Potterton Kingfisher MF

[achurch1]

Hello I have an old floor standing Potterton kingfisher MF its about 14 year old basically never let me down I have had it serviced every year or so.

During the previous cold snap I recently I came down one morning and it was freezing checked the obvious reset the boiler nothing.
I took front cover off as its a built into a cupboard as I thought it would save fitter bit of time, I have boiler cover so called them out they didn't come when expected so I decided to put cover back on, whilst doing that I gave the cover a bang to pop it in place and the boiler fired up, it was cold so I let it keep going, to cut a long story short the fitter came out a few days later and he couldn't find anything wrong with the boiler and it made me look a liar, but he did say it can be a wire going into the front covered in white paste.
Well exactly the same thing has happened, this time im having to the bang cover or shut the door firmly every hour or so the boiler kicks back in.

Any ideas what this is ?

I will call them out again as before it rang for a month without any hassle now its failing more often

Thanks Alan

[aeromech3]

Just my experience with an older Potterton: gas fitter came to change the leaking mains shut off, after he was finished he could not get the boiler to relight so he stuck a label on it, saing he not check serviceable; after he was out of eye shot I gave the gas valve a tap and has worked ever since, could be a sticking solenoid in yours!

[moderator2]

Moved to CH.

[achurch1]

Hello I have an old floor standing Potterton kingfisher MF its about 14 year old basically never let me down I have had it serviced every year or so.

During the previous cold snap I recently I came down one morning and it was freezing checked the obvious reset the boiler nothing.
I took front cover off as its a built into a cupboard as I thought it would save fitter bit of time, I have boiler cover so called them out they didn't come when expected so I decided to put cover back on, whilst doing that I gave the cover a bang to pop it in place and the boiler fired up, it was cold so I let it keep going, to cut a long story short the fitter came out a few days later and he couldn't find anything wrong with the boiler and it made me look a liar, but he did say it can be a wire going into the front covered in white paste.
Well exactly the same thing has happened, this time im having to the bang cover or shut the door firmly every hour or so the boiler kicks back in.

Any ideas what this is ?

I will call them out again as before it rang for a month without any hassle now its failing more often

Thanks Alan

[moderator2]

Just one thread per topic please. I've merged these two.

[Someone-Else]

Sorry to sate the obvious, but if it works when you bang it, I would be looking for a loose wire / bad connection.
But before you look, TURN the electricity OFF!

[achurch1]

Thanks for your reply, I understand that to me its obviously something loose or failing, but ive have had the fitter come out and it works as it should, I have explained the fault to them that if I bang the case it then fires up, inside the case there is a sensor covered in white paste that goes into the front of the boiler could it be this do they fail? basically it works fine all day I go to bed we switch the thermostat down to say 15, get up in the morning and its freezing turn it up to 25 and it don't kick in until I bang the front, last week as it was extra cold we left it at 20 and it was OK

Any other ideas ?

[cogen6566]

The boiler when it comes on may last for a short period of time because it may be overheating or lack flow through the system. For example, there is a reducer from the feed/expansion tank that can become clogged and reduce flow down to the boiler. I shut my system completely down and drained the system before installing a new reducer tee. Afterwards I ran a cleaning agent through the system for about a week before draining the system down through each radiator with the fill valve remaining open. After each radiator was running clear I treated the system with an inhibitor and haven't had any problems. I did have some problems with ignition and replaced the igniter and orifice pilot. I intend on doing a power flush next summer as the heating system is working properly now.

[cogen6566]

PS-if you suspect a clog anywhere in the system, it is easy to find using a high powered magnet. It won't stick to the copper piping, but it will to high build up of ferrous material. My boiler was installed by the previous owner back in 1998. When I ran into problems and called in a local boiler company, the first words out of their mouth were 'you need a new boiler mate' to which I replied 'you need to do some more troubleshooting, mate' and just remove any ideas of installing a new boiler. The Kingfisher may not be the most economical, but in general (after reviewing loads of boiler videos and the manual) are really easy to maintain.

[gas4you]

What’s the boiler doing when you bang it?

Is it on and the fan running but not lighting or completely dead?