Warmflow Condensing Combi Problems

[sparkymarky]

stumped on this one i am,

I have a 2012 warmflow HE combi 90 i service, it is installed in a customers 3 bed bungalow.

The boiler has excessive oil usage 1600ltrs in 6 months.

It has also suffered in the last 2 years with a cracked flow switch, leaking fiber washers (mains pressure at 2 bar) and the air supply hose has cracked to pieces because its gone brittle.

I am thinking excessive heating expansion and contraction could of caused some of the issues but thermostats and pcb seem to be fine and if so it would go into overheat.

The Co2 settings are 11.3% Co 63ppm 43-0c fgt.

Oil line is above ground and not leaking.

The tenant says that he uses heating less than 7 hours a day.

Has anyone else experienced similar problems?

Thanks in advance!

 

[SimonG]

Does it have a pressure reducing valve on the incoming mains? Also have you adjusted the thermostat on the reverse of the control panel?

How many rads?

Sounds like its getting too hot.

As for the oil usage, its directly proportional to usage if its set up correctly and you have ruled out losses through leakage.

oh, is it wired to a twin channel programmer? Ive seen some wired up with a perm live to the hot water, so it runs 24/7.

 

[sparkymarky]

Hi simon no prv fitted, boiler runs 9-10 rads (not big place though so they aint massive) yes warmflow twin programmer fitted.

I havent adjusted the rear stat, i guess that would be the thermal store stat.

Does sound like it is getting too hot, like i say though never overheats so that would rule out a stuck flow switch for instance.

Have seen a boiler use 1300ltrs in 4 weeks but that was because someone left the heating on 30-0c for 24hrs a day in a 4 bed house, But this bungalow usage seems to be way above average for what i would expect.

 

[lame plumber]

any frost stat on the system, found them to be an issue in the past

 

[sparkymarky]

Hi no frost stat fitted either.

Just been doing some calcs...
0.65 nozzle at 125psi uses 0.69usgph
0.69usgph = 2.4lph
5 hours on per day at 60% burn =7.2ltrs per day
6 Months use = 1296ltrs

So does this sound right if so 1600ltrs may not be out of the question.

Still doesnt explain the symptoms of it getting too hot?

 

[Best]

1600 litres doesn't seem too mad for 6 months - more or less winter months really.
Hot water usage and also the hot water will be constantly topped up with heat from short burn times from the burner, whether hot water is used or not.
Frankly I think combi oil boilers are heavy on oil.
Do check there is not a hot water leak somewhere in the house.
Probably wouldn't burn 60% of rad heating time. First hour, maybe max, second hour much less, etc.
Hope they are not doing too many cold starts? It's always that first hour uses most oil. Elderly folk, I find, or just tight people, tend to switch their heating to rads on just for little more than an hour, then on again an hour after a couple hours etc, etc. That is a massive waste of fuel, so I would check what "7 hours" really means

 

[OilBoy]

I am sorry to say, the leaks, brittle gaskets etc sounds just about right for a Warmflow. They come from the factory over fired. Derate them to preserve them and save the secondary heat exchanger service door gasket and spring baffles. IMHO not a great boiler :ack2: