Combi Boiler Advice Please

bioboybill

Hi,

I have a 12 year old Glow Worm Swiftflow Combi Boiler. Over the last couple of weeks I have had to top-up the pressure a few times, as when it's supposed to have come on in the morning it hasn't, because the pressure has gone completely. In the past i have had to do this once or twice each year only.

A few days ago after topping it up to 1 bar it had been working fine when I noticed the pressure dial was right round to about 4 Bar. I was concerned that this might be too much, so i bled a radiator a little to get it down to 2 bar and all seemed fine..........until this morning when it was down to zero again.

I tried topping up again, but now the pressure drops straight away. I went outside and saw that the pressure release valve is venting through the pipe to outside. I now have no hot water or heating.

I phoned a Corgi registered gas heating fella in the phone book and he said that he could replace the pressure release valve for about £25, but it sounded like my expansion tank in the boiler was !!!!!!ed and the new valve would likely go straight away, and as the boiler was 12 years old a replacement boiler would probably be necessary. He said he could do an A Grade Combi for around £1000 and it would be all done in one day. I'm not sure whether that was just his labour or included the boiler.

Could anybody please advise me whether this sounds like good advice, or is the guy just trying to make a quick killing before Christmas?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Bill

Razor

It could just be that the expansion vessel has lost its precharge, depends if the diaphragm in it has split most engineers would check this as a matter of course if changing a PRV.

You may need a new boiler but it could be a very simple repair, he can't tell over the phone!

sickparrot

There should be no shortage of spares for a 12 year old boiler. Check www.keeptheheaton.com to see if they are available for your boiler type and how much they should be. A replacement expansion vessel will likely be £100 or so, and pressure valve about £25 as the previous poster said.

It is also possible to retro-fit an additional expansion vessel if the internal one is split which would be a cheaper fix if you've got the space for it (they look like squat fire extinguishers).

bioboybill

Well I phoned another 2 heating engineers today and got the same story. Basically they are saying that most likely I need a new expansion vessel.

However, they are saying that because the boiler is 12 years old and would have to be taken off the wall to fit a new expansion vessel (if needed) then they couldn't really guarantee there wouldn't be further problems due to the boiler's age and they would have the hassle of having to come back. They won't even consider the fact that it might not be as serious as replacing the expansion vessel and seem to have made their minds up without seeing the boiler.

One of them even admitted that he couldn't really be bothered with the hassle for £200 and would rather replace my boiler for £1500 to make it worth his while. I pointed out that as a customer I would rather shell out £200 than £1500, but he wasn't interested.

I did manage to contact another who says he will come round tomorrow evening after work, so we'll see what he says, but I fear it may be the same story.

Do these fellas make so much money that they can just ignore £200 jobs? I must be in the wrong trade! Are there any decent tradesman these days who will come and do their best to sort out your problems at a fair price or do they all just look to make as much as possible out of you with no consideration for your pocket?

If anybody knows of a decent heating engineer/plumber in the Middlesbrough area give me a shout.

Bill

debbie42

bioboybill wrote: »

If anybody knows of a decent heating engineer/plumber in the Middlesbrough area give me a shout.

We got a decent plumber to fit a bathroom via the iphe.co.uk site.

capita_guy

Unfortunately in todays climate of blame anybody it is difficult to agree to repair a problem rather than replace.
What if they replace the expansion vessel and in doing so something else goes wrong are you going to accept that or are you going to say they damaged it so they can replace it.
Trust me I love to repair when possible but customers today make it a very difficult thing to do.
Good luck with your problem, as stated you could have a seperate expansion vessel fitted if you have the room and then there is no need to remove the boiler.

economiser

If it is lack of air in the expansion vessel it may just require pumping up again. I had this happen but the problem recurred and it turned out to be a faulty shrader (not sure of spelling) valve on the expansion tank. Same thing as you have on a car tyre. Valve replaced and everything OK again.

creditcritter

also consider a hole in the heat exchanger , i think a £200 repair to a boiler of that age is uneconomic no disrespect to corgi guy 1 but @ £1000 for a Seebuk A rated boiler is to cheap must be a crap boiler beware .

bioboybill

I guess the next question is: If I need a replacement Combi boiler what should I get? In my previous house I had a Worcester Combi and that was a good boiler.

I have looked on the internet and found the Worcester 30CDi for between £850 and £980 delivered. Would that be suitable for a 3-bedroon semi and how much should I look to pay for installation? Are there better boilers out there for the same price?

My current combi boiler is on the wall in the garage if that makes any difference.

Yecart09

Hi I have always had a Vaillant boiler and never had any problems, infact my husband who is a heating engineer won't just fit any type of bolier he tends to only fit vaillant and ocasionally worcester. Over the years he has had too many problems from fitting other boliers for them to break down. Last four years he stuck to viallant and not one has broken down after being fitted. He recommends Viallant eco tec plus boilers at the moment

bioboybill

I have just come across a company called Mrcentralheating http://www.mrcentralheating.com/boilerchangepack.html

As you can see their prices are very cheap. They are supplying A Vaillant Eco Plus for less than £1000, or a Worcester equivalent for around £1100, which sounds very good.

In fact on a couple of other sites I have heard plumbers say they can't buy them wholesale for what these people are selling retail. Has anybody got any feedback on these people?