Advice Please

hushpuppy

Whilst redecorating I removed a piece of skirting to find that a nail used to hold it to the wall had actually punctured a plastic central heating pipe.

The plumber who attended had to drain down my system and fixed the leak, however he couldn't repressurize the central heating. In turn he called a heating engineer who found that my header tank was rather clogged with sludge.

He managed to get me hot water by clearing a blockage but concluded that the sludge had probably clogged up the central heating side of the system and the only way he could see it being resolved was with a powerflush.

He then warned me that my boiler a POWERMAX 185, was not designed to be powerflushed, so I am in somewhat of a catch 22 situation, in so much that if I try and get it flushed it may or indeed may not work, and if not I will need a new boiler.

The boiler is 8 years old, and we moved in about 3 months ago and were advised to get boiler insurance, and I did with BG as no one else would insure it.

BG serviced it two weeks ago, should they have cleaned the header tank then?

So my questions is what should I do next?
Do I call out BG and tell them the heating is not working?
Do I get it powerflushed?
Can anyone offer any advice?

gas4you

How old is the house? That is how old the boiler will be.

I will not work on these boilers as they are a potential death trap if not set up and serviced properly.

I only ever recommend owners of these boilers get Baxi (Heat Team) out to service or fix them.

My personal opinion is that the only thing worth doing with one of these is to remove it and fit a new and safe combi boiler.

hushpuppy

Its 8 years old.

I was thinking that but now stuck with the obvious question of what to replace it with?¦

Canucklehead

hushpuppy wrote: »

Its 8 years old.

I was thinking that but now stuck with the obvious question of what to replace it with?¦

Hi: my OH yanked one of those out just before Easter and replaced it with a Viessman Vitodens Compact and an unvented cylinder. A RGI will be able to advise what is appropriate for your property based on a site survey and a discussion of your requirements. More here.

HTH

Canucklehead

hushpuppy

Thanks I was holping to fit a worcester cdi35 combi but no idea how big a job that would be to replace the Powermax set up.

hushpuppy

Canucklehead wrote: »

a Viessman Vitodens Compact
Canucklehead

Hi is this the same system?

http://www.reviewcentre.com/reviews242756.html

Canucklehead

hushpuppy wrote: »

Hi is this the same system?

http://www.reviewcentre.com/reviews242756.html

Posters don't say which version or model of the 100 series ....I'm referring to this....we always take these review sites with a grain of salt tbh and base judgements on personal experience and insight from other members of the CIPHE. An installation which follows manufacturer's specifications (as well as the Benchmark) and an appliance which is serviced annually should serve the owner well for many years. Btw... the customer chose the Viessmann after conducting her own research and on the recommendation of friends.

The OH has been fitting Viessman products for 6+ years and Vaillants since he was a young pup....no problem with technical support, spares or warranty ( 5 year parts & labour now for both Vs).


But...each RGI has her/his preferred manufacturer(s).;)

HTH

Canucklehead

hushpuppy

Thanks thats very helpful.

I have been thinking to myself if I should go down the sealed system which had in my previous house and seemed to work very well.

Not really sure what the pro's and con's are against a 'normal' heating system?

Canucklehead

hushpuppy wrote: »

Thanks thats very helpful.

I have been thinking to myself if I should go down the sealed system which had in my previous house and seemed to work very well.

Not really sure what the pro's and con's are against a 'normal' heating system?

An excellent rundown here....but open vented systems aren't a panacea. Majority of new installs in the UK have sealed systems.

Get recommendations for good RGIs, get a few through the door to conduct a site survey and discuss your requirements. Post up quotes here for comment if you like.

HTH

Canucklehead