Alde Compact 3000 not working

[John Russell]

Our Clou has been laid up for the winter, and not used much last year due to COVID restrictions, and a broken leg.

Today I turned on the heating for the first time in ages. The thermostat was switched on and calling for heat, the bolt of lightning switch was set to one bolt, the ignition was on.

Fluid levels are not high, but above the minimum.

First try I forgot to turn on the pumps but fixed that. The boiler fired up, but then switched off and the radiators didn't heat up.

Later, I noticed that if the ignition was switched off and on, it would light up for a while, the ignition light would switch off, come on briefly, switch off for a while then come on and stay on.

I hear the pumps coming on but I didn't hear the boiler fire up.

Have I missed something obvious, or what might the problem be?

J

 

[CazPaul]

Hook up definitely connected?

 

[JockandRita]

Ours is a Compact 3000, but our controls are very much different to yours John.

Does it work okay on gas? Good luck getting it sorted.

Jock.

 

[John Russell]

CazPaul Electrical hookup? Never used that, and not available unless I go to a campsite.

Gas is getting to the kitchen hob.

 

[CazPaul]

CazPaul Electrical hookup? Never used that, and not available unless I go to a campsite.

Gas is getting to the kitchen hob.

I thought the lightening bolt when you said it was set to one bolt, was just when you had hook up?

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[jongood]

Gas valve to it must be on or you wouldnt have heard it fire up. Air lock?

 

[Flairy]

I think a call to Andy at alde is called for could be the control panel, mine was replaced with the later version.

 

[JockandRita]

CazPaul Electrical hookup? Never used that, and not available unless I go to a campsite.

Gas is getting to the kitchen hob.

I thought the lightening bolt when you said it was set to one bolt, was just when you had hook up?

John Russell, I too thought that the "lighting bolts" on the panel in your image represented 1Kw and 2Kw, hence my question about it working on gas. Those symbols represent the electric elements on our system, as they do on CazPaul's system.

If you have gas to the hob, oven, and fridge John, but not to the boiler, it may be an indication of your regulator needing replacement, as like Truma, the Alde boilers are gas hungry.

With sitting idle for 3 x months, gas solenoids or valves may be a bit sticky, and need gentle tapping with a rubber mallet, or wooden hammer shafts to free them up.
That was good advice given to my by a Truma engineer at Derby, which solved my boiler gas starvation problem.

Cheers,

Jock.

 

[funflair]

Hi John

As others have said the lightning bolts are electric 1kw or 2kw so that switch can stay off, you say it fires up for a while, how long? do you have any hot water at the tap? are you sure that the circulation pump is running for the heating? I mean running not just switched on

 

[jongood]

I've never had the 3000 does the electric and gas run at the same time as per 3010 and later?

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[funflair]

I've never had the 3000 does the electric and gas run at the same time as per 3010 and later?

Yes, did on the Flair and sure it will on this.

 

[JockandRita]

I've never had the 3000 does the electric and gas run at the same time as per 3010 and later?

Yep, as Martin says Jon.

John Russell. I've been using a chap by the name of Graham Cuttmore for Alde advice and spares. He was Alde's former Field Engineer Manager, before setting up on his own. Although retired now, he still has stock spares for these older Compact 3000 models.

I have replaced the burner complete with igniter probes, which had all burned away to virtually nothing left of them. As your boiler is of the same age and not firing up, that could be the cause of your problem.

Let me know if you need any details for him.

Cheers,

Jock.

 

[jongood]

Yep, as Martin says Jon.

John Russell. I've been using a chap by the name of Graham Cuttmore for Alde advice and spares. He was Alde's former Field Engineer Manager, before setting up on his own. Although retired now, he still has stock spares for these older Compact 3000 models.

I have replaced the burner complete with igniter probes, which had all burned away to virtually nothing left of them. As your boiler is of the same age and not firing up, that could be the cause of your problem.

Let me know if you need any details for him.

Cheers,

Jock.

Yes helpful guy, isnt he Northants somewhere Jock?

