Worcester Bosch EasyControl lost connection errors

[mrbrunes]

Hi

My mother has had an EasyControl smart wireless thermostat with a Greenstar 4000 boiler installed for a few months now.

However in the last couple of days the EasyControl (CT200 I think) has twice lost connection (error A84-1876) and then the heating went off with no apparent way to override it, since the boiler menu key did nothing.

The wireless key module under the boiler shows a steady green light when it is touched. WB advised removing it and re-pairing it via scanning the QR code into the app etc. but this was a bit much for an elderly person to do.

I eventually managed to get everything working again by getting her to power everything off, then restart the boiler and then finally the EasyControl. After another error A91-1201 the EasyControl settled down and reconnected.

The only issue then it the timer schedule had been reset to the default. This happened every time. WB said somewhat vaguely that EasyControl forgets everything after a power loss. I find this rather hard to believe, especially since the timer programmer schedule still had its custom name, it's just that all temp/time values were reset.
Luckily having the app means I can reprogram it easily for her.

Support then advised hard-wiring the EC thermostat to the boiler despite it being about 5m away almost line of sight in order to fix the multiple connection loss problems. Since it has been working OK for a few months I find this also hard to understand.

Has anyone else experienced these issues?
It's very unsettling for an elderly person. Having the remote app is great, but that is no good if it's underpinned by unreliable s/w.

 

[ericmark]

I had problems with mothers CH with this thermostat, it gradually over time had to be placed closer and closer to the base unit. I had another thermostat in parallel so could still turn heating on, but it did over heat the rooms.

So it was a case of carefully setting the lock shield and TRV's on each radiator so rooms could not over heat, but not ideal, the old

thermostat was easy for her, simple up or down, whole idea was the programmable one would auto set heating and make it easy, but best laid plans etc.

It is hard to say what would be best option, but an over ride switch or thermostat even if next to boiler and not really in the best location does mean you have some heating.

I put the two base units with some distance between them so they did not interfere with each other, honeywell at top, Horstmann at bottom, but once the TRV heads were programmed not really sure what the wall thermostats did, as in Winter boiler would turn on at 7 am and off at 10 am and the TRV's controlled the radiator temperature to maintain each room, and the boiler also a Worcester Bosch modulated to suit, Spring and Autumn the wall thermostats may have turned off boiler, but in heart of winter wall thermostats did nothing.

But every house I have had seems to be different, first was hot air, worked well, but expensive to run, second open plan, so one wall thermostat did all, mothers house already talked about, this house with doors and oil boiler that does not modulate still trying to get it working as I want.

Clearly one can spend a lot of money and fit some thing like Drayton Wiser or Honeywell EvoHome,

but in the main we try doing it on the cheap, a £1000 control may work A1 but looking at maybe 25 years pay back time, and at 71 likely will not need it in 25 years time.

So a simple emergency by-pass switch seems to be best option, as if the TRV's and Lock Shields are set, you don't really need a wall thermostat.

 

[802595353]

Hi, I have a 8000 lifestyle combi boiler with an Easy Control and it developed a fault where the heating would randomly switch on. As the boiler is under a Guarantee, Worchester Bosch came out within a couple of days and cleared the problem. It looks although you boiler would also be under a guarantee, have you you contacted their support team.

 

[mrbrunes]

Yes WB are sending an engineer out next week.
Tx for your experiences - I just wanted to get an idea of EC reliability before they started making "workaround" suggestions. Do you know what they did to "clear" the problem exactly?
The app is rated 1.9/5 at https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.bosch.tt.bosch.controlng
Given how dominant they are in the market and how long EC has been out it's rather surprising.

 

[802595353]

Hi mrbrunes, they replaced the Easycontrol unit and carried out a comprehensive check of the boiler. The problem has now been cleared.

 

[802595353]

This is the only problem I have had with the Easy Control Unit, sometimes I have to re-input the password again, problem happens approx. every two months. Possibly coincides with an update on the App.