gas combi boiler problem

[philb]

anyone any ideas? when my central heating or hot water demands heat the boiler takes about 6 to 8 seconds to ignite. Is this a usual thing or is there something wrong?

thanks

 

[JackL]

You may find that your boiler is set on economy mode. With ours on economy mode, if you turn on the hot tap, the water (small amount) that is in the system leaves the boiler without the gas igniting. If you want to override this without changing the setting, we open the hot tap, close it again, then reopen and the boiler gets the message that we are running a lot of water off.
Biggest mistake we ever made having the old boiler and emersion heater tank replaced by this bloody thing. I hate it. It takes forever for the hot water to reach the bathroom sink tap when I want a shave. It's enough to encourage you to grow a beard!

 

[TonyW]

I assume that you have a boiler that heats water only on demand i.e. without any secondary storage.

I think there will usually be some lag of gas ignition when the water starts to flow. As to your 6-8 seconds to ignite I have no idea if this ok.

For safety sake I would suggest that you consult a qualified gas fitter to make sure your boiler is functioning properly.

You may find someone who can give a professional opinion on:
diynot forum

Cheers
Tony

 

[tim]

No thats about right. Its quite disconcerting at first but it sounds perfectly normal.

Cheers

Tim

 

[Woody Alan]

From an uninformed bystander, I guess would be the reason is the boiler is doing some self checks to make sure the water is flowing before it heats to ensure that no superheating of the water is taking place. I believe some sophisticated boilers will be quicker but actually inject cold water into the superheated water to prevent scalding.

Alan just guessing

 

[Russell]

I am just about to replace my old tank and boiler with a new tank and boiler with an immersion heater in the tank. If the boiler breaks I still have hot water. don't like combi's every one I had in my old house broke once every couple of years or so.

 

[special bone]

Get someone out to clean and service the boiler. Ours was the same and got worse and worse until eventually it would cut out and refuse to give any more hot water. Turned out the previous owners hadn't serviced it (nor had we in 4 years ) so chances are it had never been serviced in the last 10 years :shock: .

It cost us less than £100 and I don't regret it (as beardy as I am, I still need to shave ).

Rich