Boiler stopped working during a frost in Oldbury? Here is how to tell if the condensate pipe has frozen, how to thaw it safely and what to do if it keeps freezing.
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Find the plastic pipe from the boiler to the drain and look for ice at bends and the end.
Pour warm water along it or hold a hot water bottle against it. Boiling water can crack it.
Press the reset as your manual explains and allow a few minutes for the boiler to restart.
A gurgle from the boiler in freezing weather is a strong clue.
A wider or lagged pipe, or one rerouted indoors, rarely freezes.
Frosty nights and a boiler that will not fire usually go together for one reason: the condensate pipe has frozen. Every condensing boiler drains a small flow of water outside through a plastic pipe. Ice in that pipe backs the water up and the boiler shuts down as a safety measure, often showing a fault code.
Around Oldbury, Langley and Warley there are plenty of 1950s and 60s council-built houses where the boiler was changed to a condensing model years later, and the new condensate pipe was simply run down the outside wall. Those exposed runs, especially on the Rowley Regis and Blackheath side where it sits higher and colder, freeze readily.
The fix is often quick: warm water along the pipe, then a reset. Repeat freezing means the pipe needs better protection or a new route.
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Learn more →A boiler that stops in freezing weather, gurgles and shows a fault code, with ice in the outside pipe, almost certainly has a frozen condensate pipe.
Yes, working on the outside pipe with warm water. Leave the boiler casing alone. If there is a smell of gas, go outside, do not flick any switches, and phone the National Gas Emergency number, 0800 111 999.
Ring us. It may be a separate fault.
Yes, by lagging, widening or rerouting the pipe before the worst weather.
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