How can I fix my Sabre 24 boiler when red light comes on ?

My boilers hot water is perfectly fine but the central heating only works for about one minute

Waseem
November 2013

had the same prob as jacqueline november 2008 done myself what she had had done works great thanks for tip saved me expensive bill !!!

val
October 2011

The manual states that it is either the pressure gauge, Gas supply or it is overheating. If you key in Sabre Se 24 then you will find the manual

Tintin's Engineering
January 2011

problem ended up being the primary sensor. working fine now.

nickclark
December 2009

Hi, adding to Glen's answer about the two pipes, when the metal cover is being clipped on it presses against the two pipes which pushes them backwards limiting the air flow through them. My HE29 worked fine with the cover off but did'nt when on. As soon as I clipped off the metal cover the boiler would ignite no problem. I think this is a manufacturing fault. I have used a cable tie at the centre of the pipes to hold them away from the cover.

michael
July 2009

Well, I've finally got heating, the circuit board, gas valve, electrode and thermistors have been changed and it seems to work! No one seems to know what the fault actually was as the heating started to stay on when the timer was at 'on' but when it was at auto, it would go out and the red light came on. It seems to have baffled the two gas engineers who (finally) managed to fix it.

Thanks for your help and advice guys.

Jacqueline
November 2008

Well the guy came out and changed the thermistors and thought it was fixed but ten mins after he left, the boiler went off again. He came back out during the week and reckons it's the circuit board - he says the relay has fused together! So he's away to order a new board - hopefully that will be the problem sorted as he was a little puzzled as to why the problem was happening - and also - it's very cold wthout the heating!!

Jacqueline
November 2008

Hi there - I had the same problem by the sounds of it but I have found the answer to fixing it! In my case, the boiler was firing up, radiators were coming on etc but then approx. 30 mins later, as the heat reached a point and the thermostat turned the flame off, it was seizing up before it could re fire and the red light was coming on. I would then have to reset the system by turning it off then on again but the same problem would occur a few mins later. I got a CORGI registered plumber out who did loads of tests but was flummoxed by the problem as the boiler would work fine with the internal cover off (exposing the ignition to more air) At first he thought it must be a problem with the fan or the thermostat but after nearly 3 hours of testing we discovered the problem: A very VERY small amount of dirt had built up on the inside of the 'Venturis'. These are little pipes that are attached to the fan (on my SABRE HE 29 they have clear air tubes attached to them) Apparently, despite the grime being almost invisible to the eye, if these are even slightly blocked will affect air pressure going into the ignition area and stop ignition working. If this sounds like the same problem, get your boiler repair person to clean these venturis out thoroughly with cotton buds. It worked for me! Good luck!!

Glenn
October 2008

Bioler isn't fixed as yet, gas guy came out last week and is going to renew the thermistors - both the gas and water side and is also going to flush the system 2 or 3 times as he reckons the area I'm in the water is pretty harsh! Hopefully by Monday the boiler will be fixed and I will have heat once again!!

Jacqueline
October 2008

Jacqueline - it looks like i have a similar problem. I would not suggest changing pcb. Have you managed to fix the boiler?

Slava
October 2008

to be honest I thought about the breakdown cover but the heating side is now only staying on for 15 mins. I'm going to check out some local gas repair companies and just get someone in to repair. thanks for the advice.

Jacqueline
October 2008

it could be something simple as a faulty thermistor on ch side not telling the boiler to modulate down but its hard to say, you'd need someone there to look at it really. Maybe stick it on a breakdown contract as i dont think any fault would show up when they first check it????? or is that devious?? i dont know :-)

iain
October 2008

Thanks Iain - I wondered about the overheating thing - as it seems to get to a certain temperature and just cuts off instead of cooling itself down - the fan gets extremely hot - am I right in thinking that shouldn't be the case? Do you think it can be fixed??? Or would that not be cost effective??

Jacqueline
October 2008

the best thing you could probably do is step back 16 months and when someone says..."the sabre's a good boiler" just give them a swift slap and say.....no! dont be silly, they're italian and un-reliable, like fiats and alfa's

your problem however is probably more circulation problem or overheat problem, i would not be thinking pcb if it works for an hour. id be def thinking overheating, circulation overun problem....things a lot easier to diagnose when they just dead.

iain
October 2008