combi boiler problem

kev1744

hi all,
hope you can help . my neighbour has an old caldaie l20se combi boiler. it is still providing central heating, but hot water is intermittant (hot for 10 secs then cold)
she has been quoted £250 to fix this! im fairly sure its only going to be the diverter valve or whatever the equivalent is in this boiler.

can anyone advise? is it likely to be this or something more sinister?

cheers kev

EliteHeat

Contrary to popular opinion, diverter valves are not the only things that fail on combination boilers.

From the symptoms you describe, it sounds like the plate heat exchanger, but there is a lot of information missing that the attending RGI would have noted / tested.

bluekp

Hi there,

I'm interested to see what replies you get to this as I am having the same problem - boiler fires up, then seconds later shuts down and keeps repeating this cycle.

I was told by a plumber that it was the heat exchanger and quoted £215 + labour to fix this. Having spoken to the boiler manufacturers themselves though (Alpha) they suggested that it could be one of several things.

Items I've been told to have checked include - primary temperature sensor, domestic hot water temperature sensor, sludge in system, pump, and lastly dhw flow switch.

Before she forks out the money for the repair she should make sure the plumber has done a thorough check to make sure it really is what he thinks it is!

Good luck :rolleyes:

EliteHeat

bluekp wrote: »

Hi there,

I'm interested to see what replies you get to this as I am having the same problem - boiler fires up, then seconds later shuts down and keeps repeating this cycle.

I was told by a plumber that it was the heat exchanger and quoted £215 + labour to fix this. Having spoken to the boiler manufacturers themselves though (Alpha) they suggested that it could be one of several things.

Items I've been told to have checked include - primary temperature sensor, domestic hot water temperature sensor, sludge in system, pump, and lastly dhw flow switch.

Before she forks out the money for the repair she should make sure the plumber has done a thorough check to make sure it really is what he thinks it is!

Good luck :rolleyes:

Yes, these are the things that the RGI would be expected to test. It probably is the heat exchanger though, but this could be caused by another fault.

P.S. The pump and primary thermister could be immediately discounted if the CH works normally (for most boilers)

kev1744

just phoned caldaie to see if they had any ideas. they state this boiler doesnt have a diverter valve as such nut has a bio thermal manifold (am i right in thinking this is a posh name for a diaphragm?)
anyway still need to find out exactly what the issue is...the plumber diagnosed the issue over the phone so not sure how he can quote £250 when not checked other bits

jimmylees

lovely. 2 central heating posts today. Mine is getting fitted today

EliteHeat

If that is the Solar 120SE then I would think you need a specialist - it doesn't look like your average run of the mill boiler.

P.S. According to the fault finding section of the manual, this particular problem does not exist!

kaya

i have a vokeira boiler with a few issues, have you phoned the manufacturer? i did and have just paid £187 for a guaranteed manufacturer repair with a service and all parts/vat included, no hidden extras, most plumbers are excellent at there job, but despite there aspirations they are not boiler engineers and cannot be expected to be familiar with all makes/models /faults, the manufacturers own engineers should carry most parts you will require in their van stock so a second visit should be unnessacery, parts are 1 year guarantee, you also get a 30 day period for a recall should they not fix the fault correctly in the first instance

ETA you seem to have found a psychic one who can diagnose faults over the telephone, well done you!

kev1744

yes i checked the manual as well....in fact there appears top be no problems associated with hot water supply at all!

as for getting caldaie to fix the problem...thats a no go as they dont offer this service for domestic systems anymore as they have moved to commercial only.