Potterton 100e problem

[steveroy]

Hi
I have recently moved into a bungalow that has a Potterton 100e bolier in the roof. There are a few issues that i could do with some advice on.

1. When i turn on the hot water tap, it shoots out under pressuer but takes maybe a minute to become hot. this wastes a huge amount of water.

2. The boiler shuts itself down. I got home last night and the red light was on but the boiler was still making a noise like the extract fan was running. when i pressed the reset the boiler came back on and is ok again.

3. During christmas the boiler made some dreadful noise like a artic lorry was parking in our back garden. It was quite scary. This was followed by a noise that sounded like a rush of air being expelled. When this happens the boiler shuts down. It does not seem to happen when the boiler is running.

Any ideas please, i dont want to call anyone out as it rund most of the time and could be difficult for anyoen to diagnose.

[wales84]

1. It's a combi boiler so it does take time for hot water to get to the taps.
2 & 3 Have you checked the system pressure gauge underneath the boiler? The needle should be above 1 bar. It sounds that there isn't enough water in the boiler so it shuts down too early and makes a noise. There should be a silver flexible pipe with a tap connected to it for putting more water into the system. Open this tap slowly and watch the needle go to around 1.5 bar.

[steveroy]

Thanks Wales84

I will give this a try, it shut down again yeaterday while it was on this time. thats twice this weekend. What a pain.
I will let you know if this solves it.

[steveroy]

Hi Wales 84

You were right about the pressure being too low, i had recently bled one of the rads as i thought this was the problem and didnt realise this would have an effect as well. Clearly it didnt help with the system pressure.
It was less than 1 bar, i did turn the wrong knob and the pressure dropped further (not very bright), however as you pointed out the silver pipe with the tap brought the pressure back up the 1.5 bar.
I hope this solves it now.
Thank you for your help, clealry this has saved me paying for a call out.
Steve