What is a boiler lockout?

Boiler lockout is a term used by the boiler manufacturers, this means that the boiler has shut down due to any fault or anything which is not under the parameter of the boiler. If you are experiencing the boiler lockout you can press the reset button visible on the boiler. This can help the boiler to prevent from lockout.

What are the common faults that lead to lockout?

1. Faulty pump – Pump can blow seals or seize.
2. Low/high water pressure – though 1.3 bars is normal and most of the boilers lock out if they get below 0.6 bar or above the bar. However for specified bar you can check your boiler manual.
3. No electricity– with no power, it could be due to the failed display board , a blown fuse or a tripper electric.
4. System blockage – most of the times in cold wintery days, the pipes get freeze and thus results in the system blockage.
5. Ignition – most of the boiler filed after 3 continuous ignitions attempt. So , check the ignition leads and probe.
6. Heat exchanger blockage – if you hear any whistling noise coming from the boiler, then there is chance that there is lime scale build up on the heat exchanger which needs to be cleaned.

However, problem in the boiler igniting can be due to some reasons. It can be

1. Gas leaks
2. Carbon Monoxide

Now you might be thinking, how you would get to know about the reason behind fault in the boiler ignition of your boiler.

You can check it by

• Checking for gas leaks

If your boiler pilot has gone out, than you should smell the air or the gas. If you think that there is presence of gas in the air, immediately open all the windows of you home. This might be because of the leak in the pipes. Call your gas supplier as soon as possible and ask him to check all your gas pipelines.

• Checking for carbon monoxide

However, if there is no gas smell in the air. But there is a triangular symbol visible near the pilot light; you should leave your house immediately. As this is dangerous to your health and can cause headache, nausea and loss of consciousness. Call the expert for the immediate assistance.

Also these are the usual reasons; there can be more reasons for the fail to ignite of the boiler.

1. No gas supply

The reason could be no gas supply to your home. It can be possible due to the gas meter being turned off or out of the credit by your gas supplier. What you can do is, try to test any other gas appliance. If your other gas appliance is working properly than there is a problem in your central heating system only.

• Defective electrodes

Sometimes it happens that the problem of igniting the boiler lies in the spark electrodes. The spark electrodes can wear out over time which needs to be replaced now. For this replacement, you can contact the engineer or the company from which you have bought the boiler.

• Frozen pipes

As now all the boilers are coming with the condensate pipes, which help to send waste gases outside and down a drain. Due to the cold wintery environment, the pipes could often freeze which results in the blockage. Hence it makes the boiler to stop working.

After knowing the reason behind the ignition lockout, you need a solution of how to fix boiler ignition lockout? You just need to follow these easy steps:

1. Diagnose and fix the fault

You will need to diagnose the fault code before moving to the reset option. As sometimes multiple resetting will lead to a bigger fault in the boilers.

• Go to the reset button

Mostly the new and updated boilers have the reset button on the boilers display. This will be located where the fault code is being displayed.

• Press and hold the reset button

Now you need to press and hold the button for around 3- 10 seconds

• Wait for the boiler to fire-up

Boilers take time for the ignition after the reset as they need to go through a reset sequence. Therefore, this could consume 5-10 minutes. Wait patiently.