Need to reset your boiler?

A central heating system without a boiler is a human without a brain or a heart! Basically it’s not ideal and is almost pointless. Many modern appliances may “lockout” as a safety feature where there is a potential fault, this is also one of the first things to try (as with most items) if your boiler is not working (some other tips to try if your gas boiler isn’t working can be found in our blog).

Some possible reasons your boiler may have locked you out:

Your water pressure is either too high or too low. If your water pressure is too high, there is too much strain on the system, if it is too low the basic functions cannot work properly. A good indication as to whether your water pressure is too high is if leaks are visible from the pressure relief valve (usually on the outside wall where the unit is installed) this could even be causing corrosion to your boilers pipework. It could be too low from a variety of things but most commonly, it is as a result of a bleeding radiator, a leak elsewhere in the system or errors in the main supply.

A lot of boilers lockout after 3 failed attempts to ignite. This could be down to a fault with the gas valve – blockages, seizures, damaged wire connections, too much or too little gas, it could be a blocked burner – carbon build-up or a damaged burner, failure to ignite can also be due to electrode and ignition lead problems (in this instance you will normally hear it ticking over) or intermittently operating, the fan may not be turning or even, the pilot light may have gone out. There are so many other, less common causes that might be at fault if your boiler cannot ignite itself – one of our local, friendly faces at Aura Heating will be able to look into this and fix for you!

Another cause behind lockouts is a blocked heat exchanger, routinely caused by a build-up of limescale – this is also referred to as “kettling” as the noise it makes is similar to a kettle boiling.

All boilers will have a reset button no matter what but whereabouts the reset button is found is dependent on the make and model of the boiler. Have a look through your manufacturer instruction manual for where this is. Once you’ve located the button the first thing to do is push and hold the button in for around 10 seconds and then wait for the boiler to ignite.

One important thing to be sure of is not to press the button multiple times as then you are at risk of a very costly repair! It will be evident if the reset has worked as any error codes the boiler was displaying will be gone, it will have ignited and the light might be green as opposed to yellow or orange.

If this has not worked, be sure to check the pressure gauge – the needle should be sat at about 1 bar, as basic as it sounds also ensure there is power getting to the boiler (the display screen would be lit if so) if not, check the fuse box and corresponding switch in case it has tripped.

If this attempt has not proven fruitful or you find yourself constantly in this predicament and performing resets, to safely locate the cause of the fault(s) you should hire a Gas Safe registered engineer. It may even be you need a whole new boiler! Aura Heating is proud to be the South of England’s leading, local boiler expert. You can get in touch with us instantly using our “live chat” service (bottom right of the screen) or by telephone on 02392 252171 or, please send us your queries via our contact page and we will get back to you as soon as possible.

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