mate, he came up with the question,
"If you had to choose between an very intelligent but un-trained person
or a stupid person who had been trained, what's your choice?" NO
contest!

The CORGI ******* from BG have now, over the last couple of years, to
my reckoning:

- omitted to screw back the fan unit on the bottom of the boiler,
allowing Gas/air to leak into the boiler's case,
thus risking a pretty good explosion,

- forgotten to re-connect the gaiter on the flue allowing nasty CO
and other stuff to leak,

- and, now swapped and didn't find the thermistor wires problem.

How can I know that any allegedly qualified, i.e. CORGI person is any
better?

I think it was Bernard Shaw who said, "All professions are a
conspiracies against the layman". And we though we was lawyers he was
after!

It's still true about the newer "experts".

I'll buy a new boiler in the Spring, put it in myself and F*** the
so-called pros. Wait a year or so and get it inspected and onto
someone's maintenance program. Since I can do it safely, I know it
will be OK.

"Who installed this?", I will be asked. "No idea", I will reply, "just
moved in".
"Looks OK", will come the reply, "happy to put it on contract".

Naffer

In message . com,
naffer writes
Thank you "raden" but everyone on this site, indeed in the whole of W
Europe, knows that the Potterton Envoy is a dog. Observations about
"bears in woods " and "Is the Pope a ..." come to mind.

Sorry you lost me there since
a) you posted without attributions and

b) you top posted - so I instantly lost interest

I doubt most people in this NG or anyone outside the UK really have much
of a clue about the Potterton Envoy (or even care)

I probably know better than anyone else here (with the probably
exception of Tony) what a dog this heap is

HTH

--
geoff

In article . com,
naffer wrote:
I'll buy a new boiler in the Spring, put it in myself and F*** the
so-called pros. Wait a year or so and get it inspected and onto
someone's maintenance program. Since I can do it safely, I know it
will be OK.

If you buy a decent boiler, a maintenance contract will be a waste of
money. Unless the firms that supply them are charities, of course.

--
*Why is it called tourist season if we can't shoot at them?

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

Final shot at "raden" who questions what a Potterton Boiler is.

This is a "UK" group. Potterton is a UK brand , well known in UK,
discussed and for good or ill forms parts of this site's regular
discussions.

Because you seem to have the extreme misfortune of living outside the
UK or indeed the United States of Europe ( or indeed Canada, NZ or OZ
or other similar places where other grown-up adults live), please do
not make silly remarks about "Naffer's" post.

This is a "UK" site and will only be of interest/relevance to anyone
who has this heating system.
So back off.... "Raden" you must be a very foreign person not to
understand what this thread was about.

Unless. Of course, Potterton is a brand where you live and British
Gas have service contracts to fix your central heating. If this is so,
I will accept your comment, else....F...

Naffer

Moo wrote:
Final shot at "raden" who questions what a Potterton Boiler is.

This is a "UK" group. Potterton is a UK brand , well known in UK,
discussed and for good or ill forms parts of this site's regular
discussions.

Because you seem to have the extreme misfortune of living outside the
UK or indeed the United States of Europe ( or indeed Canada, NZ or OZ
or other similar places where other grown-up adults live), please do
not make silly remarks about "Naffer's" post.

This is a "UK" site and will only be of interest/relevance to anyone
who has this heating system.
So back off.... "Raden" you must be a very foreign person not to
understand what this thread was about.

Unless. Of course, Potterton is a brand where you live and British
Gas have service contracts to fix your central heating. If this is so,
I will accept your comment, else....F...

Naffer

i like it!!

In message . com, Moo
writes
Final shot at "raden" who questions what a Potterton Boiler is.

Errr... Sorry ?

I am fairly intimately familiar with most potterton boilers. I doubt
that there are many people who have a deeper independent knowledge of
potterton's electronics than I have


This is a "UK" group. Potterton is a UK brand , well known in UK,
discussed and for good or ill forms parts of this site's regular
discussions.

Err, yes, what's your point caller ?


Because you seem to have the extreme misfortune of living outside the
UK or indeed the United States of Europe ( or indeed Canada, NZ or OZ
or other similar places where other grown-up adults live), please do
not make silly remarks about "Naffer's" post.

I would not say that living outside the uk / us / europe is necessarily
a misfortune, however, as any regular reader / contributor to this NG
would understand, ICH BIN KEINE AUSLAENDER


This is a "UK" site and will only be of interest/relevance to anyone
who has this heating system.
So back off.... "Raden" you must be a very foreign person not to
understand what this thread was about.

Leck mich am orsch


Unless. Of course, Potterton is a brand where you live and British
Gas have service contracts to fix your central heating. If this is so,
I will accept your comment, else....F...


Ich glaube du bist eine trottel

I don't give a toss whether you accept my comments or not. I think you
need to drink more

you might make more sense

--
geoff

In message . com,
writes

Moo wrote:
Final shot at "raden" who questions what a Potterton Boiler is.

This is a "UK" group. Potterton is a UK brand , well known in UK,
discussed and for good or ill forms parts of this site's regular
discussions.

Because you seem to have the extreme misfortune of living outside the
UK or indeed the United States of Europe ( or indeed Canada, NZ or OZ
or other similar places where other grown-up adults live), please do
not make silly remarks about "Naffer's" post.

This is a "UK" site and will only be of interest/relevance to anyone
who has this heating system.
So back off.... "Raden" you must be a very foreign person not to
understand what this thread was about.

Unless. Of course, Potterton is a brand where you live and British
Gas have service contracts to fix your central heating. If this is so,
I will accept your comment, else....F...

Naffer

i like it!!

Are you just as clueless then ?

--
geoff