Glow Worm Boiler Problem

eleMental

im living in one of the 2-bed townhouses which have the glow-worm 18si boilers inside the front door. came home today and the light thats normally green was red with an "F1" error message on the display. i tried, obviously, turning it on and off a couple of times etc but its just not working, the pilot light wont even turn on.

was just wondering if anyone else has had the same problem with the same model and how they went about fixing it? i cant find any kind of manual and i think i kept everything that came with the house. and the only contact number on the boiler is a UK helpline.

any advice, suggestions or contact numbers (in these unfortunately freezing cold times!) very much appreciated. thanks!

loyatemu

have you tried repressurising the system?

Bord Gais on 1850 632632 will send a repairman around.

eleMental

loyatemu wrote: »

have you tried repressurising the system?

Bord Gais on 1850 632632 will send a repairman around.

hmmm not sure how to do that, is it something someone with zero boiler knowledge can do? (am just slightly wary of anything involving gas!!)

might try the bord gais option - wasnt sure if they would care but am going to give them a try now...

Earlsie

EleMental: I called Bord Gais to book a service for tomorrow of my boiler (€105) plus (€25) to take a look at my Gas Fire, Its a little pricey but for piece of mind I do not mind. (The cost is added to your next bill)

I had to re-pressure my system once before, basically the pressure needle on my system is supposed to be at 1.6 bar (approx 23psi), It had dropped to below 1 bar and I had no heating.

There is a valve in my hot press (flat head screw-driver type valve) that needs adjusting but I would say leave it to the professionals or someone competent in this area at a minimum.

Earlsie

Do_nal

Hi Elemental

I live in a 2-bed townhouse with the dodgy 18si boiler also.

Heres one thing you can try. We started getting that F1 fault in the summer cos we had turned down the thermostat but left the boiler at a very high rate, apparently this can cause the pilot to drop out.

Check the settings on the front of the boiler. The temperature dial to the left of the on/off dial should be set at approximately the third point (if you were looking at a clock, it would be set at 2 o'clock). If you are set higher than this it may cause the boiler to trip out. And presumably your thermostat in the landing is set higer than room temperature, cos if not that can also cause the heating to switch off.

I don't think F1 relates to the pressure in the system at all, but if the pressure is below 0.8 - 1 bar you can repressurise it by turning a little black knob in the hot press 90 degrees for 3-5 seconds. In our house, this is attached to the pipes just underneath the shelf on the right hand side of the hot press. You will literally be able to hear the system repressurise when you turn the knob - but only do it for a few seconds ata time and check the pressure on the boiler again.

Hope this helps

eleMental

do_nal you are my HERO!!!! :D:D:D:D

dad came down to help and first, like you said, we turned the black roundy knob thing on the bottom of the boiler (if anyone else tries this be careful, a load of black water came flying out!!!!!) then we turned that handle at the back of the hotpress a couple of times, whilst the other kept an eye on the pressure downstairs, and hey presto the heating is back on and working again.

thanks so much for taking the time to post that reply, its saved me paying someone $$$ to come do the exact same thing plus i have heating again now which is great, esp as its so so cold. i owe you one!

Do_nal

eleMental wrote: »

do_nal you are my HERO!!!! :D:D:D:D

dad came down to help and first, like you said, we turned the black roundy knob thing on the bottom of the boiler (if anyone else tries this be careful, a load of black water came flying out!!!!!) then we turned that handle at the back of the hotpress a couple of times, whilst the other kept an eye on the pressure downstairs, and hey presto the heating is back on and working again.

thanks so much for taking the time to post that reply, its saved me paying someone $$$ to come do the exact same thing plus i have heating again now which is great, esp as its so so cold. i owe you one!

Hey, no worries at all, glad I could help.....:D

One quick thing tho, I never mentioned any black knob thing underneath the boiler (that the dirty water came out of) ?? So I would just say that if you turned/loosened a knob underneath the boiler make sure that you tightened it/turned it back again after!!


The temperature dial I was talking about is on the front of the boiler just to the side of where the green light is. That was the only thing I changed on the actual boiler.

But it sounds like re-pressurising the system has done the trick alright. Way too cold to be without heat these days!! :cool:

mjmorrisroe

Does anyone know how to fix F14 fault on boiler?