Opel Fruit<P><BR>Opel Fruit, Dept. 53<P>

I doubt the filter in the pump inlet is blocked. I would certainly clean the supply filter. To do this, run the boiler, turn the shut-off tap on the filter to off and let the burner die. Put an old bowl underneath the filter - there will be some spillage. Unscrew the large ring and take this off, then gently waggle the bowl until it unsticks from the housing - watch the O-ring doesn't get lost. Gently turn the filter to release it - it is on a loose bayonet. Then clean the filter with a paint brush. Once you have the filter back together, try turning the oil pressure adjustment on the burner just half a turn clockwise. Open the shut-off tap and fire the boiler - it may take 3 or 4 goes before the oil is bled through.

It's the "Banging old boiler" syndrome, by the sound of it. It's normally caused by the injector (gicleur) chattering/spluttering due to low oil pressure. I suspect the gicleur is running at its low pressure limit. If the filter is clean...... I can only suggest you get a chauffagiste with the correct equipment to check the pump aspiration and pump pressure. The pump aspiration check will verify that the pump is able to draw fuel correctly and that the filters are not choked. The pump pressure check and adjustment will ensure that the gicleur is operating in its correct pressure band. I would also be tempted to fit a new gicleur. If you want to observe the flame, open the boiler window. Be aware that if the burner is coughing, you may get sparks and fumes flying out...

No it hasn't! You can buy Boss White and Boss Green (for potable water). http://www.diytools.co.uk/diy/Main/Product.asp?iProductID=1743 Typical French equiv: http://www.geb.fr/gb/gp/gp_etan4.htm (in English) or http://www.geb.fr/gp/gp_etan4.htm (in French)

Gas (GPL or Nat) burners don't tend to suffer drift or coking or supply clag problems like their (pedantic) oil equivalents. The main problems are due to airborne contamination (dust, corrosion/erosion, soot and other detritus). Since you have a firing problem on gas, I would carefully check the condition, cleanliness and setting of the electrodes, their cables and the ceramic insulators. This should be fairly straightforward. Beyond that, give someone a call.

Alo? Ma chaudiere est en panne.  Avez-vous eu une livraison de mazout récemment ?  Non! Et la dernière fois vous avez fait entretenir la chaudière ? 2001!  OK, a demain.....If your oil boiler is coughing and banging, or if the flame keeps going out, the probable cause is a blocked/dirty supply filter. The effect of a blocked filter is reduced oil flow, and thus the injector spray pattern becomes reduced with the resultant loss of injector pressure. The filter element in the "glass" bowl should have a silvery appearance. If it looks black, it's blocked. It is easy to change - if it ain't that old, you can wipe it clean, inside and out. Or just change it. If you are feeling particularly handy, check the strainer in the fuel pump inlet too. It's usually missed and often en caca.  It is also worth mentioning that the banging problems often follow an oil delivery. All the muck in the bottom of the tank gets severely agitated and drawn into the filter. It is a good idea to leave the boiler off until it has all settled - perhaps a day or so. If possible!

Assuming it is a water leak - you may find it necessary to top the water pressure up. If this is frequent, there is a risk of increasing the rate of corrosion in the water network. Other than that, just make sure you always have some pressure and don't let it run dry. In the inverse of my previous comment, you can buy a boiler without the burner and use your burner. Did the guy mention where the leak was - was it the boiler heat exchanger?

Metro = Macro Not cheap though. But no idea about bulk oil. Haven't seen any used veg oil recycling activity here yet.... quite fancy popcorn scented burner fumes!

It is likely that the burner is worn out, by now. Provided the boiler itself is in reasonable condition, no leaks etc., then it may pay you to just fit a new burner. This could cost you as little as 250 Euro plus commissioning. Oil Boilers need annual maintenance. There are 2 critical filters that need replacement, the injector needs replacement, the gaskets need checking and the combustion chamber needs de-coking. Amongst other things on the hydraulic side. On top of that, the burner MUST be checked/adjusted after the maintenance has been done. This MUST include all of the following: oil pressure setting by gauge, air flow setting to obtain the correct CO2 reading at the flue, verification of the flue draught by gauge, verification of the pump aspiration (suction) by gauge (to check that the supply AND pump strainers are free-flowing) and verification of the flue temperature. Anything less is useless.

