When testing our Alde heating whilst away at Wadebridge, we got the error Overheat Red Fail appear on the display, turning panel off and on does not work.
When this occurs the manual says to :
1. Check for airblocks. I checked the glycol levels and was just below Max, so went round and checked the radiators, none warm. So tried bleeding them, they mostly have a little tap which turns and is really easy once found, they were all fine. The washroom tap however was a traditional radiator valve and therefore needed a key (NB. pliers do not work!). After getting a key we could bleed the radiator, there was some air which we bled out.
2. Check Glycol level. This was just above Min when cold and just below Max when warm, but after bleeding it could not be seen, so had to buy some Alse Anitfreeze G13++ (??), to top it up required about 0.5 litre.
3. Checked the pump, appears to be working could check by feeling a vibration/hum from the motor.
On Monday AM, spoke to Dealer and explained what had happened etc, their response was well bring it in and we can have a look, this was not such a stupid reaction given that they had to replace one of the bed motors, but they are overs 2hrs away and if it requires parts we then do not want to have to go back again afterwards. So requested that someone call to discuss the issue, as they claimed never to have come across the error message, it is in the manual. No callback so in the afternoon, I rang Alde directly, they were very helpful, asked questions etc.. but as I was in the office and not with van so little could be done, but they gave some information and thought the dealer should have a look. At the end of the day (4pm) I rang Dealer again and left a message for MD (the person we dealt with for purchase) to give me a call.
The reason for persisting with this was twofold:
1. The Alde boiler had effectively shut down so no hot water, you need hot water.
2. Wanted to diagnose as much as possible prior to taking it to dealer, so they could be better prepared, with parts if known.
On the Tuesday, morning the Dealer MD called, discussed situation and he agreed that just saying bring it in was not acceptable and would arrange a call. Eventually an Engineer called (same that did the handover) asked questions and we tried various things, he went away and after actually looking at a similar panel had more questions, he decided to call Alde and I think Frankia, then called back and requested that I remove a fuse for the Alde system. After doing this the system sprang back into action, and all looked good we left it on test, the fuse to remove is shown below it is called Heizung (Heating):
Went back after a couple of hours, plenty of hot water but no heat (pretty much as before). Informed SMC, they called back, we checked various things and I found that the flow assembly was hot on one side but not on the other sent them pictures of the boiler and pump, the brass element was too hot to touch, no call backs.
Wednesday, SMC called to ask me to try setting the pump on a higher level, so set it to level 5, left for a little while and no change, just glycol getting hot but no heat being pumped round, so I turned level back to 2 and called them back, they wanted me leave iot and they would have a look and repair when I bring it in, this had no been arranged for about 10 days time. Not entirely happy about this so suggested that they contact Alde again and try to diagnose the probelm properly. Must admit to being a bit impatient with them as I was getting frustrated with their lack of knowledge.
So I rang Alde again, it turns out that SMC had emailed Alde the images I toook and an explanation, speaking to Alde (Steph) directly I was able to correct a couple of misunderstandings and to carry out some direct checks. Steph got me to test a few things and then asked if I could feel a lump in the black tubing between the 2 cable ties either sode of the arrow label next to the Brass fitting, the answer was not but there was a lump in the pipe between the cable tie and the brass fitting which could be moved. It turns out that this is probably the non return valve and that it should not move around. I could not test the pump fully other than confirming that the pump motor was vibrating and humming. So she decided to send SMC a replacement Flow Assembly to fit and would email them our findings. She then asked when I would visit SMC, exlpained the Thu 23rd, so the part would definitely be there, it also turns out that Alde have a 2 week break which starts on the 24th.
Must admit felt much better about pushing for a better diagnosis now as if I had not then potentially I would have had to wait a further 2 weeks and had another trip.