Old Glowworm combi boiler broken.

[dnb]

Not been a good day. Our 20+ year old Glowworm Xtramax boiler has died. It made what I can only describe as a "selection of bad noises" when I was in the shower and when I got out to see what was wrong everything was dead - no LCD display, lights or faults.  The fuses are all OK, even the one on the PCB but there's no apparent life. Are there any experts on antique Glowworm boilers here that could provide some insight?

 

I would prefer to not have the expense of replacement given we're not going to be here much longer but it might just be better to accept that 20 years of relatively trouble free life is a good for a boiler since a cursory internet search doesn't turn up replacement PCBs (I'm assuming this is the problem given the total lack of life). What is a good economic make & model to replace it with? I dimly remember the spec as 28kW with 50 litres of DHW storage. I'm not convinced our 80s built house works with an ASHP for a number of reasons - efficiency and lack of garden space being the 2 most important - so I am stuck with gas.

[DamonHD]

Maybe see if Octopus can give you a zero or low quote for an ASHP despite your concerns.  Maybe a cheap second-hand boiler would last in the interim?

[dnb]

1 hour ago, DamonHD said:

ASHP

There is insufficient space between us and the neighbours, plus restrictive covenants to contend with. It's a non-starter unless I had a few months to sort things out with planning and the beneficiary of the covenants. All of it costs and we won't be living here in a few months with any luck.

[TonyT]

Find an equivalent boiler and just get quotes based on that, less hassle

add magnetic filter, weather compensation maybe a viesmann so it can modulate down to a low setting

 

[dnb]

Some progress... we got the pcb working by swapping out the dead VDRs and a fuse. Everything works apart from the ignition spark. Needs new electrodes or coil but that's why there are gas fitters.

[dnb]

For the purposes of thread closure, I have managed to find a sufficient stock of obsolete parts to keep things going for a bit longer for not much cash outlay. In the end it was a degraded sensor wire shorting on to the case causing the PCB problem (they have been replaced and tied up properly), a sick pump start capacitor and a sticky part in the 3 way valve. All of them displaying intermittent symptoms. Cash flow preserved for the moment... Only a small gas fitter bill. I can now get back to all the other broken things I need to fix and think about a plan for insulation improvements and a heatpump should we decide to keep this house.