Problems with heating/boiler

moneypenny2k

I've just moved and inherited a potterton boiler that the previous owners assure me is only a year old.

My water is only tepid and on calling out servowarm (I have home emergency cover with esure) They tell me that the heat exchanger is furred up and it's not covered. They say that I have to claim on the buildings insurance for something called power flush. The management company say no can do... hence I go around in circles.

Obviously I refute this but don't want to get embroiled in a long drawn out battle as I need hot water and fast, though nor do I want to have to pay the #430 plus vat that i've been quoted.

Any advice?

weekendwarrior

Call another plumber!

I know an heating engineer but he is based in the Bournemouth area, he charges 200 ish for a power flush!

Don't know why they told you to claim on house insurance? I can't see an insurance company paying for anything to do with your boiler!

Get a few quots to be on the safe side, not from British Gas as they also charge £400+ for a power flush.

Mr_Meanie

It is possible to remove clean and replace a combi heat exchanger but I don’t think a plumber or heating engineer would do it for you as it’s not a guaranteed cure for your problems.
You could ask for a quote to replace the heat exchanger which would be about half to two thirds the cost of your power flush but again I doubt if anyone would guarantee the work because of the sludge that’s still left in the system.
The power flush should be a certain fix for your problems but at £430 that sounds a tad expensive as it’s normally priced about the same for replacing the heat exchanger.
I would ask for some more quotes, ask friends if they know a good, reasonably priced plumber, you can’t beat personal recommendation.

Jolie_Madame

You don't mention what type your boiler is but if it is a Suprima like mine it seems there are common faults with the Potterton Suprima PCB. I recommend ebay where I have found guaranteed service exchange PCB's for Potterton (and other) boilers.
I bought one for £30, fitted in 5 minutes;it solved all my problems and saved me over £270! Go to eBay and find a really helpful seller called 'compumerv'.
:money:

woo

we have a suprima too, changed every part but nothing seemed to sort our problem. new PCB did the trick.

shays_mum

My folks are having exactly same problem , i hope some one from potterton is reading this thread, as their products/customer services are crap .
We were quoted £250 for a powerflush in London, btw what is a pcb & what is its function?, ours is a performa 28 model.

Skiduck

if it's a scaled up heat exchanger, a powerflush will do little to help. Your only chance is to try a HS34 from hydrosoft, about 70 quid plus vat - they remove existing scale as well as conditioning current water.
If the heat exchanger is gone, not a lot of plumbers will do it because of the expense.

Have you got any form of scale inhibitor on the system?