Vokèra [A01] fault codewhat it means and how to fix it

A01 is the Vokèra ignition lockout, which their table records as ignition failure, flame not sensed, internal fault. The appliance ran its ignition sequence, waited for the sensing electrode to confirm a burning flame, and never got that confirmation. Vokèra document what happens next: the appliance re-attempts ignition a further four times and then goes to lockout. This is a deliberately conservative safety response — the alternative would be an appliance that keeps releasing gas into a combustion chamber that is not lighting it.

Two of the four common causes are things a householder can check in ten minutes: whether there is gas reaching the property at all, and whether the condensate drain has frozen. The other two, a worn ignition electrode and a gas valve fault, need an engineer. Because Vokèra appliances are so heavily represented in rented property, it is worth saying plainly that a tenant can safely do the first two checks; anything requiring the case to come off is the landlord's responsibility and a Gas Safe engineer's job.

1. 1

   Try another gas appliance — a hob ring is ideal. If nothing gas-powered works, the supply is the problem and the boiler is behaving correctly.

2. 2

   If you have a prepayment meter, check the credit. An emergency credit that ran out overnight is a very common and completely undramatic cause.

3. 3

   Go outside and follow the white plastic condensate pipe down from the appliance. Feel for a rigid, ice-cold section, particularly at bends and at the open end.

4. 4

   Thaw any frozen section by pouring hand-hot water along it. A kettle boiled and left to stand for ten minutes is about right.

   Never pour boiling water on the pipe and never use a blowtorch, heat gun or hot air gun. Cracked plastic in January is a much worse problem than the one you started with.
5. 5

   Wait two minutes before resetting — Vokèra ask for that gap after a failed ignition — then reset. On a Vision that means turning the mode selector knob across the OFF/RESET position; on a Vision Plus, pressing the RESET key. If it fires and stays running, the condensate was the cause and the pipe should be lagged before next winter.