Nefit Ecomline HR30 - fan won't start

[Xakepa]

First: sorry for the English. But its a pickle here.

We moved to NL last year and bought a house, the kettle is old Nefit Ecomline HR30. We did an annual inspection 2 months ago and all was good.

Last night the kettle died, flashing error code 6A (and 7C after restart) - fails to ignite. Cold house, no hot water 2 kids and it's Fri. Nice :)

What I checked so far - water and main voltage are OK, but the fan inside never starts, even during power up! So I pulled both connectors off the fan - there is 230V AC provided to the fan, and 12V DC on the - AFAIK power/data - wire. I took the fan apart - it spins freely and no signs of malfunction. All fuses are OK too.

So I'm lost - I expect the fan to at least try to start at startup, and it never does. So I strongly suspect the fan is malfunctioning. On the other hand I do not understand the controlling circuitry for the fan - I expect it to start spinning once it sees 230V on the mains (without any other input) and when it does not spin I'm not 100% it's the fan that's faulty. The funny thing is - with the fan completely disconnected the kettle goes thru exactly the same sequence of error codes at startup.

So if one can advice how can I make sure I have a faulty fan - and not some other malfunction - that will help a lot, I'll dismantle the fan completely. Otherwise I wait until monday to call the technicians, and they show up when they show up ...

Thank you so much!

 

[The headhunter]

The fan gets its rpm request from the main controller,the fan controller gives An actual rpm signalen back to the mains controller.

If request and actual rpm differ to much You wil get An error.

The fan cannot be fixed, IT has tot be replaced as a whole.


Does the firm who serviced the boiler niet have a weekend/evening tec. Avialeble.

Code 6, flame failure,7c fail to reset, reset to short.

 

[Xakepa]

Thanks!

Well, that's what I thought - the UAB sends an UP signal over
gray-red wire, flat 12V DC, and the fan responds with 100% rpm over red-white wire, and then PWM kicks in and the fan starts throttling back. That's how every laptop fan starts ... as I write this.

I'm more confident it's the fan and indeed a see no way to rebuild it, moreover it's probably also 20 years old (as is the unit). I'll bite the bullet and replace it. And no, our service provider open for business Mon, hope they will come the same day. I'm still pissed all was OK 2 months ago ...

 

[The headhunter]

Pissed? Its 20 years old. Normaly a boiler gets replaced at 15 a 18 years.

A service provider who does not provide service afterhours, is useless.

 

[Xakepa]

Well, pissed because 2 months ago they told me it was fine - but I understand it can fail at any time after all these years.

Another question if I may: suppose I replace the entire heater. Does that mean that I have to replace the boiler too (I have a separate boiler heated from that kettel, 120 liters)?

Thanks again

 

[The headhunter]

No depents on replacement.

 

[Xakepa]

The service guy came, changed the fan in 10 mins, the system came back right up. He said everything's OK, didn't measure anything.

Next thing I'll get the bill for the fan and labor. Next summer we'll probably swap the kettle with another 30-40 kW Nefit - with another 15 years warranty - and see if we can keep the 120l boiler (maybe needs some cleaning/descaling). My guess is I'm looking at about 1.7 - 2K bill ...

 

[Verwarming Sp.]

1) Do you really need 30-40kW? Unless you own a castle, for most houses 10-20kW heating power is sufficient.

2) Not a single manufacturer provides 15 years warranty.

 

[Xakepa]

Yes I think we need that power. We currently have HR30 so that's the min, right?


Detached house 175m2 and 640 m3, built in 2000/class B, and (partial) floor heating on both floors - i.e. 8x manifolds on each floor: very comfy but takes quite some time to heat up.

From what I see on their website Nefit Trendline HRC30 II CW5 is my lowest option, and that one states 15 year warranty.
https://www.nefit.nl/professioneel/producten_pro/product_detail_pro/product-detail-pro_8960

 

[Verwarming Sp.]

What is your gas usage (per year?)

15 year warranty on the heat exchanger. Most parts have only 2 year.

 

[Xakepa]

What is your gas usage (per year?)

I don't know we bought the house in June. We also have a gas oven and fireplace, so heating only is hard to estimate. But I expect 20-30% max above NL average for the house size


The bill came, 423 euro ... wow! 284 for the new fan, he took the old one, and the rest is labor and tax. My wife said it took him 7-10 mins, he didn't even put the cover on.

I'll have to think about that. I'm not happy.