Ferroli Optima Combi Bolier-Hot water not coming on

Discussion in 'Plumbers' Talk' started by cmoggy, Aug 11, 2005.

  1. cmoggy

    cmoggy New Member

    Hi, I've got a prob with a Ferroli. on the 'hot water' setting, when the hot tap is turned the boiler doesn't produce hot water. I can get hot if I turn the dial from 'hot water' to 'heating continuous & hot water', but this also means that the heating comes on (not desirable in this weather!). So the water is actually being heated ok, just not remotely by the taps. Any help would be much appreciated. I am an Engineer but not in the plumbing trade, so please assume little knowledge. Ps the pressure is reading just above 1 bar. Many thanks.
    By coincidence my Grandad has the same problem on his Baxi Bahama 100, but his has been unused for at least 12mths now.
     
  2. Agile

    Agile Member

    As an engineer you should look at the service book which is well written. See how it works and see what detects the hot water demand.

    I cannot remember this one. I dont need to bother with books because I just look at a boiler and see how it functions.

    On older models there is a diverter valve with a diaphram operated diverter valve. This may have failed IF your model has one! Otherwise there will be a HW flow valve usually a mag reed switch device which will be stuck or otherwise failed.

    tell us what was the problem!

    Tony Glazier
     
  3. cmoggy

    cmoggy New Member

    I've downloaded the manual for the Optima 701 at, believe it or not www.ferroli.co.uk and It has the following:-
    1. Combination gas valve, 2. Knob gas valve, 3. Operator gas valve, 4. Modulating regulater (modureg)gas valve 5. Microswitch combination gas valve.
    Are any of these what you describe?
     
  4. cmoggy

    cmoggy New Member

    hello, just trying to keep this post alive. Can anybody describe a procedure which I can identify whats wrong.
    Many thanks
     
  5. Jimbo

    Jimbo Screwfix Select

    Can anybody describe a procedure which I can identify
    whats wrong.

    Lift handset, call plumber! :) (sorry I don't know)
     
  6. chris clifton

    chris clifton New Member

    I thought Agile had already indicated what was likely to be at fault, but you seem to be ignoring this. If you can't follow logically through with fault finding, you'd better get a competent engineer in.
     
  7. Scalgon

    Scalgon New Member

    Is the flow as good as it always was? Do you live in a hard water area? If "no" to A and yes to B then it's highly likely to be limescale. There is a three-quarter inch cap fitted to the flow out beneath the boiler. Turn off the supply and remove this cap - be careful, don't force it if it doesn't come easily. If there is limescale in the boiler then it will be in the cap also. If yes to A then it's not limescale. The Ferroli has a paddle flow switch, which does fail. It's easy to replace. It's double-washered, so be prepared with new ones. On some Ferrolis there is also a flow restrictor fitted on the connection into the flow switch.
     
  8. Easy Life

    Easy Life Member

    it's a simple boiler to repair

    on the circuit board there are coloured LEDS that indicate what is and what is not working, follow that using the manual

    the normal fault on that boiler going by what you have said is the temperature sensor that is located on the DHW pipe, it looks like this http://www.abcotuk.co.uk/images/P123s.jpg we normally change both, you can mail order from this company they are dirt cheap and very good to deal with.

    going from memory I think the DHW & CH sensor both have two green or grey wire going to them, the DHW one is located behind the drop down circuit board, access to it is normally from below the boiler at the rear, these both screw into live water pipes, on the DHW the mains needs to be turned off to the boiler and the hot tap turned on, there is normally a small amount of water that comes out when you unscrew the sensor if you swap them quick no problem, same with CH at the very least release the pressure from the boiler / drain it down.

    Another problem we encounter with ferroli boilers is that the wiring loom is “had it” example boiler not working but as soon as you open or move the wires on the circuit board it fires up, in that instance we normally change the boiler, as we don’t fault find intermediate faults on wiring looms.

    We only advise competent persons carry out the above repair for obvious reasons.
     
