Boiler Fault Diagnosis Discussed by Total Boiler Services
Your boiler breaking down at any time is an inconvenience but even more so as the weather starts to get colder in the autumn months, being without heating and hot water can really disrupt your business and will often have a negative impact on your operation, customers and team members. Boiler faults always come when you are least expecting them so with this in mind, it’s a good idea to get your boiler serviced in September as this will make sure it is running at its optimum and you’ll find out any worrying issues before it breaks down in the winter.
Total Boiler Services are qualified to work on all types of makes and models of commercial boilers and we will ensure your boiler is running safely and efficiently for you. We offer a 24/7 emergency call-out service if you have a major boiler fault and if you are in Wales or the West of England we can get an engineer out to you quickly.
There are some common boiler faults that you can identify yourself and this will be useful to know when you call your Boiler Company as it gives them an idea about what the problem could be before they come out to you.
Total Boiler Services offer Boiler Servicing, Maintenance and Repair Contracts and these are something to seriously consider if you are a business that relies on having heat and hot water to continue to operate efficiently with no disruption. We will come out and fix your boiler as a day job or if you have a boiler emergency one of our engineers will come out to you 24 hours a day 365 days a year. Having an annual boiler contract with us means we will schedule your annual boiler services and ensure your boiler is running safely and efficiently meaning you don’t need to worry about it.
Our team of engineers are not just qualified, they are experienced too, as well as being Gas Safe Registered to work on any commercial size boilers. Our regular maintenance services are extremely cost-effective and will prolong the life of your boiler as well as minimising potential interruptions to your business activity from major faults, or the need to replace your entire system before you should need to.
Our remote boiler control systems let us know if you have a problem with your boiler and often this enables us to either fix it remotely, or we will know what we need to repair it before our engineer gets to you often meaning it is repaired more quickly meaning no loss of heat or hot water. Contact us today on 02922 407934 and we can answer any questions you may have about any of our services.
Common Boiler Faults
Whatever your boiler fault we would always advise that you call out a qualified boiler engineer whether you’ve fixed it yourself or not as they will check it is running safely for you and there are no risks to people and other systems or your property. Only ever attempt to resolve a boiler issue if it is a safe procedure and you know what you are doing.
What are the most common boiler faults?
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- You have hot water but no heating
- You have heating but no hot water
- Your water is warm but not hot
- You have noticed a small leak from your boiler or pipes
- You have a major boiler leak
- Boiler kettling (whistling, popping and bubbling sounds)
- Your boiler is noisy (banging, whistling, gurgling)
- Your radiators are cold
- Your radiators are making noises
- Your boiler keeps switching off
- Your boiler timings aren’t working
- Your boiler isn’t responding to the thermostat
- Your boiler won’t switch on at all
What should you do if your boiler isn’t working?
Firstly check if your boiler is displaying a fault code
If there is a fault code displayed then check your boiler manual to find out what the fault is and what you should do.
Check your gas, water and electricity supply
If you unexpectedly have no heating or hot water then check your water, electricity and gas supply first as this will eliminate if it is your boiler or your supply.
If you have had a power outage then often this can shut your boiler down and it will need rebooting. The error code will tell you what you need to do for this and often you won’t need a gas engineer to do this. You will often know this with other signs (electric clocks will be zeroed, microwave clocks, cooker clocks, computers will have switched off and won’t be on stand by, building alarms will be flashing). Remember that you may also have other sockets or lighting connected to a different circuit, so if power is available elsewhere, the problem might be isolated to the boiler.
Check your water supply by turning on a couple of taps around your property.
Check your gas supply by turning on another gas appliance to see if it is a gas supply problem.
Check your balance if you have a pre-pay meter.
Boiler Thermostat
Another common reason that you may not have heating or hot water s a problem with your boiler thermostat. You can check the thermostat by turning the temperature up or down and seeing if the heating levels increase or decrease. If there is no change then it is likely you have an issue with your thermostat.
Boiler Timer
Change your timer setting and see if it allows you to do it. Check that you get heating and hot water at the time you have set it to turn on as this will let you know if you have a problem with the timer. Make sure your timer is switched on and set to the right time and date, this will need electricity to be on.
Boiler Pressure
Low pressure is often a cause for no heating and hot water. There are several possible causes for this and most can be easily resolved. If you can, check your boiler’s pressure is set according to the manufacturer’s guidelines, normally between 1 and 2 on the pressure gauge.
Pilot Light
Older boilers will have a visible pilot light which will only be lit if there is a supply of gas and electricity and if your boiler is firing up.
Modern boilers normally only have a pilot flame that is visible when the boiler is on or the pilot light isn’t visible at all.
Room Thermostat
A room thermostat has to be on and requesting heat or your boiler won’t start. The easiest way to check this is to turn it up to the maximum temperature and see if the radiators turn on.
Circulating Pump
A circulating pump needs power from the mains to work and you should hear the pump or feel its vibration when your boiler is on. If you can’t hear it then it may be an issue with the pump which is common.
Radiators
If a radiator feels cool at the top and hot at the bottom, there is no heat at all, or it’s making noises then it could have locked air within and you can try bleeding it.
Thermostatic Radiator Valves
If the pipes on either side of the radiator are warm, try turning the valve to a higher setting and the radiator should warm up. If it doesn’t you could have issues with the radiator valve. Radiators that overheat or don’t respond to the TRV are likely to have faulty sensors.
Cylinder Thermostat
If your boiler cylinder feels cold or warm then turn up the thermostat and turn the hot water on. Hot water requires heat from the boiler and it should then start. If not then you are likely to have a problem with your cylinder thermostat.
Cylinder
If the hot water cylinder feels hot but you aren’t getting any hot water through your taps you may have an airlock in your boiler’s cylinder.
Water Tank & Pipework
The water feed, expansion and cold water storage cisterns should all be insulated to prevent freezing. If they’re not insulated then this often means they freeze in the colder months. This will crack pipes and damage your water tank causing your boiler to stop working.
Things to Remember – Boiler Faults
If you’re using a boiler manual you have found online, be aware that fault codes for different models may have different meanings, so it is important that the information you have is correct
Always follow the instructions in your boilers manual
There will only be instructions in the instruction manual on how to fix the fault if it can be fixed by the user
There may be times when it’s necessary to reset your boiler, your instruction manual will include how to do this
If you aren’t confident about fixing your boiler problem then don’t touch it, call a gas engineer
If the instruction manual instructs you to call a gas engineer, call us and we will arrange an engineer to come out to you quickly to establish the problem and resolve it for you
Some faults can only be fixed by a qualified gas engineer
If you are at all unsure, always call a Boiler Company like Total Boiler Services who have registered Gas Engineers and years of experience in all types, makes and models of boilers
Only ever use a Gas Safe Registered Engineer or business
Find out who your gas supplier is here.
About Us
Total Boiler Services offer Boiler Repairs, Servicing and Installations for all types of makes and models of commercial boilers.
We have a team of professional, qualified and experienced gas registered engineers who will come out to your property and assess what is wrong with it and often repair it on the same visit.
We provide a full consultancy service to advise you businesses on the industries most up to date and state-of-the-art energy and cost-saving heating systems and we can assist you to improve your businesses energy efficiency and reduce your energy costs.
If you have a boiler fault or problem contact us today on 02922 407934 and one of our expert engineers will come out and assess the problem and repair it for you. We work in Wales and the South West can arrange an appointment for you to suit your needs. We are experts in all boiler faults for all makes and models of boilers.
