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Common Halstead Boilers Faults and How to Fix Them

Halstead boilers had their heyday 10-15 years ago. Although their popularity has declined rapidly, they were reliable. And this is why we are still called out to Halstead boiler faults today.

It’s worth mentioning that no boiler problems should be attended to without the help of a boiler repair specialist. It’s an offence to work on a gas appliance without being Gas Safe registered. And that’s for safety reasons.

Halstead Boilers Faults
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Halstead Boiler Fault 1: Water isn’t getting to temperature (or no hot water)

If you’ve already called out an engineer because you’re not getting hot water, or the water is not getting to temperature, it’s likely they’ll head straight for the diverter valve.

The older the boiler is, the more likely the diverter valve is to fail. And since Halstead stopped making boilers in 2012, there’s a good chance your boiler is already 5-10 years old.

The diverter valve allows your boiler to switch seamlessly between providing heat and hot water. If you have heat but no hot water, it’s likely it is jammed open on the heating side of the system.

Fixing Hot Water Faults on Halstead Boilers

A boiler repair specialist may inspect the diverter valve and find that it’s just the diaphragm that needs replacing. Even if this is the only part that must be changed, it makes sense to replace the whole diverter valve whilst the boiler is in bits.

Depending on the exact model and the availability of Halstead boiler parts, expect to pay around £250-300 to have this boiler fault fixed.

Keep in mind — if the diverter valve has failed, there’s a goof chance other parts are likely to follow. If you’d prefer to get prices for a new boiler, you can do that using the clickable form here (takes less than 2 minutes).

If fixing the diverter valve doesn’t resolve the issue, the engineer may also inspect the hot water flow switch for faults.

Halstead Boiler Fault 2: Ignition Failure but the Boiler Makes a Noise

Ignition problems are common in all boiler brands, and Halstead are no exception. The type of ignition fault will depend on the cycling process the boiler goes through before it stops working completely. Here’s what happens during an ignition fault:

  1. You turn the boiler on at the control knob.
  2. You’ll hear a small click which is the air pressure switch.
  3. The fan should be making a soft humming noise.
  4. The boiler tries to fire but fails.

If this is the case, there’s a good chance the problem lies with the gas valve. By hearing the fan and ignition, that’s pretty much ruled those components out as being part of the fault. The fault lies in the fact the ignition is not getting the right levels of gas.

Fixing Ignition Failures on Halstead Boilers

It’s easy to jump to conclusions, but you’re need to ask a gas engineer to check the gas valve to ensure its operating correctly.

They can do this by using a volt meter and checking the valve is getting voltage. If it’s not, the fix is simple — replace the gas valve.

But there is a problem. A gas valve for a Halstead boiler can be as much as £250. With labour, you could be looking at nearly £350. If your boiler is particularly old, it doesn’t make sense to spend this amount of money on it.

If your fault is similar to what we described above but the boiler doesn’t try to ignite (no clicking sounds), you might be in luck. It’s likely that the fault relates to the ignition leads and these can cost as little as £100, depending on the exact model of Halstead you have, and the local availability of Halstead boiler parts.

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Halstead Boiler Fault 3: Ignition Failure, but Fan is Working

Even when boilers have a fault, they tend to go through their usual start up cycle and either lock out, or stop at a certain point. If you find your boiler is going through the usual cycle, and the fan is operational, the fault may stem from:

  1. Air pressure switch fault
  2. Malfunctioning PCB

Fixing Ignition Failures (Air Pressure Switch and PCB) on Halstead Boilers

It’s common that the air pressure switch is the culprit if you see the boiler ignite for a split second, and then turn off again. In fact, sometimes the hoses leading to the switch have become stuck or kinked. All the switch needs to  is for these hoses to be re-routed correctly.

Hopefully, the cause will be the air pressure switch. I say “hopefully,” because an air pressure switch typically costs around £150 fitted unless you’re covered by a boiler care plan. Although that’s still a large expense, it’s a lot cheaper than the other possibility — a faulty PCB.

If the air pressure switch doesn’t seem to be the issue, it’s likely to either be the fan (try to listen for the fan when the boiler starts up), or the PCB.

And PCB replacement is usually quite a big job — a Halstead PCB will likely cost £275-325, including labour.

If your boiler is old and unreliable, it makes sense to invest in a new one rather than investing hundreds in repairs. You can get prices for a new boiler with Heatable’s 90-second quote form.

Halstead Boiler Fault 4: Boiler was Noisy (and now it’s stopped working)

The way a boiler operates just prior to it developing one of these common problems can tell us a lot about what went wrong. If you’ve noticed your boiler rattling excessively, there’s a good chance the fan is to blame. Over time these fans become worn and stiff and eventually, they are prone to seizing. An engineer will check this by switching off the boiler, and then trying to turn the fan by hand.

Fixing Noisy Halstead Boilers

Although the most obvious thing to do would be to replace the fan, there is a potential quick fix. If there is no internal damage to the fan, sometimes the engineer can simply use lubricant to free the fan (GT85 or WD40 for instance).

Unfortunately, though, such a fix will likely only last for a few weeks at best.

