burnt out circuit board

It was the circuit board. You do not have to be an electrician to see there is something wrong with it.

It was only five years old.

The price of the new board was £150. That’s the same price as the motherboard in this computer. But the processing power to run a household boiler is minimal.

I suppose the much smaller numbers of boards for a boiler compared to a PC explains part of the price. But I still feel ripped off

More home maintenance this week. I fixed the pull switch in the bathroom. The spring had been going for a while, it finally gave up last week. I couldn’t get an exact replacement and now have a hole in the bath room ceiling to fill.

I have spent about £200 on the flat this week. I’m a bit broke. Rather than go out tonight, I’ll sit and luxuriate in the warmth generated by my now working heating system. And maybe turn the light on and off in the bathroom a few times.

And good TV tonight with a new episodes of House, later Chelsea beating the Arsenal 3-0.

The heating had not come on. When I looked at the boiler, the overheat light was on. The fail safe had cut-out.

Normally it resets if you turn the boiler off for a minute. Not this time.

Mick Carrol came round lunch time and took a look. There was water inside, possibly from last night’s storms. It has been raining heavily all weekend.

Mick thinks the circuit board has got wet and will most likely need replacing. I need to contact Kevin Knibbs to see what he can do. Problem is, it’s an old boiler, spare parts may be difficult to find.

So no hot water or heating for the next couple of days. Not too big a problem as I have an electric shower. The weather is not too cold as yet.

If I can’t get spare parts for the boiler, I will have to get a new one installed. That’ll be a pain. A new boiler can’t be installed where the old one was, due to changes in the law. It will cost quite a bit to have the new system installed.

On the positive side, a new condensing boiler will be more energy efficient. Plus, I will no longer have a storage tank of hot water to heat up. I use very little hot water.

It’s just that money’s tight right now .

In the end the job was thankfully straight forward. It took 45 minute and cost £30. I am pretty happy with the result.

as promised, not showing the bald patch

My big worry was that the main stop valve into the flat would have to be replaced. As this would entail shutting of the main water inlet into the block of flats, I would have to had organize it with the landlord and generally annoy the my neighbours.

But all that had happened was that the valve had become a little stiff. I live in a very hard water area. Pipes fur up with time, valves jam. However, some expert leverage via some very long pliers did the trick.

I am advised that I should open and close this valve every other month to keep it mobile. I have added a recurring event to my Google calendar to this effect.

Now I can review the domestic chores I am failing to complete from anywhere in the world.

Another win for the internet.