I take it this means you fixed your leaking joint????????????????????????????????? Do let us know!

Boiler temp: depends on how much heat you need - start at 60C and adjust up or down by 5 deg until the system can heat the house generally well within half an hour. Avoid running it below 50C or above 80C (NOTE: >65C can cause a mild burn to a child's skin.) Vanne Melangeuse - open fully (i.e. so all the flow is going pumpwards) and then close it VERY slightly. With 14 rads, you need all the flow you can get. Not sure why you have one? Soupape pression differentielle - is it the type with a little ball in a phial?? Not many of them around nowadays. More later.... Balancing - interesting with a SPD. However, the principle is: Remove all TRV heads so the valves are all open, determine the farthest/largest rad. Open the lockshield valve on this fully then back off half a turn (to stop it sticking). Close all the other rads' lockshields fully, then open each to half a turn. Fire the system up and allow it to come up to temp for 15 minutes, at 60C flow. Make sure the SPD is NOT bypassing at all. Make sure the pump is on speed 3. Check that the fully open rad is very hot top and bottom. Feel the other rads top and bottom. Any that are NOT hot top and bottom need to have the lockshield opened half a turn. Adjust by degree, then move on to the next. Keep doing this until you have similarly hot rads all round. (If you have a problem acheiving this, try to throttle the fully open rad down a little - this is unlikely). The scientific and correct way once this initial set up is done is to now measure the flow and return temp at each rad. The idea is to get a temperature differential across each rad of 10C +/- 2C. The lockshields are adjusted to achieve this. This takes time and patience. And shoe leather. Once this is done, you check the flow and return dT at the boiler. This should be 10-12C. NOW you set the SPD and pump speed to achieve this. This can be "interesting". There are other ways of setting the SPD....but at this point the SPD should NOT be bypassing. You can then pop your TRV heads back on. Set them to max for the moment. You should now be able to adjust the SPD to JUST open at this point. Now set the TRVs for comfort. Good luck. Make sure the system is air free, by the way before doing the above. It is normal to allow a day or two running and a final bleed. Bleed AFTER setting the initial pressure.

Which are wrong.... the nominal minimum pressure is dependant on the vase d'expansion pre-charge, and is generally 1.2-1.3 bar. the nominal max pressure with the correct vase d'expansion is 2-2.2 bar at 80C flow temp. If anyone has pressures outside these figures, they have a problem.

Sealed system (cold) pressure is wholly dependant on the expansion vessel pre-charge. Anything else is misleading. 0.5 bar is too low for any EV, 3 bar is on the relief limit. If your system is doing this, Dave, you have a major problem! Either your expansion vessel is too small, or it has lost its pre-charge pressure. I strongly suggest you sort it immediately. If you need any guidance, let me know. (The topic is covered in the sticky.)  

MFI have their Hygena stores here. www.hygena.fr You can design your kitchen on line just as you can in the UK. Or www.ikea.fr of course. There are others.... places like Leroy Merlin have kitchen design in house. Not sure why you can't find anywhere?

The only way to cure it is to resolder it. Which means draining and ensuring the joint is dryer than dry. Which is not usually practical. Alternatively, cut the offending joint out and use a couple of bicone joints (compression) with a short length of new pipe. Then it doesn't matter if there is a trickle of water. Not sure why the joint is leaking, (or the others now fixed) but you shouldn't have the cold pressure at 2 bar! It is far too high. Depending on your expansion vessel pre-charge, you should have no more than 1.3 bar cold, all bled.  

