swmbo decided to have a bath, and discovered that the hot water was only luke warm.

Then, thinking about it, I couldn't remember the boiler coming on this evening - it normally makes a bit of noise.

So I decided to fire it up manually and lo and behold, nothing. After digging out the manual, I went throught the "start up" procudure and determined that the boiler got as far as turning on the fan light, but not firing up the boiler. Then it dawned on me that the fan normally makes a bit of a racket, but all I could hear was a kind of buzzing sound.

I decided to take the boiler apart, and got as far as removing the fan unit. Thanks to the low quality chocolate boxes used, one of them shattered as I tried to unplug it to remove the fan, causing a nasty cut in my finger

Anyway, finally removed the offending article. In probing around, nearly burnt my finger on the top of the fan where the motor is.

I realised that the fan wasn't starting up due to friction of the rotor on the top of the fan unit. In fact, the friction had been building up for some time (hence the noise I suppose ) and to the point of gently filing away at the top of the fan enclosure :eek:

The motor is held in place by a kind of bracket mounted on some thick rubber washers, presumably to reduce vibration. Due to the weight of the motor and gravity doing it's thing, the bracket has gently bent in the middle which has been causing the rubbing and evenutally too much friction for the motor to start.

So, I think the easiest option is to get a new fan unit. Is anyone here a gas plumber / fitter who could help with a quote for the fan unit ?

The boiler is a Baxi Solo2 PF 50, and the manufacturer's fan part number is 229421

But I have to say I'm rather annoyed by the lack of quality of parts. I suppose the chocolate box thingy over time and subjected to heat has "dried up" and shatters at the smallest of pressures. The bracket strong enough to support the weight of the fan motor

Anyway, off now to have a litterally cold bath

My mind is playing tricks on me and I read that as "brother" not boiler. :( Don't make me jump like that Xav!

Hope its sorted soon.

shouldn't be touching it mate.

not trying to moan or getting funny but its gas and i wouldn't consider touching it myself and i will change anything on my car and work on any electrical equipemet so work on a fairly high level of stupity but gas? no way, get a qualified man everytime

I've been there mate and sorted a few probs with my Baxi combi myself including the fan. As long as you are not mucking around with the gas connections then you are not breaking any laws. If something looks like it might easily break then leave it to the professionals. Sounds like you know what you are at though so good luck.

Watch out for the little plastic pipe joint next to the pump. Eventually through expansion and contraction it will probably fail like mine did. Cheap part but best to get it sorted quickly by a CORGI plumber because the ignitor unit has to come out which involves disconnecting the gas. I left mine dripping for a couple of weeks and then it failed spectacularly and almost filled the ignitor unit with water. The PCB was soaked completely but lightly dried it with a hairdryer and away it went again after a few tries. That was over a year ago and now it looks like it is finally on its last legs. Guts of

As long as you are not mucking around with the gas connections then you are not breaking any laws. If something looks like it might easily break then leave it to the professionals. Sounds like you know what you are at though so good luck.

Is there not an electrical part to the motor then? I thought you have to hold a cert to do household electrics nowadays.

And here we are about to embark on the happy adventure of having one of these modern boilers installed. Laws dictate that we must have a condensing boiler fitted, along with all the frail electronics, fans, and other gubbins that that entails. I'm told if we're lucky, a modern boiler has a life expectancy of 15 years. What a good job we aren't allowed to have those inefficient old back boilers any more eh!

Is there not an electrical part to the motor then? I thought you have to hold a cert to do household electrics nowadays.

A combi boiler isn't part of the household electrics, it's an electrical appliance so it's the same as having a go at repairing your washing machine or TV. There's a warning on the case of every appliance which usually states that there are 'no user serviceable parts inside' or 'shock hazard' but it's not illegal to have a go yourself.

System boilers or open vented boilers are different because they usually have external pumps, wiring centres and motorised valves which are considered household electrics but the boiler itself is still an appliance.

It's no where near the gass stuff.

Actually, having taken off the front of the combustion chamber, you could see how simple the whole concept is. Gas burns at the bottom, flames/heat go past heat exchanger, fan at top pushes exhaust out to the chimney part.

So simple in fact that there are very few mechanical parts which can fail, but obviously do :(

I've had a go at taking the fan apart, but it's no real joy as it's coked up a fair bit and can't get enough access to bend the bracket back.

I guess getting a new unit is the easiest and safest option after all. I'll be phoning around tomorrow...

