Boiler problem / insurance cover

spiidey

I'm new to these forums so please forgive me if what I am asking has already been answered.

We've got a problem with our boiler (described in the post below with history of boiler since we purchased property) and we currently don't have any insurance policy/cover for it.

Basically we think there is a leak underneath the boiler and the boiler pressure keeps dropping (below what our engineer recommended to us - to set it at 1.5 "bars"), so it becomes incredibly inefficient and doesn't (or takes ages to) heat the house (and our water tank). We then have to manually increase the pressure in the boiler by pulling a lever above the boiler to let more cold water into the boiler.

We're not sure how difficult this would be to fix - might just be a simple screw that needs tightened, or might be a more significant underlying problem.

We're therefore not sure what the next step should be:-

(a) Call a local central heating chap to assess the boiler / what needs to be done - would cost approx £60 call out charge + parts + additional labour on top of that;
(b) Take out a boiler cover plan @ c. £10-20 per month - but not sure how this works with all the policy wording such as "does not cover pre-existing faults" and also we'd have to negotiate the initial 30-day period which will take us through Xmas/New Year, and we'll be away for 2-3 days during Xmas and have to hope the boiler doesn't pack in / cut-out due to low pressure during this time (currently, we're having to reset the boiler pressure every 2 days at a minimum and the frequency is increasing quickly - actually just had to reset the boiler pressure to 1.5 bars after it had dropped to 1.0 bars despite having set it to 1.5 bars this morning).

Any thoughts/recommendations on what to do greatly appreciated.

spiidey

History of boiler

Moved into our house in June 2009. Radiators/central heating system had been drained prior to us moving in (house was repossessed in April 2008).

Boiler system a Potterton Performa System 28e that was checked by a friend of the family. Everything "ticked the box" according to this chap.

However, central heating system never seemed to work 100% from when we moved in. We had trouble bleeding a number of the radiators - despite using the radiator bleeding key, we could never manage to get all of the radiators to fully heat up when the CH was on.

Eventually found that the pressure in the boiler was dropping, and frequently. Called a different central heating engineer who advised that the pressure in the boiler should be set to 1.5 bars (when the boiler was off; 2.0-2.5 bars when the boiler was on), and that if it dropped below this (e.g. to 1.0 bars) we needed to pull this lever that allowed more water into the boiler and would then boost the pressure back up to 1.5.

Spent most of winter 2009/10 constantly pulling the lever (on average, perhaps once a week) to allow more water into the boiler.

Things levelled off in late spring/summer 2010 as the central heating was off and the only action the boiler had to do was heat the hot water. However, I still had to boost the pressure up to 1.5 when it dropped significantly below this, although the frequency dropped markedly.

As we've moved into autumn/winter 2010, we've had to reset the pressure to 1.5 bars far more frequently than last year. And to our horror on Thursday we found that there was about 3 inches of water sitting in a plastic container underneath the boiler. Whilst we can't say for sure where the water is coming from, there is a damp rusted pipe underneath the boiler where it looks like the water may be dripping from. We've put some cardboard down and that has become soiled, but still hasn't allowed us to 100% locate the source of the problem.

penrhyn

You have had heating problems for 18 months and done nothing about them??

Clearly you need a heating engineer to fix your boiler problems.
With it being a Potterton Heat Team would be the appropriate people
http://www.potterton.co.uk/28.htm Unless you know a reliable Gas Safe registered heating engineer.

Have you checked if your condensate pipe is blocked?
Normally when cold pressure should be set at 1bar. You don't fiddle with it when the boiler is hot.

You may be able to get your problem sorted out for a fixed price then take out insurance, and don't rely on uninformed 'friends' for advise.

PS Potterton offer a fixed price repair + 12 months cover. from the website:-

Call heateam on 0844 871 1545 to book a Potterton boiler repair. We also offer a repair plus a one year boiler breakdown plan. You can also spread the cost of this plan by using our direct debit payment option. Call us on 0844 871 1545 to arrange.



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When you call us, please provide:

• Appliance installation address including postcode
• Installer name and address
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Your serial number

The serial number can be found on a barcode sticker:

• Inside the drop-down flap at the bottom of the boiler, or
• On the top of the boiler, or
• Inside the main front panel

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