Long straight runs must be avoided - for the reasons and illustration given. It is far worse with 22mm PEX/PER - the 15mm and 10mm pipe is less prone. There are various means of controlling the length growth, usually be allowing bends and/or adding expansion loops. Or use copper. Underfloor pipe is small bore and run at only 38 degrees or so. So the problem is largely insignificant. As long as the guidance provided by the suppliers is adhered to, there should be no problems.

There is no obvious way of telling from the Amazon sites - any of them. Amazon UK isn't specific either. We do several things - eyeball the back of the DVD in Leclerc (or elsewhere) and see what the French supply. Then buy the thing from Amazon fr. OR buy from Amazon UK. Delivery to France is normally quite cheap - you do pay the higher TVA though.

You're right Nick, but it does remind me of the "Tax Disc in the Post" years ago!  

A number of words and phrases are translated here: http://forums.livingfrance.com/shwmessage.aspx?ForumID=272&MessageID=232195  

200L C/Es are the most common, and assuming you are heating it from Heures Creuses electricity only, you would be borderline on 4 showers plus basin/sink use. You may find the hot water runs out towards the evening. 200L C/Es with Steatite shrouds are available for about 120 Eur. If you want to always have hot water, the next most common size is 300L, and you will find them rather more expensive. About 350 Euro plus. 250L ones are about the same. PER pipe: try http://www.acome.fr/fr/batiment/pdf_hydraulique/aquacome/AQPS059F.PDF for basic info, or use the Leroy Merlin brochure, which is free. Or look at page 38 here: http://www.leroymerlin.fr/html/actu/fr/opecom/gd-chaufcent.htm All the Bricos carry a good range of PER from 12 - 20mm O/D 

2 things: Pump should be sized correctly - in terms of working pressure, head and flow rate. The tank pressure switch should be set correctly. Or the correct type if fixed.The normal cut-out pressure set on the pressure switch is 3.8-4 bar. The switch has a hysterisis of about 0.8 bar, so the pressure inside you tank will drop to about 3 bar before the pump kicks in again, and should be able to maintain > 3 bar when you draw water from a reasonably large tap. Or shower! Try and adjust your pressure switch to cut out at just under 4 bar. If this cannot be achieved (and the pump keeps running) the wrong pump has been fitted. For comparison, the pump motor must be a minimum of 1HP ( = 1.07kW) rating for domestic supplies.

Small-minded builder. Provided, as I mentioned above, the thing is fitted correctly, there are normally no problems. And stick to known brands. Which rather suggests something about certain "builders". Wide berth coming up.

Macerator toilets (pan, cistern and macerator combined), and the stand-alone units which will also take sink/shower waste are available form most Bricos and Merchants. Prices vary from circa 200 Euros for the basic standalone units to upwards of 500 Euro for top-end combined units with enclosures and accessories. Shop around for deals. SFA, who make the "Saniflo" range are French. There are other makes, of course. Make sure the guidance provided with the unit on the outlet pipe limitations are taken seriously..... 

See answer above!

Upload any photos you want to display on here to one of the Photo Repositories, I used PhotoBucket. Once there, right-click copy the "URL" link under the photo and then hit the Insert Picture button on here (the little mountains). Paste the link That's it.

The only reason the burner locks out is because the flame has died. This can be for a few reasons, the most common being too much air (the flame literally blows out) or restricted fuel delivery from the tank. As far as too much air is concerned, and assuming you have the C09 burner, you need to set the secondary air supply as per the Deville manual. This is fairly non-critical, but does need to be set in the region shown for the output you require. (You have which size and pattern gicleur?) Then you set the primary air using the Allen key supplied with the burner. It is normal to set the oil pressure FIRST, using a screwdriver on the pressure regulator. You then assess the flame - open the sliding door on the observation hole and check that the flame is a series of definite licks and are orange with no white or blue in them. If you have these, reduce the air using the Allen key until the flame pattern and colour are correct. If you have a problem with fuel delivery, observe the oil filter. The oil level should fill the glass completely at rest, and once the burner is running, the oil level should not drop by any more than about half way down the glass. There should be NO bubbles at all. See what you find....