For plumbing questions generally this is a good resource: http://www.plumbingpages.com/forums/index.cfm (Very helpful,but they don't like you talking about breaking into gas lines unless you're CORGI registered)

& this is a good place to buy from: http://www.onlineboilerspares.com/

Is this the part? http://www.onlineboilerspares.co.uk/shop/product_info.php?products_id=222&osCsid=b23c9fd643b51fda3feb75b15d7f32aa

And here we are about to embark on the happy adventure of having one of these modern boilers installed. Laws dictate that we must have a condensing boiler fitted, along with all the frail electronics, fans, and other gubbins that that entails. I'm told if we're lucky, a modern boiler has a life expectancy of 15 years. What a good job we aren't allowed to have those inefficient old back boilers any more eh!

That's correct, Part L of the building regs requires your installer to put in a condensing boiler now (Not here in N.I. yet though). These are more efficient (up to and beyond 90% I believe) so should save you a few pennies. You'll also have the satisfaction that you are doing a little to protect the environment.

Reliability isn't keeping up with boiler technology IMO unfortunately so once your warranty is due to end, get hooked up with a decent CORGI service engineer who specialises in your brand of boiler to do your servicing. IMO non-specialising engineers waste time getting hold of manuals and parts leaving you without heat for a couple of days.

Your boiler will probably last 15 years but that's only because the heat exhanger, pump, motorised valves, sensors, fan and main PCB will probably have been changed by then anyway so that statement isn't exactly true.

So you're saying it's actually going to last longer, or less than 15 years?

Current boiler is over 30 years old, has no PCBs or fans in it.

We won't go into servicing just now, or I shall get all cross again :P

Well, I think I've fixed my little fan problem. Putting it all back together again.

TBH, I'd be a little annoyed at having to pay over

So you're saying it's actually going to last longer' date=' or less than 15 years?

Current boiler is over 30 years old, has no PCBs or fans in it.

We won't go into servicing just now, or I shall get all cross again :P[/quote']

not trying to worry you but the deciding factor will be when a couple of expensive parts fail at the same or lack of parts availability makes it more cost effective to install a new one. In saying that, boiler manufacturers use the same standard parts throughout their ranges for years. Typical example was a complaint we got from a council house tenant whose boiler failed. he said that the contractor had put in a 2nd hand boiler which shocked us as it had just been installed new in 2004. turns out he opened it up himself to see a 2001 date inside on a sensor.

You should get 15 years ok. Do you plan to stay in the same house for another 15 years anyway?

Well, I've put it back together and still no go from the fan, so I guess it has burnt out.

Oh well, another

You should get 15 years ok. Do you plan to stay in the same house for another 15 years anyway?

As it happens, no, but we've been here 17 1/2 years so far. Should I plan to move every couple of years then - will my house wear out too?

why not just get a gas maintanence contract for about

Don't get me started now ....

We've been paying British Gas their 10 quid a month for the last 10 years

why not just get a gas maintanence contract for about

Weve had a condensing boiler for the past 9 years. All I will say is GET A GASBOARD SERVICING AGREEMENT. Our record was 5 callouts in 6 days and probably in total about 30-40 callouts in addition to the annual service. The slightest little slip out of tollerance or bit of muck anywhere & the failsafe shuts it down. Only plus is thay are cheaper to run when working.

dont forget the contract doesn just cover the boiler.. it covers the pump and radiators as well.....

The boiler we have in our house must be getting on for 30 years old now. Still works well, its a floor standing thing that has separate pipes for the heating and hot water. A Corgi engineer hasnt been anywhere near it. (lights touchpaper) The GAS boiler was installed by my dad inside the house nearly 30 years ago, and then relocated by him to the extension when it was built about 20 years ago. As an engineer he does any maintenance work required himself. I think the only part of the system thats failed since it was moved was the water pump that supplies the radiators. He also installed and connected the new gas cooker a couple of years ago. All the gas fittings and pipes etc are all readily available from B&Q, Homebase and the likes.

dont forget the contract doesn just cover the boiler.. it covers the pump and radiators as well.....

Weve got underfloor heating, miles of Pipe, 3 pressure sensative pumps (

You could get Baxi themselves out http://www.heateam.co.uk/index2.html which is what I did 2 weeks ago, costs

As it happens, no, but we've been here 17 1/2 years so far. Should I plan to move every couple of years then - will my house wear out too?

Everything wears out including houses and people.

The boiler we have in our house must be getting on for 30 years old now. Still works well, its a floor standing thing that has separate pipes for the heating and hot water. A Corgi engineer hasnt been anywhere near it. (lights touchpaper) The GAS boiler was installed by my dad inside the house nearly 30 years ago, and then relocated by him to the extension when it was built about 20 years ago. As an engineer he does any maintenance work required himself. I think the only part of the system thats failed since it was moved was the water pump that supplies the radiators. He also installed and connected the new gas cooker a couple of years ago. All the gas fittings and pipes etc are all readily available from B&Q, Homebase and the likes.

Must be costing a bit to run though. A 30 year old boiler isn't anywhere near as efficient as modern equivalents.