Pulsacoil no off peak supply help

[Michelle0601]

Hello there I'm having trouble with my boiler and I'm hoping someone can help as I'm at my wits end! For the last 5 years I've had an old pulsacoil 2000 boiler which only supplied hot water when the on peak was switched on for an hour or more, I assumed this was a fault with the boiler and learnt to live with it until I could afford to replace it

I have had the boiler changed to a brand new one also by gledhil and I'm still having the same problem, as I'm on economy 10 I have had the electric meter changed as i suspected the time switch may not be working and this may be why the off peak isn't kicking in however this did not solve the problem, the off peak socket has also been tested and when connected to a different power source works fine, i have hot water when the on peak is switched on but that is all

The heating engineer advised to have an electrician look my consumer unit as he believes the fault may lie with the contactor in there as thats responsible for switching from on peak to off peak, I have paid 200 pounds to have this contractor checked and replaced but still no power supply to my offpeak switch, I have no idea what or who to try next! I do have photos but can't work out how to upload 

 

[Andy™]

You cant post photos yet (you need 5 posts unless @Admin 3 upgrades your account

randomly replacing parts is not the best way to go about fault finding (as you have found out). when the boiler was replaced, was any of the controls replaced too?

 

[Michelle0601]

Thanks for answering, Yep defo been a lesson learnt there! The gledhil engineer tested the controls when installing the new boiler and said they didn't need replacing so no the switches haven't been replaced, when connecting the off  peak to an external power supply the light comes on and it starts working but for some reason unknown to the boiler engineer it does not switch on from my electrical supply, gledhil have taken the stance that the fault isn't from their side so I'm 2k down and still having to get up an hour early to switch the booster on! 

 

[Lurch]

First thing to do is get someone to actually diagnose the issue as it sounds like it is costing a fortune in electricity and boilers for no reason. Logically if the on peak works then the boiler must work so the fault isn't with that. If the contactor and time clock have been changed then it could be assumed that these work, but if you have had someone change the contactor it sounds like it might be yours and not the DNO's so surely it would have been a trivial matter of just overriding it to test the off peak side. That would tell you if the fault is with the supply to the boiler or the switching.

You need to get an electrician who can test the system and work out what is actually wrong.

 

[Michelle0601]

Thanks for your reply, I've had 3 electricians round but none were familiar with the pulsacoil system and weren't sure how it worked, the first two left telling me to call someone else and the third took a guess at changing the contactor but perhaps I've just been unlucky! 

 

[Sidewinder]

Welcome to the forum Michelle.

It certainly sounds like you have had a right outing with this.

Where in the country are you?

Perhaps one of the members here may be able to help, several of them have a lot of fault finding experience.

Perhaps you have had installers to look at the job previously with little fault finding experience?

As has been said, if the boiler works on one supply but not the other it would on the face of it appear to be a supply issue.

 

[Michelle0601]

Thank you! I know never did I think I would end up with a new boiler but the same old problem! I'm based in Hemel, Hertfordshire 

 

[Andy™]

@M107 might be near you?

 

[Blue Duck]

Or @SLIPSHOD & SLAPDASH isnt too far away...

 

[Adrian]

Is your pulsacoil doing heating aswell

 

[Michelle0601]

No The pulsacoil is just for the water

 

[Adrian]

Is the controls circuit feed from the on peak supply

Time clock set to the same times as off peak

 

[Lurch]

Thanks for your reply, I've had 3 electricians round but none were familiar with the pulsacoil system and weren't sure how it worked, the first two left telling me to call someone else and the third took a guess at changing the contactor but perhaps I've just been unlucky! 

They don't need to know how it works, they just need to confirm the off peak is working and/or the boiler works when the off peak supply is on.

I don't think you had actual electricians round, more like some inexperienced wannabe numpties with no idea what they are doing.

 

[Michelle0601]

Sorry I'm not sure but these are my controls if that helps 

 

[Lurch]

That looks even simpler to fault find than I first imagined. You should get your £200 back from the person that changed the contactor if it made no difference as everything is available in that box to test and confirm it works or doesn't before replacing anything. You really have had some bad luck on the chosen contractor front.

 

[Andy™]

any chance of a photo of the board with cover removed? warning: itll be live in there so dont remove the cover if your not confident enough to do so

 

[Michelle0601]

Worryingly I picked from the highest rated ones for my area on check a trade.com! Hopefully my luck will change with my next call out! Thanks for taking the time to respond I really appreciate it 

 

[Lurch]

The problem with sites like checkatrade and that is that the people reviewing them are the customers, so as long as you turn up in a clean van with your name printed on your shirt and charge half what everyone else does you will get a good review no matter whether you are any good or not (slightly exaggerated but you get my point).

 

[Andy™]

well there's your problem. find one via recommendation from friend / family. or maybe one you see around often, not the one who has highest rating on a trade check site. notice there are no negative reviews? thats because they get taken down so of course all their contractors are going to be perfect

 

[Michelle0601]

Thanks for the heads up guys I guess I have been a bit naive trusting internet review sites  :facepalm:  will start asking around friends for recommended contractors, one day I'll finally have no hassle hot water!