Why your boiler breaks down and the common reasons for this…
The reason you’re probably reading this right now is you could have an old (open vent or heat only boiler) that your looking to upgrade or your current boiler has had it and you’ve gone into panic mode it’s probably one of the two, either way, hopefully this will give you a better understanding for if this ever happens.
Common reasons why your boiler breaks.
1. Aged pipes
This really comes down to how long you’ve had your current boiler in place for. Although we say your boiler should last 10-15 years. If you haven’t had a service annually or if it has been done incorrectly, that can change the life expectancy dramatically. A boiler is a very delicate and critical part of your home and should be taken regular care of.
2. Low or not enough pressure
Your boiler is constantly pumping cold and hot water around your home, in order to do this it needs air to pressurize and circulate, if it fails this could leave you wondering what the problem is. Finding and reading your pressure gauge is quite easy as it’s normally located on the front of the boiler unit and looks like a dial with numbers on it. To read the gauge, if it’s below one this is an indication you have a problem with the pressure that’s in the boiler.
3. No heat or hot water
Their are a few reasons why this might happen, it could be the diaphragm and airlocks within the pipes. Damaged motorized valves could be causing the issue, even low level waters can affect this along with the pressure of the boiler causing further problems
4. Leaking valves and pipes
This could be a link in any of the components and a qualified engineer will be able to find out exactly where it’s leaking from if it’s not visible to you. However you can check yourself to see if you can see water coming from any of the pipes so that you can put a pot down to catch the water to stop any flooding.
5. No pilot light
The common cause of this happening could be that the thermocouple needs to be replaced. Another reason could be the that if theirs a back draft from the flue and if the flue has some kind of obstruction, this may also cause the pilot light to go out because the burnt gases cannot escape . A faulty gas valve could be another possibility and the reason it’s there is to regulate the gas that’s in the pilot. If it is blocked it will stop the gas flow completely causing the light to go out.
6. Frozen pipes
As it hits winter it’s one of the common seasons that boilers decide to pack up and theirs a reason for this. You have pipes that run outside of your house. They freeze as it hits sub zero temperatures, so the water inside the pipes causes a block and it can’t flow correctly leading to further issue with your boiler. If you would like to get your boiler ready before winter fill out the contact form below.
7. Thermostat regulating issues
Misconceptions of a broken boiler could be that your thermostat isn’t reading correctly or it could be slightly off however the boiler is still operating the way it should be. You should always check your manual for correct reading times and settings as it could have come loose or knocked whilst opening a cupboard etc. Also, a good reason to check is that if you have a temperature you’ve set a temperature that it can’t go above, the dial setting will stop heating causing you to think that it’s broken and the house will not warm where you want it to. So check with your gas safe engineer that you deal with or click here to find one.
8. Heat not reaching the radiators.
This could be a number of issues that can be solved by your own treatment which we will explain or by your local plumbing and heating company.
It could be that there’s trapped air in your pipes due to summer shutdown of your heating system. It rises from problems with the valves and the struggle of building up pressure. The first thing you should do is bleed your radiators from the main unit and this should solve the issue however if it’s still not solved the problem, it might be a good time to call the professionals.
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