Glow Worm combi boiler fault (Now Fixed)

freddysmith

Not sure if this is the best forum but I have a fault (F12) on my Glow Worm CXi30 boiler.
An engineer has come out and told me it would cost a minimum of £360 for parts + labour as the problem may be difficult to trace.
I have phoned Glow Worm and a Fixed Cost Repair would cost £260, which seems reasonable.
I also phoned British Gas and they had an option of £99 to fix the fault(s) and £20 per mth which covers future parts and labour costs and I believe includes an annual service.
Has anyone used this type of servicing plan or have any advice on bolier repairs/servicing plans.

gas4you

Personally unless you want hassle, avoid the BG option.

I would go for the Glow Worm fixed price repair.

You could however, turn off all power to your heating system and boiler, check all terminals on the boiler are dead, then remove and refit the user interface cable.

If this simple thing fixes it, then you have gained, if not get Glow Worm in.

Forget the £360 minimum guy, should be just a standard call out fee to diagnose the fault.

ollski

Bg should offer a one off fixed price repair for about 180 if it's still available atm, but F12 is a user interface fault....wiring or pcb.

freddysmith

Thanks for your reply, I will try that.
The engineer had phoned Glow Worm for some advice on the fault and was advised that it could be the interface PCB and to check cables.
Then I read on another forum it could also be the power PCB causing an F12 indication, which prompted my enquiry on this forum for a cheaper solution.
I was not getting any hot water but the heating system did work when there was not the F12 fault showing.
One asumption was the diverter valve or motor was not operating and causing the fault, or 1 fault masking another. He wasn't sure.
He only charged me £20 for over an hours work and I know parts are expensive.

freddysmith

Just an update, went for a fixed cost repair with Glow Worm.
Had an excellent service from Glow Worm and their engineer, all complete the same day I phoned.
Changed 6 items including PCB, Motor 3-way valve and sanitary block, system pressure switch and filling loop which was not related to the fault but stopped a separate leak.
Said it was a difficult and unusal fault to find and it was a short circuit in the terminals of the flow sensor caused by a very small ingress of water through the body.
He had all these parts on the van.
Hate to think what all these parts, labour plus time/visits it would have cost dealing with a non specialist engineer.

Gas4you, an extra thanks for your comment which I did take into consideration.

domboiler

Hi Freddy,

I've got an f14 error and just cancelled the glow worm cost as it seemed very high! What if its a small repair, 260 down the drain. The lady said no service is included and yet you seemed to have a lot resolved from your call out - was this the luck of the guy who came out? Still not sure what I should do.

CHeers

freddysmith

I guess the Glow Worm engineer just kept changing parts logically (whether faulty or not) to eliminate any possible cause until it cleared an F12 fault and return a fully functioning boiler.
He might have thought the separate leak had some bearing on the parts he had changed or could have caused some water ingress later.
Having a specialist with all the parts ready to fit at a fixed cost was a no-brainer for me as I already knew it was going to cost me at least £450 with labour.
You could phone several engineers with knowledge of your boiler with the fault and ask what the likely cost/cause is.

Pincher

http://www.plumbnation.co.uk/site/glow-worm-ultracom2-30cxi-combi-boiler-natural-gas-lpg/
£681.99 exc VAT
£818.39 inc VAT

If the retailer can sell it for £681.99 before VAT, it means it probably cost Glow worm £200 in parts, and then £50 in labour to make it.

The parts are made by Glow worm, so they don't charge themselves full price. If you got an independent, the parts are more expensive. The Glow worm engineer probably makes £15 an hour, whereas an independent needs to charge £50 an hour to cover his overheads. He also doesn't have the parts in the van.

The fixed price repair from the manufacturer is good value when it's a difficult job, so I would get a trusted plumber to have a quick look for a £50 call out, and then do the fixed price if it's complicated.

willyshatswig

I have this exact same problem.

Display on my Glo Worm 30cxi is flashing "F12", which is a problem with the connection between the PCB and the display.
However the fan is also constantly revving and before the display starts flashing "F12" it shows the pressure constantly changing between "0.9", "1.1" and "1.2".

Had a plumber come out this morning and he took the unit apart to check all the connections on the PCB and the Display Board; and all seemed to be fine.
He recommended that I take British Gas up on their £65 (0-30mins)/£180(31mins-2hours)/£399 (2 hours+) fix it now fee as he couldn't be certain that the PCB was at fault.

British Gas are also offering a £99 fix it now + £22 a month (for a year), which also includes a service (which we need).
This works out ~£363 for a working boiler, a year's cover and a service.

Glo-Worm are offering to fix it for £260.

So which of the 3 should I take?

gas4you

Glow Worm. It should be a one visit fix from them.

ollski

bg fixed price is around 100 cheaper than gw, both come with 12 month guarantee on fault but it will probably take two visits from bg and one from gw.
A contract may be worth consideration as the whole system will be covered as well as dodgy flowswitch, blockage prone hw heat exchangers, noisy main heat exchangers, leaking manifolds, leaking burner seals, leaking filling loops and faulty pcbs and pressure valves which are very common on this model.