Scrap or save boiler?

C_Mababejive

7 years old? Shameful. My boiler is 32 years old,still working perfectly and costs about £25pm to run.

cgray25

Gas4You - thanks, is there any reason that the DV couldn't be cleaned or a refurbed (kit)? Or why he'd say it couldn't be just from the pipe getting hot?

Going to call someone else today, but want to make sure I know what I'm getting done.

Cardew

macman wrote: »

Baxi and Ideal came out bottom of the list for reliability in the recent Which survey. Baxi 71%, Ideal 70%.
WB and Vaillant both top with 77%.
The extra for a decent brand will not be that much.
I can't recall many RGI's on here recommending Baxi.

There is a problem with determining boiler reliability by WHICH surveys, and even fitters advice..

Firstly there has been so much 'badge engineering' with manufacturers being bought out and a former 'stand alone' manufacturer now being part of a group with a great many common parts; particularly electronic modules. Much like VW, SEAT and Skoda.

Just one faulty batch of, say, a printed circuit board can greatly damage the statistics in reliability surveys. Even a modified board for new boilers will not improve those statistics for years.

My 24 year old Ideal boiler has been faultless, but what relevance has that to their latest models - obviously none! One could also argue that a 5 year old Ideal boiler that has given a lot of trouble has also no relevance to new Ideal models.

Taking the analogy with cars a little further. People bought Mercedes for their build quality and total reliability, and avoided Skoda for the opposite reasons.

Mercedes went through a period of out-sourcing manufacture and the financiers in the company said their cars were over-engineered. Their reliability suffered, and so did their reputation. They are now apparently getting back on track.

Skoda were something of a joke in terms of reliability. VW bought them and their quality and reliability has improved beyond recognition - but there are still loads of people who would never never buy a Skoda.

alleycat`

I've got a Baxi, and to start with, so did just about every house on the street.

To the best of my knowledge there are now four left on the street from the original twenty five "variants" of the same model installed.

I think mine was the second one installed and it is the worst piece of crap I've ever had the misfortune to come across.

I wanted to put it down to me getting an unlucky "Friday afternoon special", but every single one on the street has been utter toilet by all accounts.

I've finally given in and am having it replaced after 10 years of eating parts and generally been a big pain in the !!!!.

Once the Baxi is out i'm going to take it out back and thrash it with some tree branches ala Basil Fawlty.

Edit:- O and after years of having VW's i have a Skoda so i'm not badge blinded ;o)

Cardew

alleycat` wrote: »

I've got a Baxi, and to start with, so did just about every house on the street.

To the best of my knowledge there are now four left on the street from the original twenty five "variants" of the same model installed.

I think mine was the second one installed and it is the worst piece of crap I've ever had the misfortune to come across.

I wanted to put it down to me getting an unlucky "Friday afternoon special", but every single one on the street has been utter toilet by all accounts.

I've finally given in and am having it replaced after 10 years of eating parts and generally been a big pain in the !!!!.

Once the Baxi is out i'm going to take it out back and thrash it with some tree branches ala Basil Fawlty.

Edit:- O and after years of having VW's i have a Skoda so i'm not badge blinded ;o)

That is exactly the point I was making.

The 10 year old?? Baxi model installed on your street is apparently a poor model. However what are today's Baxi boilers like? They could be much better, or much worse and in a few years time we will find out.

Also Baxi have become Baxi Group and manufacture boilers with a host of other names across Europe. Names such as Potterton, Valor, Heatrea sadia as well as heat Pumps and a host of other equipment.

Likewise with your Skoda - they now have a deserved excellent reputation - which wasn't always the case.

alleycat`

Cardew wrote: »

That is exactly the point I was making.

The 10 year old?? Baxi model installed on your street is apparently a poor model. However what are today's Baxi boilers like? They could be much better, or much worse and in a few years time we will find out.

Also Baxi have become Baxi Group and manufacture boilers with a host of other names across Europe. Names such as Potterton, Valor, Heatrea sadia as well as heat Pumps and a host of other equipment.

Likewise with your Skoda - they now have a deserved excellent reputation - which wasn't always the case.

Don't disagree with your general point.
My Boilers first year of manufacture was 2001 and ended in 2008 If you are curious about the 10 years, mine was installed in August/September 2002.

I'm aware that Baxi and Ideal have taken a lot of stick over the last decade for the quality of their products, or lack thereof and, from all accounts, they might just be about getting their act together.

Sadly the damage appears to be done from a reputation standpoint.
Audi in the USA from the 80's to now know all about how bad reviews can kill a product.
I guess Lancia and the Beta in the UK are another good example.

I wouldn't have another Baxi given and i suspect a straw pole of the street would get you the same answer too.

I suspect, as with a lot of things, Accountants worked out they could save tuppence on various bits over 100's and 1000's of units which, looks great on a short term profit and loss sheet, but isn't very good when nobody wants to buy your product anymore.

cgray25

Can anyone tell me if there's a reason a DV couldn't be cleaned/refurbed?

unclebulgaria

cgray25 wrote: »

Can anyone tell me if there's a reason a DV couldn't be cleaned/refurbed?

It can quite easily though some models are harder to work on than others. Generally any boiler under 10 years old is easily repairable with lots of kits or replacement parts available. The only time this becomes uneconomical is when you're dealing with crap like ferroli, ravenheat, biasi then I would scrap the boiler (obviously if you can afford to) as they are terribly unreliable the older they get. Good money after bad...
I would get a recommended RGi in and get a second opinion. I can't see it so its hard to give perfect advice.
Can you possibly put a pic on here maybe?

cgray25

Thanks - I am going to get another RGI out but I was hoping to A) get a price beforehand and ask him to have the part ready to fit (if it was possible to ascertain this before getting him out).

I know the boiler doesn't need scrapped, I know it's just the Diverter Valve that needs sorted. The problem is the other guy came out, just said the DV was "totally bunged up and had to be replaced" (hadn't removed it, this was just because the feed pipe was hot). He then wanted to sell me a new boiler and took £30 'for his trouble', even though he hadn't done anything except lead me up the garden path.

I'm guessing there's probably no reason the DV can't have a refurb kit fitted, if not at least cleaned.

unclebulgaria

Hmm well I dont charge for a consultation so long as I'm not kept for more than 20 mins. I don't think the RGi will have the chance to get the part beforehand though. Just a note, before you get anyone out ask what their charges are, you can always refuse to pay if you think its an unreasonable charge and ask for an explanation.