  9. trevh007

    trevh007 New Member

    Hi I had the same/similar fault. There is a small sensor fitted to both the DHW pipe and one to the central heating pipe. My hot water wasnt working but my CH was working. I swopped the 2 sensors over and the fault swopped over.So change the sensor , cost about 7 quid.Hope this helps.
    Trev
     
  10. tomplum

    tomplum Active Member

    trev hellllllooooo its 2007 that problem was 2 yeats ago...want some cornflakes ??
     
  11. MK       MK2

    MK MK2 New Member

    I AM HAVING THE SAME PROBS WITH THE WATER.
    BUT MY BOILER IS / MODEL (DOMIcompact F24 B ) How can i download the manual for this model? as sugested by /cmoggy/
     
  12. Captain Leaky

    Captain Leaky New Member

  13. wetneck

    wetneck New Member

    Is the flow as good as it always was? Do you live in
    a hard water area? If "no" to A and yes to B then
    it's highly likely to be limescale. There is a
    three-quarter inch cap fitted to the flow out beneath
    the boiler. Turn off the supply and remove this cap
    - be careful, don't force it if it doesn't come
    easily. If there is limescale in the boiler then it
    will be in the cap also. If yes to A then it's not
    limescale. The Ferroli has a paddle flow switch,
    which does fail. It's easy to replace. It's
    double-washered, so be prepared with new ones. On
    some Ferrolis there is also a flow restrictor fitted
    on the connection into the flow switch.

    washing machines live longer with Scalgon:D
     
  14. pddy95

    pddy95 Member

    Hi all, I own a Ferolli F24 boiler and have been experiencing similar problems to that described above. Essentially I could not get any DHW unless the CH was on. I have had a plumber looked at my system twice only to charge me on two occasions without actually solving the problem. I'm not impressed to say the least. I have some knowledge of electronics and as such decided to do a bit of research. I initially thought there was a problem with the sensors and as such decided to swap the orange CH loom with the the blue CHW cable loom (not swapped the sensors), only to find I can now obtain DHW without CH. Can somebody please advise if this is likely to be a PCB problem as this arrangement obviously suggests the sensors are ok for both systems, so either it's a PCB issue or cable loom issue. Thanks in advance for advice and assistance.
     
  15. Glad its Friday

    Glad its Friday Active Member

    Fixed a problem on a F24 similar to this a long time back so cannot remember the exact details. However, it involved moving one of the sensors (DHW I think). It needed re-positioning a couple of inches and bizarrely solved the problem you describe. I don't mind if you are sceptical, check with Ferroli technical (be prepared for a long, long, long wait on the phone), it would appear to be a known fix. Seem to remember it involved opening up the combustion cover so unless you are GSR (or Walter's still about) you wont be able to legally touch it.

    Hope this helps, good luck, let us all know.
     
  16. pddy95

    pddy95 Member

    Thanks for your response and thoughts GIF. Very interesting. I'm intrigued to know if any other plumbers have any thoughts on this or experiences. It seems a lot of problems manifest themselves as something else and the range of problems seems quite extensive. I guess this is the purpose of fault finding I suppose. My plumber has already replaced the diverter valve which clearly hasn't solved the problem. He's worked on the boiler twice with no solution. I'm not sure how much experience he has with this type of boiler.
     
  17. Glad its Friday

    Glad its Friday Active Member

    On this forum, ask which is the best boiler you will get lots of different answers, we all have our favourites. But ask which is the worse, then perhaps you'll get a common answer, Ferroli. Up to you, but consider not wasting any more money on it, put it towards a new one. I remember it being a beast to fix, couldn't find anything wrong with it other than it didn't work, your next repair man will probably want to change the pcb....your last one seemed to be guessing at the diverter valve. As I say, consider changing it.
     
  18. pddy95

    pddy95 Member

    Good point. Think you're right. Funnily enough I've heard Ferroli stink! Just want to avoid forking out for a new boiler unless I can avoid it. Not going near the combustion chamber as I'm not corgi/gas certified. Cheers.
     

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