Ideal boilers are one of the most popular brands, and also one of the few boiler brands featured on Good Housekeeping Reader Recommended.
While these boilers are great, they’re not miracle boilers, and they will have one or two faults throughout their lifetime.
This guide takes a look at the five most common Ideal boiler problems, and whether you’ll be able to fix it yourself, or have to get an engineer.
1. Your Boiler is Leaking
A leaking boiler could be quite dangerous, especially if it’s near any sort of electricity. There are a few different causes of a boiler that’s leaking water, including a faulty pump, broken heat exchanger or damaged seals.
The first thing to do would be to turn it off and call a Gas Safe registered engineer as soon as possible. They’ll be able to take the boiler apart and find the root of the problem. The worst-case scenario is that it could be a broken heat exchanger, which will be quite expensive to heat or replace.
2. Your Boiler Won’t Respond
If the boiler is refusing to turn on, then this could be an electrical fault such as a wiring issue. The printed circuit board is likely to be the culprit in this instance but it’s worth checking the plug first just to make sure.
First, check the plug. To do this, unplug the boiler and test it with something smaller like a phone charger or a lamp. If it turns on, then you know that the plug socket is working. If not, then you know the plug socket is fine and there may be an issue with the PCB, which will involve an engineer.
3. Your Boiler is Making Gurgling Noises
This is often a problem that’s linked to blocked waterways from the boiler itself. It’s very common for a condensate trap to fill up with debris.
You can take off the condensate trap to clear the blockage. To do this, turn the boiler off, grab a bowl and put it underneath to catch any leaks that may drip from the tap, and then clear out the trap.
4. A Flame Loss Fault Code is Appearing
An Ideal boiler will display a F2 fault code if there is a flame loss problem. This could stem from an issue with the flue, gas pressure, gas valve, or it could be that one of the electrical components is faulty.
You can check if the other gas appliances in your home are working as normal to rule out an issue with the gas supply, and also make sure your pre-payment meter, if applicable, has enough credit. If your other gas appliances work, you’ll need to call out a Gas Safe registered engineer to identify the cause and fix the problem.
5. Your Boiler Won’t Fire Up
If your boiler has failed to ignite, then the boiler will go into lockout mode and shut itself down as a safety precaution. A bright orange light should appear when the boiler enters this mode. Again, this is a common fault with some Ideal combi boilers, and it often means that there’s a problem with the ignition and flame sensors.
You can reset your boiler and try and ignite it again. Although, if your boiler still refuses to ignite or it starts making loud noises, then you’ll need to call an engineer to inspect it.
