Combi Boiler. Leak caused by Engineer?

maradonash

Please bear with me on this one:

Last week, we had a local Corgi Engineer come to reposition the pipes above our Ideal Isar M30100 Combi. This action had been recommended (as had the plumber) by the company who were looking at fitting our new kitchen. We asked for our boiler to be serviced at the same time.

The day after the work had been done, we realised that the boiler (which was working just fine the day before) had started leaking considerably. The plumber said it may just be due to a seal or even because the grime had been cleared from the system.

On Monday he came again after speaking with a wholesaler and said that it is infact likely to be the heat exchanger. Apparently, the leak was now in danger of going on the PCB and that the unit may become live and he wanted nothing more to do with it! Said we should get someone else in who may have more experience of working with this type of boiler. He stuffed a cloth in above the pcb, switched the boiler off (as it was a potential hazard) and promptly left it to gush all over the floor.

A second engineer has been today and said that it may be the heat exchanger but it was difficult to confirm due to poor visibility in the boiler unit. He said it was difficult to ascertain why the leak had been sprung but it is possible that it may've been caused when moving the pipes.

I am waiting for a price to remedy this (fully expecting to have to shell out for a new boiler and flue) but in the meantime i am torn as to whether or not i am justified in stopping the cheque for the original engineer.

I appreciate his brief was to move the pipes, which he duely did but i am now left with an inoperational boiler after they carried out the work and then washed their hands of the issue. It should be said that the boiler is 7 years old and did have visible signs of corrosion.....but it was working fine!

Is this leak likely to have been caused by the relocation of the pipes or indeed the service work itself?

Any advice gratefully received.

latecomer

to be fair I would have expected the original guy to warn of possible consequences of relocating old pipes but for him to then turn round and walk away from the problem sounds a bit off. I would have thought that anyone qualified to service a boiler would be able to diagnose a fault with the same boiler?

maradonash

Thanks Latecomer.

He did infact admit after that he wasn't that familiar with our boiler. Shame that he didn't air these concerns beforehand.

Too late to cancel the cheque as it happens.