Hiya all - I got up this morning and the error light was flashing on my boiler telling me that there's a problem with the pilot light or the condensate pipe.

The pilot light is fine, and I have tried using a hairdryer and loads of applications of hot water to the external copper pipe and it just doesnt seem to be sorting it.

I have tried re-setting the boiler itself, and this seems to let the heating or hot water come on for a bit, but as soon as the water starts to come out warm the system shuts itself off and the error light begins flashing again.

Does anyone have an idea how I can fix this? I dunno if its worth mentioning but the inlet tam (beneath the boiler) doesnt seem to be making any difference to the pressure when I open it - is it possible that the water pipes are frozen before it even gets into the heating system? Or could it be that there's stilll a blockage in the condensate pipe that is somewhere deeper in the pipe?

Please help my landlord aint picking up his phone and I can't afford to get an engineer out and its freezing!!

freezingcold, January 2010

If the pipe is 15mm (1/2") diam' copper it is the pressure relief pipe that you are trying to defrost....."wrong one!"
The correct condensate pipe is normally 1 1/2" white plastic..or it should be. If you cannot see it outside it may be draining into a sink/bath waste pipe inside.

Notaplumber, December 2010

PS - the pressure is about 2, so seems to be fine. To be honest it doesn't seem to go up or down despite turning the inlet valve open/shut. That doesn't seem normal either..

freezingcold, January 2010

Thanks Ian!

You're totally right about the condensate pipe coming from the bottom left of the boiler, and it is made of plastic on the inside. However at the point where the pipe exits the external brickwork it has somehow become a copper pipe, which is long, bending towards the ground about 1 inch after it emerges from the wall.

So it seems somewhere between the internal and external wall (looks like about 3/4 inches plus the thickness of the brick) the pipe changes from plastic to copper. Water normally drips out of the end of the external copper pipe when the heating is on full blast.

Is this not normal? Has my landlord been up to something dodgy? The boiler is about 3 years old and I'm the only one who ever lived here.

Thanks again!!!

freezingcold, January 2010

the condensate pipe shouldn't be made of copper but plastic, so you may be pouring water on the wrong pipe. it should be made of white plastic, and comes out of the bottom left of this boiler i think. as for the filling loop, it may well be frozen but don't be too concerned about that unless the pressure is low.

Ian, January 2010

**sorry that should say 'inlet tap' in the 4th paragraph :)

freezingcold, January 2010