Relight my boiler

[ChipshopCharlie]

Hi,

I have a house in Brittany that is heated with a "Franco Belge Berretta Exclusive Ballon 28 BIPD" gas fuelled boiler.

As we are not often there, it spends a lot of time out of action and is very difficult to get started, but once it gets going, it's great.

The problem seems to be that the pressure in the system needs to be above one bar to start it and it is invariably below this when we first try to light it. We tend to manage to get it going after about a day of bleeding radiators, pressing various buttons and turning various knobs.

The trouble with that approach is I never really find it what was wrong and what actually solved the problem.

Does anyone here have any experience with these?

Would be most grateful for a couple of tips on how to get the pressure up and start it quicker, as a quick shower after the ferry ride over there would be great.

Thanks in advance

Charlie

[woolybanana]

Wish you could relight my fire, baby!

[BIG MAC]

Sounds like a combi boiler and it will not  like a system pressure of less than 1 bar. You should have a make up facility to recharge the system. Is there a couple of valves with a braided metal hose between them below the boiler or elsewhere on the system? If so open them both and watch the pressure rise ...MONITOR THIS YOU DON'T WANT TO EXCEED 2 BAR  for now so shut down both valves at 2 BAR and really you should disconnect the hose (People rarely do though). The system should now run and be stable...I would however suggest doing a little bit of rad bleeeding and then bringing back up to 1.5 TO 2 BAR. All should be ok. Pressure drops due to water temp, and the amount of gas thrashed out of it as it runs through heat cycles and pumping etc. perfectly normal.

I fitted my own system and no it has no leaks however I still need to give it a little top up a couple of times a year.

Cheers

[Gluestick]

Sounds to me as if it is our old friend, again, the vase d'expansion: the internal bladder has sprung a leak.

Once stabilised, the system pressure should not vary very much: unless you have significant leaks in the heating circuit pipework, rads, valves, pump etc: these are normally seen fairly simply visually, by verdigris around the leak: particularly so if the system is left pressurised but "Down" for long periods of time.

 

[BIG MAC]

If the expansion vessel is Kaput then there will be a progressive loss of pressure however you are saying that without charging the system (Quite the reverse you seem to be venting it) you manage to get a service established. TRhis suggests that you are putting the boiler back in until there is sufficient temperature in the circuit to expand the water to create an 'acceptable' pressure...of course when you go away the water will cool and the pressure will drop......drop in pressure the gas valve wont open as the solenoid is connected to a pressure sensor and the boiler becomes a pig to get fired.

So yes you may have an expansion vessel issue, it may be that the nitrogen bladder  has deflated completely and you are operating the system in a dangerous condition however I would have thought that there would be a calibrated safety valve blow off which would start to unload once heating came up to temp/pressure as there would be no expansion vessel to take up the ...err expansion.