Landlord trying to sue my son

Captain_Mainwaring_2

Soubrette wrote: »

Poor old Captain Mainwaring has probably spent a hard day at work collecting car park fees (probably worried about new fangled technology taking his job!!) and then comes home and has a few drinks to relax...

and people are being mean to him

Captain Mainwaring - don't post drunk , and although entitled to your opinion, Martin does ask that you try and be nice about it.

OP if it were my child, not only would I be helping them in any way that I could but I would be proud of him for telling the truth.

Sou

Oh for God sake. "martin does ask you to be nice about it" - Had you considered that all of these "let's avoid paying back what you owe" rubbish that Martin (PBUH) champions will be costing normal credit worthy people a fortune?
In fact, the more I look at it, since Martin (PBUH) started, we have dropped into the abyss of recession.

Another thought for you - 2.00 am in the UK is NOT 2.00am where I live......

Sharp as a knife you are.

Captain_Mainwaring_2

oldone wrote: »

This attitude worries me.This site exists for everyone to help each other, primarily with money saving, but also related problems.There are plenty of examples of people coming on to these boards asking for advice on behalf of a friend- so why should a parent be any different.

As an aside, last night I watched a re-run of Dads Army. Arthur Lowe played his character with superb skill, depicting a pompous little man with no talent who is envious of those cleverer than him , and attempts to cover this up by bullying.:rolleyes:

Ah.... "everyone to help each other" - "hello kitty" "hugs".......

I'm of the opinion that a young man who was goby enough to get himself in !!!!!, should be MAN enough to be posting and asking how to get out of it.

Even worse, shhhhsssshhhhh, don't say a thing, he doesn't know his dad has been asking for him.

Zandoni

Captain_Mainwaring wrote: »

Ah.... "everyone to help each other" - "hello kitty" "hugs".......

I'm of the opinion that a young man who was goby enough to get himself in !!!!!, should be MAN enough to be posting and asking how to get out of it.

Even worse, shhhhsssshhhhh, don't say a thing, he doesn't know his dad has been asking for him.

Trying to ignore you but I'll have another attempt.

My son is more a man than you will ever be, you obviously would have let the young couple fall into the same trap that my son has.

He or I haven't asked for advice at all, all we are asking is for are peoples opinions and if they had a similar experience. We have enough problems without people like you taking delight in someone elses grief.

I asked him yesterday if he could go back in time to the day in question would he keep stum, he replied no, I would still have done it. If I had been there I would also have spoke out.

I am as certain as you can be that he hasn't done anything wrong. We can prove the hot water system is faulty so we only told the truth. If that's illegal we are all in trouble.

I suppose my son is very lucky that he comes from a tight knit family and not one like yours, where you would watch your own son fend for himself against a very rich bully

Captain_Mainwaring_2

Zandoni wrote: »

Trying to ignore you but I'll have another attempt.

My son is more a man than you will ever be, you obviously would have let the young couple fall into the same trap that my son has.

He or I haven't asked for advice at all, all we are asking is for are peoples opinions and if they had a similar experience. We have enough problems without people like you taking delight in someone elses grief.

I asked him yesterday if he could go back in time to the day in question would he keep stum, he replied no, I would still have done it. If I had been there I would also have spoke out.

I am as certain as you can be that he hasn't done anything wrong. We can prove the hot water system is faulty so we only told the truth. If that's illegal we are all in trouble.

I suppose my son is very lucky that he comes from a tight knit family and not one like yours, where you would watch your own son fend for himself against a very rich bully

Why bother? really, why bother?

Is he going to stand there with a placard stopping everyone looking at the flat, or will it eventually rent out? there you go then, all he has achieved is to end up having to defend a summons from a loony. Bravo.

You still haven't answered why he can't ask any of this for himself, and, since you think he is doing something clever, post the address of the property here, so that we can make sure that no one takes a contract.

It is simply not worth doing what he did, there are much more important considerations in life.

Oh, and if it was my kids, the first bit of advice would be to keep your trap shut in the fufure, and while I may have helped them, they would be posting here and asking, not me. If you are so brave with your "close knit family", can I suggest that you knock on the LL's door and tell him face to face.

It is not worth while getting involved in someone else's trouble.

Still, keep us posted as to when it goes to court, if it gets that far.

One last point, you mention about being worried if he gets a CCJ, would that be because he is back home now, and the summons was served at your address?

real1314

Is this thread about how to defend / deal with a legal action or is it about whether a parent should ask for advice to help out their child?

There's an easy way to deal with threads you don't agree with: Stop reading them.

If others see it as a fair thing to dicuss, that's their perogative. One poster should not attempt to destroy the purpose of a thread simply because they don't agree with the point of it.

Could we go back on topic by any chance?

(OP; why not just ignore any attempts to attack the purpose of the thread. If you and others take this approach, maybe it will start to go back to what it should be?)

Premier_2

Zandoni wrote:

The heating & hot water system in the house is supplied using a Gledhill Boilermate. This boilermate has a very common problem where during the summer it will not work via gas but it will work at a very low capacity in it's emergency electric mode (Very expensive). When in this emergency mode it does't heat enough hot water to have a bath. The manual can be found here http://www.gledhill.net/pdfmanuals/2000%20Range/BM2000-Iss10.pdf
...

