Vokera boiler: issues with heating

regedit

Hi all,
First time in this section of boards.ie
We have a Vokera boiler (not sure about the exact model butit is some 6 years old) and up to now, no problems with it. For the past two weeks or so, we're noticing it is under-performing. It goes on when told but the rads are not as warm as they should be, the water in the boiler (even though thermostat is set to 80 degrees, it is still lukewarm two hours after boiler is on so needs immersion topping up) and I do not know if it is related to the whole issue or not, the thermostat in the living room, keeps showing that the temperature is only 14 degrees even though two digital thermometers we put in the living room, show 19-20. One would assume that if temp is so low that the boiler would work more intensively to try to reach a higher temp (the thermostat is set on 21).
We had a plumber/heating 'expert' have a look at it and he thought everything was OK. However, to me it is clearly not OK.
In fairness, the last time the boiler was serviced was 3 years ago (someone who's a registered and qualified installer told us that this type of boiler does not have to be serviced annually)
So the problem:
- Rads not heating up sufficiently hence the house is cold
- Water in hot press not warming up
- Thermostats: in hot press set to 80 degrees but water lukewarm and thermostat in living room is set to 21 but keeps showing it is only 14...

Any idea guys?

gdavis

First of all ur service guy is talking through his hat,as boilers should be serviced every year.an annual service can show up potential safety issues as well as ensuring ur boiler is operating correctly.would need to know more about system,is pump running?have u motorised valves?is pressure in system ok?is boiler really firing and staying lit or is it the fan u hear

regedit

gdavis wrote: »

First of all ur service guy is talking through his hat,as boilers should be serviced every year.an annual service can show up potential safety issues as well as ensuring ur boiler is operating correctly.would need to know more about system,is pump running?have u motorised valves?is pressure in system ok?is boiler really firing and staying lit or is it the fan u hear

Thanks for feedback.
The system has two motorised valves in hot press and the guy said tehse were working fine (albeit one of the valves had to be replaced less athan 2 years ago). The pump is running and in relation to pressure, the gauge always shows very low pressure. i queries this a few times and I was always told that the system is a gravity fed one (tank in attic) so pressure would never be high). The boiler is firing and staying lit fine but again, dont know if it is staying on for a longer period of time or switching off soon. It would make sense that it stays on longer as the thermostat showing quite low temp...
Question: Do I call Vokera servicemen and they check everything (will they check heating overall or concentrate only on boiler...) or do I call a local tradesman and ask them to check the whole system and conduct any repairs...

superhooper

Hope I'm not hijacking here but I have a similar problem. My Vokera Combi boiler is heating water but not rads. Was advised by gas engineer to go straight to Vokera to fix it. Vokera want €240 up front and basically guarantee they will fix it unless its one or two more larger parts(can't remember names).

JohnnieK

It could be a faulty Thermistor in the boiler. If it's 6 years old it's probably a Mynute e model. It could also be a dirty burner.

shane0007

regedit wrote: »

Thanks for feedback.
The system has two motorised valves in hot press and the guy said tehse were working fine (albeit one of the valves had to be replaced less athan 2 years ago). The pump is running and in relation to pressure, the gauge always shows very low pressure. i queries this a few times and I was always told that the system is a gravity fed one (tank in attic) so pressure would never be high). The boiler is firing and staying lit fine but again, dont know if it is staying on for a longer period of time or switching off soon. It would make sense that it stays on longer as the thermostat showing quite low temp...
Question: Do I call Vokera servicemen and they check everything (will they check heating overall or concentrate only on boiler...) or do I call a local tradesman and ask them to check the whole system and conduct any repairs...

What is the system pressure? You say it is always very low pressure. This could be the issue.

K.Flyer

superhooper wrote: »

Hope I'm not hijacking here but I have a similar problem. My Vokera Combi boiler is heating water but not rads. Was advised by gas engineer to go straight to Vokera to fix it. Vokera want €240 up front and basically guarantee they will fix it unless its one or two more larger parts(can't remember names).

The parts you refer to are if the Heat Exchanger and Pressure Vessel, which they charge about 50 euro extra for, if either need replacing.

DGOBS

It's great, but if you problem lies anywhere else but on the boiler, you just wasted a shed load as they won't touch it.
Also, just went to a customer who had them out 5 weeks ago, paid approx 300 and they changed the pump (solid silver?) now the boiler won't work again, another 120 to come take a look as not their problem!