Boiler Breakdown Advice

· 3 min read
Boiler Breakdown Advice

I have listed a few of the most typical boiler breakdown problems below to help you get 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 find out what the fault code is and why it has made the boiler breakdown.

All boilers are given a users manual, inside this manual will be listed all of the fault codes and the reason for the code to display.

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

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

https://www.scsplumbingandheating.co.uk/  could be avoided just by keeping your boiler on a regular basis.

All boiler manufactures recommend having a boiler service completed each year to help keep the boiler working since it was designed for.

A boiler can be like an automobile engine, if left un-serviced it is going to breakdown and may possibly be costly to repair.

One of the common boiler problems is low water pressure, this is due to the water within the whole of the system dropping to a spot where in fact the boiler sensor senses low water and throws up a fault code and locks the boiler out.

Low water pressure can mean many things, it could be a leak somewhere on the machine, a radiator valve leaking or perhaps a leak on a pipe somewhere.

The most common answer to this problem is the expansion vessel. If your boiler has been working with no problems for the last after some duration, then all of a sudden you notice 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, over time it will loose its pressure and water will enter the vessel, once this happens you might have a boiler breakdown with a fault code displaying on the boiler screen.

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

Another common boiler breakdown is due to dirty water, this is caused when no inhibitor is added to the system water.

You might have noticed if you've ever vented a radiator that the water is quite dirty as it pertains out of the vent, this normally indicates no inhibitor within the system, even though inhibitor was added, overtime it'll dilute down and can should be topped up, this should be checked each year.

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

Maybe you have encounter a boiler breakdown if it is snowing outside even freezing?


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

The condense must exit right into a drain, internally is preferable, but sometimes the condense pipe would go to another drain, if this is actually the case the pipe should be protected from the cold with pipe lagging.

Should the condense pipe freeze over, the condense will start to back up into 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 had the boiler serviced.

Boilers do breakdown even though serviced each year, however, not just as much as a boiler not serviced.

Always have your boiler serviced each year by a Gas Safe Registered company, avoid Joe Bloggs from later on just because he is cheaper.

All Gas Safe Engineers have to re-sit their gas exams every five years to carry on working within the gas industry.

I hope this advice helps you keeping in mind your boiler working and producing all of the heat and warm water you need.