i have a potterton thats 12 years old can i still get parts for it as it takes time to fire up i had the pump changed next to the bolier its not that but was told it could be ele board

gen, February 2009

Gen,

you still don't mention which Potterton boiler you have.

From what I have read on here B Gas have some pretty shabby "upselling" tricks - they may want the business of puting in a new boiler at top-dollar prices. Seek another opinion before agreeing to any proposal they make.

And when he says, "they don't do the parts any more" does he mean just BGas or the hundreds of UK merchants who sell boiler parts I wonder?

Peccavi, February 2009

thank you for getting back to me and what you said is what i was thinking mine was but british gas guy came and told me my pump wasnt working but he was wrong and said its a part in the boiler and if it was they couldnt do it as they dont do the parts any more lol

gen, February 2009

Sorry - forgot to answer your question - You can get parts for 12 year old Potterton boilers but you don't mention which specific model you have.

Heating departments of Plumbing Merchants are a good source and there are many on-line suppliers too. Lots of bolier parts (all of them in reality) seem ludicrously expensive - some people offer reconditioned parts on an exchange basis.

Peccavi, February 2009

My Potterton Profile suffered this problem until just before Christmas. The fan would run and the pilot light light and then it would sit there - festering - unchanging for anything from 5 minutes to 2 hours before it decided to fire up. It behaved a little better once it had warmed up but was really bad starting up from cold.

It turned out (on my boiler) to be a weak pilot flame not getting the sensor hot enough to let the PCB sense the flame being alight. The solution was to dismantle and clean the pilot injector - I also bought a new one for about £35. The pilot flame is now big and beefy and the spark electrode glows bright red (it was never red before).

While I was messing with it I took the PCB out and tidied up a few dodgy looking joints - just in case. Instructions on how to take out PCB here....

http://kaijaks.co.uk/blog/nick/2008/02/10/dodgy-old-boiler

...and much of this originates from this site. Ignore any warning sign on the PCB that says warranty void if seal broken - you warranty will be long expired... Helps confidence to take digital photo before removing circuit board but not essential.

Good luck...

Peccavi, February 2009