How do you approach fault finding??

[plumb_know]

Hi Everyone,

Still in my 1st year of being gas safe and went on a fault finding course as soon as i qualified but in all honesty it was a bit too much information to take in one go for me. so now i keep forgetting bits and getting confused.

I was just wondering if you have a set procedure how you approach boiler faults once you have concluded the fault is within the boiler casing and not an external components??

Also is the boiler sequence pretty much the same for each combination boiler/ system or Heat only boiler for different manufactures? I.e worcester combi & ideal same sequence??

Thank you in advance for your wisdom.

 

[Last Plumber]

Hi Everyone,

Still in my 1st year of being gas safe and went on a fault finding course as soon as i qualified but in all honesty it was a bit too much information to take in one go for me. so now i keep forgetting bits and getting confused.

I was just wondering if you have a set procedure how you approach boiler faults once you have concluded the fault is within the boiler casing and not an external components??

Also is the boiler sequence pretty much the same for each combination boiler/ system or Heat only boiler for different manufactures? I.e worcester combi & ideal same sequence??

Thank you in advance for your wisdom.

My advice is always the same to folk in your shoes. Learn how the thing works, in depth and you will have a good idea when it is not working correctly what the cause might be or where to begin at least.

It's always a good idea to get in the habit of checking the obvious things too. Fuel supply, pressures, Voltage and polarity, flow and return temperatures etc.

This job/subject is massive. The amount of things you need to understand as a Heating Engineer is quite extensive and very varied as you may know. We have to understand the fuels we use, whether it be Gas, Oil, LPG, Solid fuel, Electricity etc and also the electrical controls side and the electronics side too. That uses all sorts of voltages AC and DC extra low and low, some of us will work on 3 phase (415V), there is Ventilation, Fluid mechanics (water), Pipe work and design, Heat loss.....etc etc the list goes on and on and on. How complicated it gets depends on how far you wish to take it.

It is a life time of learning and it will take a long time before you feel confident to tackle anything they throw at you. As long as you accept this and look at it as a learning curve you should enjoy most of it, I do.
Anyone out there who already does the job such as the chaps and chapesess on here or the Gas Safe inspectors who come to see you and whoever else you might meet, have all been where you are and most (vast majority) will only want to help you learn.
Don't be afraid of asking and don't be afraid of saying if you've never come across something before.
One other thing, Sometimes you will come across something a bit daunting. Try not to make any rash decisions. take time, think, test, (sit in the van and ring technical if you need readings, figures, advice etc). If you get the chance to take a boiler home with you and strip it, even strip each part, you will get an even better understanding of how it works.

 

[townfanjon]

Go for the really obvious things first , any gas , is it turned on , programmer on ,etc etc .
I would defiantly get hold of an old boiler/s and fully strip it.
Boiler fault finding IMO is an absolute art, the only lads I know who are sh** hot at it are gas board lads who probably do 8 a day . I dont think I have done 8 this year.

 

[Old Account]

My advice is always the same to folk in your shoes. Learn how the thing works, in depth and you will have a good idea when it is not working correctly what the cause might be or where to begin at least.

It's always a good idea to get in the habit of checking the obvious things too. Fuel supply, pressures, Voltage and polarity, flow and return temperatures etc.

This job/subject is massive. The amount of things you need to understand as a Heating Engineer is quite extensive and very varied as you may know. We have to understand the fuels we use, whether it be Gas, Oil, LPG, Solid fuel, Electricity etc and also the electrical controls side and the electronics side too. That uses all sorts of voltages AC and DC extra low and low, some of us will work on 3 phase (415V), there is Ventilation, Fluid mechanics (water), Pipe work and design, Heat loss...etc etc the list goes on and on and on. How complicated it gets depends on how far you wish to take it.

It is a life time of learning and it will take a long time before you feel confident to tackle anything they throw at you. As long as you accept this and look at it as a learning curve you should enjoy most of it, I do.
Anyone out there who already does the job such as the chaps and chapesess on here or the Gas Safe inspectors who come to see you and whoever else you might meet, have all been where you are and most (vast majority) will only want to help you learn.
Don't be afraid of asking and don't be afraid of saying if you've never come across something before.
One other thing, Sometimes you will come across something a bit daunting. Try not to make any rash decisions. take time, think, test, (sit in the van and ring technical if you need readings, figures, advice etc). If you get the chance to take a boiler home with you and strip it, even strip each part, you will get an even better understanding of how it works.

Thank you so much for your informative reply. I really enjoyed reading it and made 100% sense. I am going to take a few out the following weeks and will definitely take one or another home to fully strip and see how they work. Your Input on this particular thread / topic was very very helpful and much appreciated even though I haven’t opened the topic

Thanks again and Thumbs up from my site

 

[plumb_know]

Thanks everyone,

feels good to know i have you informative lot to help me out, do you know where i can get information on boiler sequence or workings of the boiler i may be fault finding?

