Boiler repair

choosewisely

My central heating boiler has packed in - the pilot light is lit but it doesn't fire up when it should. I've just had an engineer out to look at it and he said the gas valve needed replacing and went away to get a price for the part from his supplier. It's an old boiler and his supplier first said the part would be £240 and is a special order and takes a week to get here and then they said oh no it's obsolete so my engineer says the only option now is a new boiler for around £1400 - £1600 installed.

I myself then looked on the web and found a supplier of boiler spares who had the part in stock for £106 plus VAT plus delivery and I could have it next day. I told my engineer this and he said as a CORGI engineer he can only install genuine manufacturer parts.

I double checked with the website and they assure me they only sell genuine parts and the valve is brand new and in the manufacturer's original packing and they buy these things in bulk even when they are about to become obsolete as people will always need spares.

So my problem is my engineer says I can buy the valve but he won't fit it and neither will any other CORGI engineer and that it's probably an imported copy - end of story. He wasn't interest in looking at the website or talking to the supplier I found and even if I buy it and it is genuine he won't fit it as it hasn't come from his supplier and he can't risk it.

I'm waiting for a few other engineers to call me back but don't know if they'll say the same. I wouldn't even mind if they ordered the part and put a mark-up on it as it'd still be cheaper than the new boiler and all the work that'd involve.

Is he being reasonable or just trying to get me to spend £1400-£1600?

moneysavingplumber

There's nothing wrong with using generic parts, we all use them.

This sounds very iffy to me. What is the boiler and what is the part? I'll check it out (your website addy would be interesting to know also).

With such doubt over this, I would get a second opinion anyway, it might be a changeable solenoid as opposed to the whole valve.

I'd steer well clear of that particular individual.

choosewisely

Thanks moneysavingplumber - I sort of understood him saying he should only use manufacturers original parts but he as soon as I said I'd found one on the Internet he just wouldn't even consider looking into it and said he always bought from somewhere that was part of plumb center and couldn't buy from anywhere and they said it was obsolete!

The part was a gas valve for a Glow-Worm Fuelsaver 50B MK II part no. 412806.

He followed the trouble shooting diagram in the manual and the thermostat seemed OK but the voltage between the solenoid contacts on the gas valve was 39v when the manual said it should be between 16 and 25v (the manual flow chart said if not between 16 and 25v the fault was in the solenoid of the multi-function controller) - the solenoid isn't listed in the part list but the unitrol gas valve is.

I found the part on 4 websites but only one stated they were manufacturer's original parts and that was http://www.keeptheheaton.com

I spoke to a helpful lady there who initially checked stock for me and then again when I explained my engineer problem and she assured me it was the genuine article and they only sell original parts and she got one off the shelves and looked at it and said it was in the manufacturer's own packaging.

The site looks professional and they have a phone number and postal address so I don't think it's dodgy. She said they buy in bulk and also buy end of run parts as even when the manufacturer makes them obsolete people still need them.

She seemed under the impression my engineer wanted a nice bolier installation job rather than a quick repair job!

moneysavingplumber

A part is available there's no doubt about that. Get another opinion.

choosewisely

Will do - I'll let you know the outcome!

choosewisely

Bought gas valve for £131 delivered, found a CORGI installer a few streets away who came round same day and fitted it. Took him 2 hours as the pilot jet was blocked (it had been off for 3 days so maybe it just clogged up) and he only charged £40.

Following day water pump packed in! :mad: - spoke to engineer again and he said B & Q do them so bought one for £34 and tried to fit it. All went well and would have been easy to fit but both valves that isolate the pump had no effect so there'd have been a lot of water loss and the heating electrics are in that vicinity so called engineer again and he's coming to freeze the pipes.

All in all probably will have cost me £250 - 16% of the cost of having a new boiler installed. If I could have afforded it right now I probably would have gone for a new boiler but hopefully it should keep me going for another year or so.

Terry_Reilly

Can you tell me who you found to supply obsolete parts please. I am looking for a circuar fibre flue spigot gasket maker no. 0504769 measuring 144mm outer and 100mm inner for my Potterton Fireside Black Beauty fire or alternatively another fire that is compatable with my Potterton Fireside 35/51 Gas-Fired Back Boiler GC NO. 44-590-15. British Gas under my Homecare agreement have condemded my fire and are not wiling to help any more so a very cold winter lies ahead.

---lee---

Terry_Reilly wrote: »

Can you tell me who you found to supply obsolete parts please.

From post #3:

choosewisely wrote: »

I found the part on 4 websites but only one stated they were manufacturer's original parts and that was http://www.keeptheheaton.com

Or did you mean what were the other 3? To OP, thanks for the info. I was recently told my boiler is obsolete so I anticipate fun and games in the future.

Terry_Reilly

Cannot believe it the obsolete spare part I needed for my fire that British Gas could not find arrived this morning I got it from Curzon and yes it is a genuine part. I am now waiting for British Gas to come and fit the part under my Homecare agreement. Glad I joined this forum and carried on searching on my own and ignorned British Gas Thank You

richardfranklin

I'm curious if Boilers made in the UK are similar to boilers in The US ?