Whats the problem with the Gledhill Boilermate? Why doesn't it work in summer?

The Gledhill Boilermate is little more than an expensive, insulated hot water tank with pumps & controls already built in ready for easy installation.

The system still needs a means to heat the water i.e. a gas boiler, although it may include an electric immersion heater too, but this is for emergency use in case of failure of the gas boiler. It is not designed to be used as an alternative e.g during the summer months

The system works in reverse to the conventional manner. i.e. with a Gledhill Boilermate, the hot water in the tank is used to directly heat the radiators. The domestic hot water is heated via a mains pressure water pipe passing through the hot water stored in the tank.

The only 'fault' of the system is that it relies on the thermal store and so requires the water in the tank to be maintained at optimal temperature the whole year round. This is balanced by the fact that the boiler used to heat the water is typically less than half the size (and therefore consumption) of a typical boiler needed to heat a similar sized property fitted with a conventional system. This is because the boiler is not required to be so large as to heat the radiators, but only the size to maintain the temperature in the hot water tank when it is partially cooled because of water being sent around the radiator circuit or cold water running through the pipe in the center of the tank to enable it to be heated before arriving at the tap.

The Gledhill Boilermate itself will not be the subject of any gas safety certificate since it does not use any gas. Only the boiler that feeds it would be on the safety certificate. If the boiler works in winter, why does it not work in summer?

To be honest, there's not a lot that can go wrong with the Gledhill Boilermate in summer. There is no timer as that only operate the heating - as I said the boiler should be heating the water to the desired temperature 24/7/365. The only way you can stop this is to turn off the Gledhill Boilermate using the electrical isolating switch. The pump to the boiler could fail, but then it wouldn't work in winter or summer would it.

Apart from that, the only other 2 issues that may cause an issue is a failure of the ball valve - not usually an issue since the water in the tank is effectively a sealed circuit running around the radiators. It's very rare to need any top up (unless a radiator is leaking!). The other issue is a mixing valve possibly becoming stuck. This mixes the extremely hot water from emerging from the mains pressure pipe (the tank water should be heated to 80 deg C for optimal performance I believe) with cold water before being distributed to the taps.

The reason the electrical emergency heater is causing problems is that most immersion heaters should be set no higher than 60 deg C. Because you are not heating the water hot enough, optimum performance is not achieved, especially since it is being mixed with cold water before being distributed to the taps.

Perhaps the LL was right, there isn't any fault of the system - just that of the operator failing to follow the instructions properly.


Edit: ignore the bit about the manual mixer valve - it looks like this latest model has an automatic mixing valve to ensure the hot water distributed to the taps is no hotter than 55 deg C

Zandoni

Premier wrote: »

Whats the problem with the Gledhill Boilermate? Why doesn't it work in summer?

The Gledhill Boilermate is little more than an expensive, insulated hot water tank with pumps & controls already built in ready for easy installation.

The system still needs a means to heat the water i.e. a gas boiler, although it may include an electric immersion heater too, but this is for emergency use in case of failure of the gas boiler. It is not designed to be used as an alternative e.g during the summer months

The system works in reverse to the conventional manner. i.e. with a Gledhill Boilermate, the hot water in the tank is used to directly heat the radiators. The domestic hot water is heated via a mains pressure water pipe passing through the hot water stored in the tank.

The only 'fault' of the system is that it relies on the thermal store and so requires the water in the tank to be maintained at optimal temperature the whole year round. This is balanced by the fact that the boiler used to heat the water is typically less than half the size (and therefore consumption) of a typical boiler needed to heat a similar sized property fitted with a conventional system. This is because the boiler is not required to be so large as to heat the radiators, but only the size to maintain the temperature in the hot water tank when it is partially cooled because of water being sent around the radiator circuit or cold water running through the pipe in the center of the tank to enable it to be heated before arriving at the tap.

The Gledhill Boilermate itself will not be the subject of any gas safety certificate since it does not use any gas. Only the boiler that feeds it would be on the safety certificate. If the boiler works in winter, why does it not work in summer?

To be honest, there's not a lot that can go wrong with the Gledhill Boilermate in summer. There is no timer as that only operate the heating - as I said the boiler should be heating the water to the desired temperature 24/7/365. The only way you can stop this is to turn off the Gledhill Boilermate using the electrical isolating switch. The pump to the boiler could fail, but then it wouldn't work in winter or summer would it.

Apart from that, the only other 2 issues that may cause an issue is a failure of the ball valve - not usually an issue since the water in the tank is effectively a sealed circuit running around the radiators. It's very rare to need any top up (unless a radiator is leaking!). The other issue is a mixing valve possibly becoming stuck. This mixes the extremely hot water from emerging from the mains pressure pipe (the tank water should be heated to 80 deg C for optimal performance I believe) with cold water before being distributed to the taps.

The reason the electrical emergency heater is causing problems is that most immersion heaters should be set no higher than 60 deg C. Because you are not heating the water hot enough, optimum performance is not achieved, especially since it is being mixed with cold water before being distributed to the taps.