I.e. i have just had an email to say this worcester bosch 30cdi system boiler is not working.

now i went there 3 weeks ago,The boiler was not firing, it was making noise but then done nothing. but there were no fault codes. I checked the was gas at the gas valve & done resistance on the solenoid and it came back OL, now i thought this was open line and got a new gas valve. but on returning to fit i remembered on my course that some gas valves have 2 coils and you can't do resistance as it is too great ?? (i believe this is the case anyway, correct me if i am wrong)

anyway i then went to the fan as to check it was getting voltage and it was. then after a couple of more checks i was feeling stumped and switched the power back on, hey ho the boiler jumped into life. it has now been 3 weeks and it has broke again.

So basically when i go back there i want a good understanding of this boiler, its firing sequence so i can trace it logically through each component in turn until i find the faulty one.

Gas and water ways i feel fairly confident with, it is more the electrical side, such as the communication sequence from PCB to components.

Hope this makes sense and you can help with my understanding a little.

All you help is much appreciated

 

[dan_the_plumber]

I would bet this Worcester has dodgy external controls. Turn boiler off, Pull wires out of LS & LR and put a link in. Then switch boiler back on and see if it fires.

 

[Deleted member 32524]

Bet if you stop panicking and think about it you will be in the right ball park. Start at the beginning as they all follow the same process, give or take. Some though.... will be a pain. There is always something a little tricky on each job be it finding the fault or getting a bit off without breaking something else or that nut that is impossible to get to. Technical help can be hit or miss too, so if you feel they could be wrong phone back for a second opinion before spending any money on things like PCB.

 

[ShaunCorbs]

Top tip

You only need three items for fault finding

One a big hammer better off being a ball pain hammer than the claw type

Wd40

And some black or grey gaffa tape

If you can't fix it with these items it's a new boiler time

 

[firemant]

Hi Everyone,

Still in my 1st year of being gas safe and went on a fault finding course as soon as i qualified but in all honesty it was a bit too much information to take in one go for me. so now i keep forgetting bits and getting confused.

I was just wondering if you have a set procedure how you approach boiler faults once you have concluded the fault is within the boiler casing and not an external components??

Also is the boiler sequence pretty much the same for each combination boiler/ system or Heat only boiler for different manufactures? I.e worcester combi & ideal same sequence??

Thank you in advance for your wisdom.

What was the FF course you did?

For me, the best course is the Baxi 3 day. It is in a logical sequence, and is not heavy on sales. The workshop has boilers from different makes.

and you get a decent lunch.

IIRC it is about £250 for the 3 days.

This is a generic sequence:
Boiler Operation Sequence - Fix it with our Plumbers Fault Finder App for Heating Engineers

 

[plumb_know]

Dan the plumber was on the money i got there this time taking the advice of taking my time and looking at the books. was a 2 port valve not always making on the switch. could have replaced motor but just put new head on as did not have spare motor on van.

Thanks for everyones help on this, appreciate the help so much.

Fire mat, i went on able skills one. it was good but as i had only just passed ACS it was just bit too much to take in. I have heard the Baxi one is good. work is a bit low for me at the moment so may try and see if they have any spaces on upcoming dates.

thanks again everyone

 

[firemant]

Dan the plumber was on the money i got there this time taking the advice of taking my time and looking at the books. was a 2 port valve not always making on the switch. could have replaced motor but just put new head on as did not have spare motor on van.

Thanks for everyones help on this, appreciate the help so much.

Fire mat, i went on able skills one. it was good but as i had only just passed ACS it was just bit too much to take in. I have heard the Baxi one is good. work is a bit low for me at the moment so may try and see if they have any spaces on upcoming dates.

thanks again everyone

If you do the course, let us know how it went, compared to the other.

 

[SlimD]

If you do the course, let us know how it went, compared to the other.

I've just been on the BAXI FF course, finished it yesterday. Very good! Instructor was very experienced so knew boilers inside out and there were a range of boilers to work on. Course consisted of How a Combi works (sequence of operation etc...), Boiler diagnostics and Multimeter Training. Final day was working on boilers with faults to find what was wrong.
Prior to attending this course I was very apprehensive at dealing with boiler repairs but it was very informative and boosted my confidence at doing boiler repairs.
I'd recommend this course to anyone wanting to improve their knowledge of boiler workings.

 

[Old Account]

I've just been on the BAXI FF course, finished it yesterday. Very good! Instructor was very experienced so knew boilers inside out and there were a range of boilers to work on. Course consisted of How a Combi works (sequence of operation etc...), Boiler diagnostics and Multimeter Training. Final day was working on boilers with faults to find what was wrong.
Prior to attending this course I was very apprehensive at dealing with boiler repairs but it was very informative and boosted my confidence at doing boiler repairs.
I'd recommend this course to anyone wanting to improve their knowledge of boiler workings.

What’s the cost like?

 

[SlimD]

What’s the cost like?

£200 for the 3 together or £75 each

 

[shyguy2005]

I’ve just finished baxi 3 day course for fault finding, multimeter , and combi appreciation. Absolutely brilliant wish I had done it years ago !! Learnt so much . Highly recommend.

 

[dan_the_plumber]

Yeah I did the three courses with Baxi a few years back, was really good, a real confidence booster