Boiler diagnostic Training

[merv]

Which are the best courses to go on?
I really need to get on some courses as I am turning away work at the moment. which to be honest, I cant afford to do.

Any suggestions will be appreciated!!!!!

 

[sparra1100]

combi fault finding courses are good and also manafactures courses baxi do a good one ,you find out loads of stuff that cover most boilers to an extent

 

[merv]

Unfortunatley living in the South West, there isnt anything down in this part of the world. Most training seems to be in the midlands.... Diesel ,Hotels,Course fee's & loss of earnings...lol. Looks like Il have to do some travelling.

 

[Mbear]

My mate self taught himself with repairs. All u need is a multimeter, fga, manometer and boiler instructions. They have the fault finding pages and wiring diagrams. I know it can look intimidating but u can break it down to Smaller sections and work with it. It's handy to have a few spare ntc's (of boilers that are common to area) in the van aswell to aid diagnosis. what I do at times if i suspect a faulty/dirty sensor is remove the plug from ntc head and fit a new ntc dry (dangling the new ntc on the wire whilst the old one is still fitted) and then run the boiler, if it works loads better then you've found the culprit, if not then you've not wasted a part and u don't have to drain boiler to retrieve it. Obviously this trick is for wet sensors.

General sequence for SE boilers.....
Demand
Pump
Fan
Aps
Ignition
Rectification
Modulation

 

[gasmarc]

Good advice Mbear ,what is good also is get into the habit of measuring resistance on pumps and fans ntc etc . I went to a job for a nightmare landlord where he had an engineer around twice and all the panels were off the boiler and the guy could not fix it. I arrived on the job and it was a mess , I went straight to the thermistor and fixed the problem in minutes

 

[ambrosia]

really worth taking a day off for the baxi one in dartford

when i went there, there was 2 guys who had stayed in a hotel so they could attend


other than that the thing thats really helping me is a patient mate to phone up when i got really stuck

also you can get some quite good advice on this forum

 

[Dsgas]

Heya mate,

Worcester do an excellent course on the CDI boilers and they also give some training on the same course on multimeters. Have been on vaillant and Baxi both are good but the worcester course was slightly better. John Reginald combi boiler fault finding and repairs book has been very usefull on testing all components. Manufacturers tech departments are good recommend building up a list of their numbers on your mobile. Apart from this everything that has been posted to this thread is spot on.

 

[jtsplumbing]

HI mate as you see i live in Tavistock so have the same problem as you! once you get past Bristol it is difficult to get any sort of boiler training, seem to think its only rocks and trees down here, Glow-Worm used to have a place in Exeter but that has Moved to Bristol, It is a pain in the arse living down here trying to afford the costs to get on these trianing courses a lot of them are free but the cost of travel and overnight stays and a couple days not earning can be offputing, I tend to ring manufacturers tec and run through it on the phone, Mr Combi has a CD its about £60.00 but have seen it on ebay for a lot less, think ive got a copy at home (Off ebay) .

 

[merv]

Well ,I need to bite the bullet and go for it. !! Im sure it is all worth while !!

Ive had a look on ebay but I cant see the Mr combi disc... what is on this disc?

 

[johnnyplumb]

really worth taking a day off for the baxi one in dartford

when i went there, there was 2 guys who had stayed in a hotel so they could attend


other than that the thing thats really helping me is a patient mate to phone up when i got really stuck

also you can get some quite good advice on this forum

baxi make you do 3 days training. they wont let you do the boiler diagnostic training without doing basic electric's [ 1 day] & boiler appreciation [1 day]. it's £75 for each days training, ends up costing you £225. you can get 10% off for booking on line though.

 

[jtsplumbing]

Runs througth testing useing mukti meter, if it will let me can run you copy off !!

 

[merv]

thanks JTS that will be great! It sounds like a really useful CD.

 

[Gordon T]

Have a ring round the boiler reps. Ask if there are any courses that you could tag onto for free. Tell them you will be buying and fitting their boilers but want more hands-on training for possible future breakdowns etc. They should try their best to get you onto a course. After all its their boilers you will be fitting. Any training is worthwhile if its for free. You will always pick up some knowledge/tips that you didnt previously know. I personally go on any courses that I can but I wont pay for them.

 

[AllyBongo]

I travelled from just outside Glasgow to Warrington for the Baxi courses, 3 days in all. Well worth it, good tutor (Big Roy) was very helpfull and explained things well. Been doing breakdowns for over a year now and getting a lot nore confident with it. The best way of learning is gaining experience though.

 

[CES]

Vaillant are doing free one day ecotec training apparently.

 

[merv]

Thanks Guys, Im glad Ive brought up this topic. I am getting some very good feed back. I will book onto baxi a.s.a.p,,Also, if there is a free vaillant coarse, i will be lookiing into that also..... once I've kept the Tax Man happy !!!

 

[AllyBongo]

Been on the Vaillant one to, good info on the range plus a good free lunch! Was on it to become a Vaillant installer, now get the 5 year warranty plus a better price on their boilers. Worth taking a day off for

 

[gasmarc]

I have done most of the courses and you never stop learning unless you are some type of brainbox. I do breakdowns most of the time and have come to the conclusion that sometimes you will end up walking away from a job and taking a PCB or other part in payment for your time, fortunately it doesnt happen that often

 

[johnnyplumb]

I travelled from just outside Glasgow to Warrington for the Baxi courses, 3 days in all. Well worth it, good tutor (Big Roy) was very helpfull and explained things well. Been doing breakdowns for over a year now and getting a lot nore confident with it. The best way of learning is gaining experience though.

baxi does training days in blantyre, if your in ayrshire it's alot nearer than travelling to warrington.

 

[kirkgas]

baxi does training days in blantyre, if your in ayrshire it's alot nearer than travelling to warrington.

aye but who wants to go to Blantyre, even the banjo players dont want to go there

 

[johnnyplumb]

aye but who wants to go to Blantyre, even the banjo players dont want to go there

aye some parts are like the wild west without the horses, i'm in the posh part of the town though, only 1 murder a week where i am.

 

[loosenyourmoose]

Agree with johnnyplumb

just spent 3 days in Dartford with BDR THERMEA (BAXI) and it was most excellent !!! Learnt loads and built a good base for better diagnostics and the use of a multimeter, i feel more confident and knowledgeable by far now :smiley2:
Book online and or ring them up for 10% off.

Highly Recommended Gents. Don't think - do !!! I have been told that " MR COMBI " aint worth the cd/dvd it's printed on, but don't quote me !!!!

 

[AllyBongo]

baxi does training days in blantyre, if your in ayrshire it's alot nearer than travelling to warrington.

They told me when I phoned they didn't do the diagnostics up here, the closest one was Warrington. Hope thats true!

 

[stevetheplumber]

just think when you get independence youll need your passport to do the course

 

[merv]

Thanks to everybody for their views. I have booked my 3 day Baxi coarse in Warwick for next week and am looking forward to it !!!