Perhaps the LL was right, there isn't any fault of the system - just that of the operator failing to follow the instructions properly.


Edit: ignore the bit about the manual mixer valve - it looks like this latest model has an automatic mixing valve to ensure the hot water distributed to the taps is no hotter than 55 deg C

As previously mentioned the boilermate has been diagnosed faulty by an engineer supplied by the letting agency.

There is a lot to go wrong with boilermates lots of my neighbours have had troubles.

My sons only works partially if the switch on the front is put on emergency mode(a temporary measure until a repair has been made). In this condition the store inside is heated by a type of electrical immersion heater while in this mode it appears that the electrical element is not high enough powered to heat large amounts of water. If the switch is put to the correct position 'hot water' the pump doesn't start when a hot tap is turned on. I have also phoned the Gledhill helpline they tell me that there are sensors inside which turn on the pump when the hot tap is opened, the guy on the helpline was 90% certain one or more of these sensors had failed and needed replacing.

I am not a heating engineer but I have spent my life in other types of engineering so I'm very able to follow simple instructions.

Premier_2

Zandoni wrote: »

As previously mentioned the boilermate has been diagnosed faulty by an engineer supplied by the letting agency.

There is a lot to go wrong with boilermates lots of my neighbours have had troubles.

My sons only works partially if the switch on the front is put on emergency mode(a temporary measure until a repair has been made). In this condition the store inside is heated by a type of electrical immersion heater while in this mode it appears that the electrical element is not high enough powered to heat large amounts of water. If the switch is put to the correct position 'hot water' the pump doesn't start when a hot tap is turned on. I have also phoned the Gledhill helpline they tell me that there are sensors inside which turn on the pump when the hot tap is opened, the guy on the helpline was 90% certain one or more of these sensors had failed and needed replacing.

I am not a heating engineer but I have spent my life in other types of engineering so I'm very able to follow simple instructions.

I would try another heating engineer. In my experience there are many heating engineers who have never encountered a Gledhill Boilermate and have no idea how they work. (about 75% if my experience is anything to go by)

I've had a Gledhill Boilermate for many years and I've even had so called heating engineers refusing to touch them telling me that they needed specialist trained engineers since they were potentially dangerous being closed, pressurised systems Total nonsense, they are not closed, pressurised systems (they require open, vented circuits) so no potential danger of blowing up and any decent heating engineer would know that.

As I said in my post, no the system wont work correctly using the electrical heater - thats only an emergency backup. Why won't the gas boiler heat it up in the summer? If it heats it up in the winter, there can't be a problem with the gas boiler. You haven't explained that.

With regards the DHW pump not running, a replacement sensor takes less than 30 minutes to fit. Are you certain that's the problem? A siezed pump could also be the cause. Anyway, it makes you wonder why the engineer who you seem to trust hasn't fixed it yet? Spares are readily available. As the sensor costs less than £20 plus labour, one would expect it to be within the cost the LA could authorise without specific LL approval.

Or perhaps the heating engineer didn't really now what the 'fault' was...:rolleyes:
Strange that he left it up to you to contact the manufacturer's helpline to try and work it out for yourself!

Soubrette

Ok, no response to CM - although he's sooooo easy

However, Premier, the boiler has been inspected by an engineer provided by the agency therefore arguably the tenant need do no more. The issue is not the boiler per se but that the landlord refused to organise repair of it, a repair recommended by an engineer provided on the landlord's behalf.

I would forget about the boiler and concentrate on going through the steps of dealing with the court proceedings if I were the OP.

Sou

Zandoni

Premier wrote: »

I would try another heating engineer. In my experience there are many heating engineers who have never encountered a Gledhill Boilermate and have no idea how they work. (about 75% if my experience is anything to go by)

I've had a Gledhill Boilermate for many years and I've even had so called heating engineers refusing to touch them telling me that they needed specialist trained engineers since they were potentially dangerous being closed, pressurised systems Total nonsense, they are not closed, pressurised systems (they require open, vented circuits) so no potential danger of blowing up and any decent heating engineer would know that.

As I said in my post, no the system wont work correctly using the electrical heater - thats only an emergency backup. Why won't the gas boiler heat it up in the summer? If it heats it up in the winter, there can't be a problem with the gas boiler. You haven't explained that.

With regards the DHW pump not running, a replacement sensor takes less than 30 minutes to fit. Are you certain that's the problem? A siezed pump could also be the cause. Anyway, it makes you wonder why the engineer who you seem to trust hasn't fixed it yet? Spares are readily available. As the sensor costs less than £20 plus labour, one would expect it to be within the cost the LA could authorise without specific LL approval.

Or perhaps the heating engineer didn't really now what the 'fault' was...:rolleyes:
Strange that he left it up to you to contact the manufacturer's helpline to try and work it out for yourself!

I haven't explained the situation very well the heating engineer that visited was sent as a good will gesture by the letting agents, the purpose of the visit was to ensure that there was a fault. He then contacted the Landlord who would not authorise it's repair. Unfortunately my LA does not manage the property that is done by the Landlord, or not done in this case.