Strange noise and yellow flame

[Carlos_UK]

Hi, I have an ideal classic ff230 and this evening when the heating came on I noticed a rather loud whining noise coming from the boiler near the top and when I looked in the little inspection window, the flames were yellow rather than blue, so I have immediately turned it off and phoned the landlord and am waiting for him to get back to me, I'm now worried about how long this has been going on for and are we at risk from carbon dioxide? (we have an alarm which hasn't gone off) or as its all sealed would it all just go out the flue?

Thanks.
Carlos.

 

[heliotrope]

As your boiler is room sealed it is extremely unlikely that any noxious fumes would enter
your property.

You are right to turn off the boiler. Leave it off until the problem has been rectified by a qualified
gas operative.

Carbon Monoxide is the dangerous gas given off by the yellow flame.

 

[townfanjon]

I hope your landlord has the gas appliances checked , you should have a copy of a 'landlords ' gas safety certificate.

 

[Carlos_UK]

Yeah, everything's all legit, the whining noise can be heard from the flue terminal when outside and according to a google search would appear to be an issue with the fan, but of course I won't be touching it.

I turned the boiler back on after a while as getting cold and the noise disappeared once warmed up and the flames were back to the normal blue, but getting someone out anyway!

 

[stevetheplumber]

fan probably failing when hot my advice would be leave it off

 

[Ray Stafford]

I turned the boiler back on after a while as getting cold

Not so cold as you will be getting if the Carbon Monoxide builds up.

That will cool you down from now until judgement day.

 

[Carlos_UK]

Just an update, British gas are refusing to come out and look at the boiler until after someone from transco (or whatever they're called now) comes and looks at it to verify its safe!

 

[mountainman]

Why get involved with BG?
Post your location and one of our members will sort you out quickly and for a fair price with no added bullsheet.

 

[Carlos_UK]

That's who the landlord has an agreement with

 

[mountainman]

Not so much 'looking after your world' as bleated in the BG advertising eh!

 

[Aquazone]

I think your landlord may be pulling your leg here, or not telling you the full story. Maybe he has an excess to pay with BG and is hoping Transco can come and verify its safe to save himself some pennies? (Which they won't as they leave everything turned off)

Surely when everyone else phones up BG and says there's a problem with their boiler they don't have to have Transco out........

 

[lupieloo]

Your landlord should sort all this out. It's not down to yourself to do all this. Tell him you will hold back your rent if he doesn't get it sorted and I wouldn't be turning it on either. When was someone round to do a gas safety check on it and a full service and I mean a service not a stupid gas analyser test. I always clean them out with a brush and hoover.

 

[Carlos_UK]

I always call them as its easier than going backwards and forwards with my landlord, so its me they told that national grid gas had to come out!

 

[heliotrope]

What have we not been told here?

The gas transporter does not not inspect appliances, they are not qualified to.

They will only check that the gas supply is working and safe to use. If a leak or
an unsafe situation found the supply would be capped off and made safe.

 

[rpm]

I always call them

Just how many times have you had problems?

 

[Carlos_UK]

That's exactly why they came out because I reported seeing a yellow flame, he checked the gas tightness at the meter and then checked for gas and carbon monoxide traces in the house which were none, he then got me to turn on the boiler to see if the flame was yellow, which it wasn't he then said that there was no immediate risk but said not to use the boiler into a gsr engineer comes and looks at it, which British gas are doing tomorrow. I have lived in this house for nearly six years and have had bg out a few times, once for a leaky radiator and twice for expansion vessel related issues! Basically the bottom line is the boiler needs fixing and bg have gone a bit ott with insisting national grid gas come out first, due to this yellow flame I saw yesterday but not since!

 

[IND_Nick]

If you call British Gas to report a smell of gas or suspected carbon monoxide they will pass it onto Nation Grid as NG have an emergency response facility and BG do not. So if BG just booked it in for an appointment tomorrow and you died in the night they would have some explaining to do. However as someone pointed out all NG would do is isolate the supply if they thought there was any danger and then tell you to get a GSR engineer in.
I would also consider putting on a coat rather than the heating if you believe there is an actual danger to life, even if you're cold!

 

[Carlos_UK]

Well I don't know what the procedures are, just what happened! And don't worry, it won't be getting turned back on until bg come out tomorrow!

 

[AWheating]

I assumed that national grid guys still did not have the competence to check for carbon monoxide and they called in a GSR. Has this now changed?

Last time rime I spoke to a national grid guy they did not even have a personal co alarm.

 

[Carlos_UK]

He had some sort of electronic probe for this, which looked similar to the one you guys stick into the boiler to check it but was reading the air, he commented on the model of boiler and explained to me how the fan works in the boiler and about baffling, so maybe not your average NG guy?

 

[Crinkmeister]

When was your last gas safety inspection? You should be given a copy of the certificate and one goes to your landlord. It is a legal requirement that your landlord has this done every 12 months.

 

[Carlos_UK]

All done, it was the fan as suspected and now is running quieter than its ever been!

 

[mountainman]

For about two years then time for another fan☺