Burnt out Solenoid on gas Valve Greenstar 30 i Erp

[Deleted member 101887]

Green star 30 i Boiler has Burnt out Solenoid on gas Valve. Worrying thing is the boiler didn't turn off and the plastic coating the solenoid kept smouldering. Has anyone had/seen this before. I am a Physicist, is coating a solenoid with plastic normal? This is/was obviously a fire hazard. Interested to hear any opions on this!!!

 

[Gasmk1]

are you a gas safe registered physicist i dont think so you need to contact someone who is and leave it alone.

 

[Deleted member 101887]

I have, a Gas safe Engineer came this morning the component is replaced. Just wondered is this might be a design fault and a much larger issue. In my laboratory I design such things and would never coat a solenoid that is frequently used in Plastic.

 

[ShaunCorbs]

Boiler should be under warranty they normally have a 5 year

 

[Harvest Fields]

As above mate. Get your engineer in to do the work for you.

 

[Riley]

The works been done by the sound. In answer to your question it’s probably more a question for the manufacturer obviously no electrical failure is good but I suspect they will put your mind at rest

 

[Wirdy]

I agree with you.
A good engineer should've offered to contact the manufacturer on your behalf and raise the issue as a safety observation & get back to you with any results, whilst keeping the failed part for inspection. If you picked a shoddy engineer, they will have just thrown it away & not bothered to follow it up.
In any case, since you have the photos, I would contact SIT group in italy via email & send them the pics, if you feel public-spirited and have the time. It can do no harm & is what I'd do.

 

[Chuck]

In my laboratory I design such things and would never coat a solenoid that is frequently used in Plastic.

The usual reasons for this type of plastic barrier is compliance with electrical safety regulations. During servicing, boilers often need to be live while the cover is off, which means there needs to be some protection for the winding from being accidentally touched by a finder or poked with a probe.

There's a lot of distance in terms of safety and testing between the death-boxes Professor Brainstorm and his elves build from catalogue parts in their physics laboratories and what can be sold to the general public. I've known some very smart people do some very dangerous things because they mistakeningly thought that being an 'academic' meant that safety legislation didn't apply to them. The HSE doesn't share this opinion.

 

[Deleted member 101887]

The usual reasons for this type of plastic barrier is compliance with electrical safety regulations. During servicing, boilers often need to be live while the cover is off, which means there needs to be some protection for the winding from being accidentally touched by a finder or poked with a probe.

There's a lot of distance in terms of safety and testing between the death-boxes Professor Brainstorm and his elves build from catalogue parts in their physics laboratories and what can be sold to the general public. I've known some very smart people do some very dangerous things because they mistakeningly thought that being an 'academic' meant that safety legislation didn't apply to them. The HSE doesn't share this opinion.

Surely you have misunderstood the reason for this post. I am merely pointing out that any design genius with half a brain would not heavily insulate a part of the bolier that regularly gets warm and even hot with a plastic. This is living proof that the trust you put in these commercial companies who do not always comply with HSE. Just look at the pictures and even in this condition the boiler would not turn off. Just do the Physics it makes no sense. This little item will be brought in front of the HSE and the Italian Engineers who designed it will eventually will be shown to be cost cutting.

 

[Wirdy]

If a gas valve does not fail-safe its a concern & should be reported to the manufacturer. I remember various bulletins were put out within the UK Defence organisation when a particular model of Honeywell gas valve did not fail safe.

 

[fixitflav]

If a gas valve does not fail-safe its a concern & should be reported to the manufacturer. I remember various bulletins were put out within the UK Defence organisation when a particular model of Honeywell gas valve did not fail safe.

If it's any interest, I too have a boiler with an SIT gas valve, pic below, also got some plastic on it. One of the solenoids failed a couple of years back, but it went open circuit, didn't short. It failed safe, the boiler wouldn't fire.

 

[Wirdy]

Just out of interest, when you say the boiler didn't turn off, do you mean it didn't turn off when the solenoid overheated or didn't turn off when the boiler was switched off?

PS-I refreshed my memory on the Honeywell v4400 valve issue I mentioned earlier and it was a diaphragm spring failure, rather than a solenoid failure.

 

[Last Plumber]

During my working life, I have worked on many Solenoid valves. I cannot recall seeing one in that condition. I would suggest that it is a one off but would still contact the manufacturers and send them the valve for inspection, just in case there is a batch with issues!

 

[Wirdy]

More than likely the solenoid piston got sticky, the solenoid coil then drew maximum current trying to move it & eventually overheated.
The plastic coating on the solenoid would usually be a fire-retardent thermoplastic and looks to have done its job in smoking & melting rather than catching fire. I'd want to know why the solenoid failed rather than going down a blind alley with the melted plastic issue.
Wear & tear? contamination?
I wonder if national grid had used any leak sealer in the local area?