Help! Boiler powerflush advice needed!

silver-guitar

Help! Am in desperate need of boiler advice!

I had a brand new Ariston 24kw Genius condensing combi boiler installed only 2 1/2 years ago & the hot water stopped working. Got it working again after repressurising it but it looses pressure within couple days & cuts out again.

I was told by the installers that it had bad sludge & scale. They said i could get the heat exchanges replaced for £400 but that would probably not solve the problem & i basically need a new boiler!

I got a second opinion from british gas who have also said it is full of sludge & needs a power flush for £800!. They said the fact that the water is not working is because the pressure keeps dropping due to a small leak in bathroom pipes.

So my questions are:

1. Do i need a new boiler? A powerflush? Heat exchanges? Pipework? Am so confused! Why am i being told contrasting things?!

2. How could this have happened on a relatively new boiler? Would i have a case against the company who installed the boiler? They were supposed to "fully flush & clean system through" & "add an inhibitor" (which i have tested for & there is little or none present)

Any advice would be much appreciated x

david29dpo

Firstly, don't use BG for anything. It sounds like you only have a simple leak somewhere.

muddyl

I cant say much about the sludge, but as has already been said, the pressure drop is from a leak.

Track down the leak and change/repair the pipe. Easy enough with the speedfit stuff you can get now, most likely only tool you will need is a pipe cutter unless the leak in on a tap or similar).
And if its in an upstairs bathroom you want to be doing it sooner rather than later before it causes much more damage to the ceiling below.

Once done, re-pressurize and see how it goes from there.

gas4you

First of all try to stop worrying over this. You DO NOT need a new boiler. IF by some 1,000,000-1 chance you did, then as it is so new, then I feel it would be down to bad installation, so the installers would be liable.

I feel the installers and BG are playing on your worrying to make money out of you.

Your system should have been flushed out properly when the new boiler was installed. This is quite clearly stated in all boiler manuals, so if it wasn't done, the boiler wasn't fitted to manufacturers instructions.

Has the 'small leak in the bathroom pipes' actually been shown to you, or just suggested?

Has anyone actually tested the ch water and shown you the result? I cannot see how a new heat exchanger would be needed, or do they mean the plate heat exchanger that makes the hot water?

This I can understand causing the hot water problems, but it can be chemically cleaned rather than replaced.

Ask around friends and colleagues for a recommended heating engineer you can trust, then ask them in to have a look and quote you. Unless claiming off them, I would give your previous installers a wide berth for now.

silver-guitar

Hi, thanks for your advice.

i have email stating that installer would fully flush system & add inhibitor. I think they didnt.

A leak was suggested by british gas due to pressure dropping. A very small slow one was shown to me on an exposed bathroom pipe. They said i needed a section of pipe replaced & would cost £450!

Nobody has tested the water (not sure what ch water means) except myself with a Sentinol inhibitor test which came out negative. Water was completely clear but i hadnt run heater before.

The installers suggested that 3 heat exchangers needed cleaning & replacing. Then they changed their mind & said they had done this for someone else & it hadnt fixed problem. They then said i shouldnt waste money fixing it & install a brand new boiler instead.

gas4you

You seeing clear water is a good sign, but not a sign that there is no sludge anywhere.

Most systems have a certain amount of sludge, and taking a wild guess, as your water was clean, it doesn't sound too bad.

Power flushing can be a good thing, but many these days use it as an easy way to make a lot of money, and make out it is a 'cure all' remedy, which it isn't.

Your boiler is one of Ariston's better ones, but it only has 2 heat exchangers. The main Giannoni one and the secondary plate, which will be the one blocked with system sludge, possibly causing the HW failure, but without being there it could be other faults causing this.

Replacing a short bit of pipework should be relatively simple, nowhere near £450 unless floors have to come up or walls chased out.

As said before, avoid your installer at all costs, and BG from the sounds of it.

If you can't get the number of anyone recommended, try calling Ariston for a fixed price repair of the boiler.

This will not include the leak.

Where are you based?

silver-guitar

Hi, much thanks again. I was told by installer it had 3 heat exchangers & they were all blocked. Anyway i will try calling ariston & get leak fixed in meantime then go from there. Am based in central london.

Lgas

That's a bit disconcerting that the installer thinks it has 3 heat exchangers! I would personally demand a re-flush free of charge by the installers, I know BG powerflushes are superbucks but all subsequent required re-flushes are done free for the life of the boiler. Your installer should follow suit and do a full re-flush, you do not need a new boiler!

gasbag1602

This boiler has a condense unit bolted on to the top of the main heat exchanger this in sometimes called a secondary heat exchanger so maybe its not BG that dont know what they are talking about;)

gas4you

The Micro Genus has the latent heat exchanger, but a Genus has the Giannoni heat exchanger, therefore only 2.

Anyway, the latent heat exchanger would never be able to get any sludge in it

ihateyes

gasbag1602 wrote: »

This boiler has a condense unit bolted on to the top of the main heat exchanger this in sometimes called a secondary heat exchanger so maybe its not BG that dont know what they are talking about;)

what does BG have to do with this thread??? fook all