 

[JockandRita]

Yes helpful guy, isnt he Northants somewhere Jock?

Yes, close to Wellingborough, the home of Alde UK.

He has been an absolute godsend for me Jon, both with technical advice and spares.

Cheers,

Jock.

 

[Flairy]

John could it have frost damage if it’s been off through the winter?

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[John Russell]

Thanks for all the input. I'll do some more investigation later today.

martin Switches, yes, I'm being dim.

JockandRita No luxuries of solenoids round these parts to go wrong! Though I did discuss it with Tori. It's a lever stop valve so I'm confident gas is available to the boiler. After that, it could well be that an internal valve is stuck shut, tho it fired up first time, and maybe a couple more times, but where to apply the hammer?

I was a bit vague about the controls - it's been so long since we've used it, normally it just works - and if it continues to play up we won't be going to the Alps next week, which would be disappointing for the third year running.

I did get a bit of hot water initially, very sputtery as I'd drained the cold water supply for winter.

The boiler fired first time but went off fairly quickly. I think it repeated the failed start later when I tried to restart it, but I don't think anything got to the radiators. I was busy with CG Gas at the time so didn't realise it hadn't started properly.

I suspected the radiator pump, but when I tried restarting the heating I got the odd behaviour of the ignition and the boiler didn't fire. I thought I could hear the pump running.

How or where does the Alde control its gas supply? Is the pump in the casing?

This morning I'm going to have a cup of coffee and look for a technical manual.

I don't think I'll be able to find anyone round here at short notice who is familiar with these systems.

 

[John Russell]

Thanks for all the great advice. jongood pushed me along. Luckily I didn't have time to read the manual.

We established the pump wasn't running on the heating circuit. I found the boiler in the service locker and followed the hot pipe to a valve, after which they were cold.

I remembered some German and was able to read this valve is used to stop the heating flow for summer use. When it's off, the system supplies hot water but not heating.

Some fool had turned it off so I turned it back on. Bingo - the pump hummed, heating flowed.

I vaguely remember the radiators used to get warm in the summer, and the boiler ran intermittently, which was irritating.

When I came in, grinning, Da said 'I can hear the pump, what have you done wrong?'

Moral is don't put complicated equipment in the hands of an idiot.

Thanks everybody and apologies for a daft question.

J

 

[jongood]

Thanks for all the great advice. jongood pushed me along. Luckily I didn't have time to read the manual.

We established the pump wasn't running on the heating circuit. I found the boiler in the service locker and followed the hot pipe to a valve, after which they were cold.

View attachment 729341
I remembered some German and was able to read this valve is used to stop the heating flow for summer use. When it's off, the system supplies hot water but not heating.

Some fool had turned it off so I turned it back on. Bingo - the pump hummed, heating flowed.

I vaguely remember the radiators used to get warm in the summer, and the boiler ran intermittently, which was irritating.

When I came in, grinning, Da said 'I can hear the pump, what have you done wrong?'

Moral is don't put complicated equipment in the hands of an idiot.

Thanks everybody and apologies for a daft question.

J

Glads it's sorted. there's no such thing as a daft question John, it might just help someone else in similar circumstances in the future.

 

[ajs4x4caravan]

Yep, as Martin says Jon.

John Russell. I've been using a chap by the name of Graham Cuttmore for Alde advice and spares. He was Alde's former Field Engineer Manager, before setting up on his own. Although retired now, he still has stock spares for these older Compact 3000 models.

I have replaced the burner complete with igniter probes, which had all burned away to virtually nothing left of them. As your boiler is of the same age and not firing up, that could be the cause of your problem.

Let me know if you need any details for him.

Cheers,

Jock.

Jock

I am having very similar issues with my Alde 3000 and am struggerling with bits.

Graham seems like a man I need to speak to, see you able to share details?

 

[John Russell]

Jock

I am having very similar issues with my Alde 3000 and am struggerling with bits.

Graham seems like a man I need to speak to, see you able to share details?

Try
gceng.cutmore@btopenworld.com

J

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