British Gas C1 problem - please help!

[dode74]

I have a British Gas C1 boiler. There are three lights with symbols on the boiler - one to indicate the heater is on (a flame symbol), one to indicate that radiator water is being heated (a radiator symbol) and one to indicate that the hot water is being heated for the taps (a tap symbol). It works fine for central heating and when I turn my thermostat up it provides hot water for the radiators with the flame and the radiator lights coming on. When I turn on the hot taps no hot water is provided and no lights come on. When I turn up the thermostat and then turn on the taps hot water is provided, but only the flame and the radiator lights are on. What is wrong with my boiler?

[newbie1]

dude call an engineer

[dode74]

Thanks for your helpful advice.

I already have, but I don't know a trustworthy plumber in the area. The one we had come around this morning stank of booze and cigarettes and told us that the heat exchanger was faulty. Now I know I'm no plumber, but I'm not an idiot either, and if the heat exchanger was at fault then there would be no hot water at all, surely?

What it sounds like to me is that the boiler isn't detecting when hot water from the taps is being called upon and is therefore not heating said water. Now I don't know if there's a flowmeter or some other similar device which provides the impetus to the boiler to start heating the water, but it would help me enormously to know if this was the case so I could get an engineer in to fix it.

The whole point is to save time so I can say "this is probably the problem" and hopefully not get ripped off by someone like the cowboy my wife met this morning.

[payney1974]

i dont know that kind of boiler but it does sound like a flow switch or similar which tells the boiler to fire because ther is a demand for hot water, probably a rebadged worcester is it? how old is it?

[dode74]

It's a Worcester Bosch boiler - no idea further than that. It seems to have been fitted in Nov 01, although I moved in here in 06 so I'm not sure. It's certainly no older than 99 though as it has safety stickers on it with a publication date of 99.

It may be a low flow caused by a scale-induced restriction which prevents the flow switch from making. If that is the case then our boozy engineer from this morning may have been right and I need a new heat exchanger. Anyone know where to get parts for these things?

[moony]

gas safe only can buy parts matey - surely theres a heating engineer round your way have a look on the net - if it were general plumbing i would be happy to help but come on - you shouldnt be opening a boiler mate, you got a missus and kids to think about.

would put money on it being a diaphragm or divertor valve prob though. either way not a job for a diy'r

[newbie1]

Thanks for your helpful advice.

I already have, but I don't know a trustworthy plumber in the area. The one we had come around this morning stank of booze and cigarettes and told us that the heat exchanger was faulty. Now I know I'm no plumber, but I'm not an idiot either, and if the heat exchanger was at fault then there would be no hot water at all, surely?

What it sounds like to me is that the boiler isn't detecting when hot water from the taps is being called upon and is therefore not heating said water. Now I don't know if there's a flowmeter or some other similar device which provides the impetus to the boiler to start heating the water, but it would help me enormously to know if this was the case so I could get an engineer in to fix it.

The whole point is to save time so I can say "this is probably the problem" and hopefully not get ripped off by someone like the cowboy my wife met this morning.

wasnt being funny but what do you suppose the engineer is going to do when you start telling him what the problem is
you guessing at poss probs and hoping for an answer when any engineer will tell you until they come and look inside the boiler its neasr impossible to say for certain what the prob is and not all engineers are out there to rip you off i spent new years day fitting a boiler because i dodnt want to leave the woman in the lurch and didnt rip her off on the price either
and no a heat exchanger can be faulty in that at low flow it will still give some hot water but will struggle at higher flow rates so its is never as straight forward as its def that only possibilities that will only be resolved by physical inspection or we woud all sit at home and diagnose over the net

[dode74]

I'm not going to diy it, I'm after a second opinion - that's all.

With all due respect to those here I'm afraid that my trust in plumbers, builders et al is a bit low, so I was hoping that there might be someone who could say "yes, that's probably it" and give me a bit more confidence in what's going on before I spend a grand or so on a new boiler - which is precisely what this morning's plumber recommended as he couldn't find the parts for mine.

[gas man]

your boilers not a right off,just find a competent engineer or call worcester bosch they will do most faults for £188+vat regardless of boiler age

[newbie1]

how old is this boiler firstly as its not likely to be a write off
secondly early indications are the demand for hot water is not being recognised and what thermostat are you referring to when you say you are turning it up
where are you located as one of the guys on here might be local

my first port of call would be flowswitch or pcb but you need to know what your looking for

[moony]

a good engineer knows what its likely to be and knows how to check each component, 'part changers' are the ones that turn up and say it could be this could be that etc and normally come back with 3 or 4 parts to try lol.

[dode74]

The boiler seems to be about 8.5-9 years old. The thermostat is the house heating one.

Thanks for the help guys - I suspect the chap who turned up earlier was one of the "parts-changer" type as he said it was "always the heat exchanger". I hope I'm wrong and if I am incorrectly impugning his reputation then I apologise, but he didn't really check stuff.

And I'm in the Reading area, if anyone nearby can help out. I'll try the Worcester Bosch people too.

[oldplumber]

word to the wise,most parts can be obtained overnight from a good parts supplier so never believe those who say they arent available. Companies like parts center will get them in next day if ordered before 1600, others rely on couriers which only guarentee next day delivery. Stay away fm the large companies with big overheads and trust in the non drinking sole traders who have a reputation to keep, ie go by reccomendation, its how i get most of my work.

[newbie1]

as i said i would be looking at the flowswitch or the pcb but without being infront of the boiler with a multimeter i cant say for sure if you get stuck i am in staines but i would need to charge for coming out to reading

[dode74]

Problem solved. Called the Worcester Bosch people and they got their man round the next day to replace the limescale clogged heat exchanger. Paid for their annual cover as well, so on a 9-year old boiler I'm covered.

Thanks to everyone here for their help.