Halstead Boilers Faults: Conclusion

A lot of the common Halstead boiler faults we come across are not quick fixes, not to mention that Halstead boiler parts aren’t always easy to come by. Most breakdowns end up costing £150-300 to repair. For those with older Halstead boilers, it’s certainly worth considering getting a replacement boiler. Besides, the energy efficiency of newer boilers will save you hundreds of pounds every year, according to the Energy Savings Trust.

If you have a Halstead boiler fault that we didn’t address, or would like to ask any other question, please leave a comment below and we’ll do our best to answer your question.

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  1. Safina says:

    Hi, our Halstead Boiler ACE HE 30 has started to make droning noise. Each time the taps are opened for a few seconds and closed the boiler will make two to three droning noises- very similar to a subwoofer / base noise.

    Any advice on this would be helpful. Thanks.

    1. heatingforce says:

      Hey Safina
      Without hearing it, it’s hard to say.
      These should help you though:
      https://heatingforce.co.uk/blog/heating-boiler-problems/
      https://heatingforce.co.uk/blog/central-heating-pump-problems/

  2. Tony greenwood says:

    I have to fill my boiler every day it won’t stay full

  3. Roger Lawrence says:

    Hi, I have a halstead 50 boiler, and ignition lockout light comes on occasionally, resets ok and boiler fires up ok. Problem only occurs when cold (and then not all the time). It looks like it has two igniters (one at the back and one at the front), but only the front sparks, should they both spark ? Any help gratefully accepted.

    1. heatingforce says:

      Hi Roger,

      Potentially a frozen condensate if by “cold” you mean freezing.

      However, your reference to spark generators likely means something else. Is there a fault code being displayed on the control panel?

  4. Steve gales says:

    Hi I have a cbx 32. A few times a day I find that the fault light is on and it stopped working. It shows differential check failure on the light sequence. Replaced 1 temp sensor but it’s still happening. Didn’t believe both sensors would go at same time. Should I replace the other 1. Any advice appreciated

    1. heatingforce says:

      What’s the fault code? Differentials are usually the thermistors, but can be air locks, fault pumps etc.

  5. Ian Feachnie says:

    Hi. I have a Halstead Eden VBX 18 boiler. Had it about 12 years and has never had a problem till now. It starts OK, runs for 5-10 mins then stops. Some time later it starts up, runs again then stops.
    The fault code 5 comes up on the display unit. The manual suggests this could be due to a defective flow, return or flue sensor.
    Action: check these sensors, check wiring to sensors, check PCB/X6 & X8 connectors.
    Any clues?

    1. heatingforce says:

      Hey Ian,
      You’re talking about the NTC thermistors? They monitor flow and return water temperature. They feed back a signal to the PCB which then cuts ignition when it’s up to temp. So, it’s probably a sensing issue. They’re pretty cheap to replace so I’d have an engineer take a look/replace them.

      1. Ian Feachnie says:

        Heating force, many thanks for this. I contacted GlenDimplex and bought all 3 sensors: the 2 water ones and the flue sensor. Replaced the flue sensor: it was very straightforward and everything works perfectly!
        Many thanks for your help.
        Ian.

  6. Mr G says:

    Hi. We’ve had our gas engineer out 3 times. To cut a long story short all tests kept coming to the conclusion it was the circuit board. We got a new board and it turns out exactly the same problem still. No voltage was being shown going to the gas valve. Would this mean it’s the gas valve? Like I said all checks have been done but everything has pointed to the board! We’ve had a nightmare. It’s an old boiler a Halstead Ace. We know it’s time for a new boiler just wanted to get a bit more time out of it so prepared to get new gas valve. Any help appreciated.

    1. heatingforce says:

      It does sound that way, but I’d not like to suggest that as it already sounds like the tests lead to the wrong diagnosis. I’d get someone out to give a 2nd opinion.

  7. John Haywood says:

    hi I have a halstead best 70. everything works fine, but when the boiler comes to cut out it makes a crackling sound for about 1 minute that you can hear in the pipes.

    1. heatingforce says:

      Hey John,

      Have a look at this I wrote on noisy pipes: https://heatingforce.co.uk/blog/noisy-central-heating-pipes/

  8. pac says:

    brilliant tips, I have a weird fault with an Ace30 the hot water is fine but the central heating starts and fires, I can hear the pump running but the gas does not continue. One engineer told me the pump and the air pressure switch the other said its the diverter valve or the pcb

    1. heatingforce says:

      Is there a fault code. The components need to be tested before replacing them, otherwise it could get very expensive, very quickly.

  9. Terry Curtis says:

    I have a Halstead finest gold boiler the boiler works fine but the only way I can get it to work is by turning it on and of at the mains switch it will not react with the thermostat or the time clock any idea whats wrong

    1. heatingforce says:

      Hey Terry, if you run through this it should give you an idea of what’s wrong: https://heatingforce.co.uk/blog/boiler-timer-not-working/

  10. Richard Whelan says:

    I have a halstead finest gold, making a load rumble and sever vibration when first turned on ch, does even worse when running hot water,. It works OK now and again but becoming more frequent, and results in red lock out light on. Any help appreciated

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