Boiler Breakdown Advice

· 3 min read
Boiler Breakdown Advice

I have listed some of the most common boiler breakdown problems below to obtain the boiler backup and working.

You wake up one morning expecting to jump in the shower only to find you haven't any warm water, you go and check the boiler and notice a fault code is showing on the display, just what exactly do you do?

You need to discover what the fault code is and why it has made the boiler breakdown.

All boilers are supplied with a users manual, inside this manual will undoubtedly be listed all the fault codes and the reason for the code to show.

The fault code reason is only a guide on what to check on for, sometimes it could be a mix of problems, but it's a starting place to trace the problem.

Sometimes it's a magic pill simply by pushing the reset button, other times it can be a bit more involved.

Most boiler breakdown fault codes could possibly be avoided just by maintaining your boiler frequently.

All boiler manufactures recommend having a boiler service carried out each year to keep the boiler working as it was designed for.

A boiler can be like a car engine, if left un-serviced it will eventually breakdown and could possibly be costly to correct.

One of the most common boiler problems is low water pressure, this is caused by the water within the entire system dropping to a spot where the boiler sensor senses low water and throws up a fault code and locks the boiler out.

Low water pressure often means many things, it may be a leak somewhere on the system, a radiator valve leaking or perhaps a leak on a pipe somewhere.


The most common response to this problem may be the expansion vessel. If your boiler has been dealing with no problems for the last after some duration, then all of a sudden you see the water pressure needs to be topped up every now and then, the chances will be the expansion vessel needs checking.

The expansion vessel is like a balloon, as time passes it'll loose its pressure and water will enter the vessel, once this happens you may have a boiler breakdown with a fault code displaying on the boiler screen.

The expansion vessel is a very important part of the boiler and needs to be maintained each year.

Another common boiler breakdown is because of dirty water, that is caused when no inhibitor is put into the system water.

You might have noticed if you've ever vented a radiator that the water is quite dirty when it comes out from the vent, this normally indicates no inhibitor within the machine, even though inhibitor was added, overtime it will dilute down and can have to be topped up, this will be checked every year.

The dirty water will eventually block up the boiler heat exchanger, this cause the boiler to overheat and go to lockout.

Perhaps you have encounter a boiler breakdown when it's snowing outside even freezing?

Most boilers these days are condensing boilers, and when the boiler is working it produces condense.

The condense must exit into a drain, internally is preferable, but sometimes the condense pipe goes to an outside drain, if this is the case the pipe needs to be protected from the cold with pipe lagging.

Should the condense pipe freeze over, the condense will start to back up in to the boiler and finally the boiler will breakdown, with a fault code displaying on the boiler display.

These are just a few the most frequent boiler breakdown faults that may be avoided if only you'd the boiler serviced.

Boilers do breakdown even though serviced each year, however, not around a boiler not serviced.

Always have your boiler serviced every year by way of a Gas Safe Registered company, avoid Joe Bloggs from later on just because he could be cheaper.

boiler servicing Middlesbrough  need to re-sit their gas exams every five years to keep on working within the gas industry.

I hope this advice can help you in keeping your boiler working and producing all the heat and warm water you need.