Combi Boiler safe or Not ?

Bash

hi all,

Need some Gas Safe advice please.

My elderly mum's house has an Ariston Microgenus II 28 MFFI boiler heating 7 rads. It was fitted just under 8 years ago and has been serviced regularly.

Recently after a couple of weeks away when she returned home the boiler started make a rumbling, vibrating type noise when it fires up for both hot water and Central Heating, similar to air in pipes. Everything still works fine, hot water and hot rads.

In the past the boiler has made a similar noise and it switched off automatically. In fact this boiler switches off quickly and displays an error code whenever its unhappy about anything! To avoid any risk of this happening during this cold spell, I called out a gas safe guy and went off to fetch some 'Sentinel 200' this afternoon. To cut a long story short, i got stuck in the snow and he got to mums before me.

I got a worried call from my mum saying he says, she needs a new boiler. I spoke to him on phone and he said "you're gonna need a new boiler mate", saying that the inside was all corroded. Still stuck in snow I rang him, assuring him it was only serviced last year and has a safety cert issued. The last engineer said it was an older boiler but working fine.

He told me when he had opened the boiler "a part fell out", apparently the Flue turret had corroded and broken off and combustion gases where not getting away from the boiler. Saying he was surprised this boiler has lasted so long and that its dangerous.

I'm no expert but I have a fairly new LCD CO monitor fitted near to the boiler and a separate mains operated gas alarm in mums small kitchen as she is getting on now and forgets things. The alarm hasn't gone off in the past three weeks and I have tested it outside by the flue outlet to see it does work.

Two hours on, I was still stuck in snow traffic and he rang me back to say he had managed to order a replacement turret but was vague when I asked him if this would solve the banging/vibration from the boiler. The chap disconnected the boiler and said he would be back next week. I never got to meet him.

Am I just being too suspicious thinking this guys is trying to "milk a job" or does this sound about right to someone in the know?

ollski

Sounds ok, cheap simple part and he found one. If I was ever going to spin a job a flue turret wouldn't be a part I'd make up. If it's gone that badly it probably let a lot of water vapour back into the combustion chamber causing rust. Aristons are pretty budget, not made for a long and fruitful life but none of us can / have seen it. Even if co was escaping into the combustion chamber it is still sealed to the room although the poor combustion would cause noises with the flames baffling out, reigniting, lifting off the burner etc.

C_Mababejive

Dont listen to Dom littlewood. Not everyone is out to rip people off. No doubt the old bits will be available for inspection.

Bash

ok, many thanks for your replies.

I have managed to talk to the chap today and he has made it a little clearer. Like you said 'Ollski' the CO is held in the chamber and flues outside, probably why the CO alarm hasn't activated.

He said, there would be no CO in the kitchen but the Gas Safe Regs oblige him to shut down the boiler. He is not allowed to let CO escape into the outside environment and that is why he was covering himself by serving a notice to shut down.

He said he felt guilty about leaving a little old lady without any heating or hot water in sub zero temperatures but his hands were tied. Mind you he did insist on her signing his paperwork before leaving the house. Suppose it's all part of the blame and claim culture we all have to survive in now.

Bash

Update:
The chap came back this afternoon and fitted the flue manifold that had corroded and then switched the boiler and heating back on. However the boiler is still vibrating and noisy, exactly as it was before he fitted the manifold.

The noise and rumbling is actually coming from the fan.

This time when he opened the boiler I was present and it is not really corroded other than part that was fitted. He wants to charge £40 for each visit which was around 2 hours of actual work for both occasions and £30 for the part. So £110 in total, which I suppose seems ok.

I am not a boiler engineer but with the front cover off I could clearly see and hear the fan being noisy and then as soon as the heat shield was replaced, it was causing the front of the boiler to vibrate.

The fan will cost £90 and he is expecting to be paid his labour again to come and refit it. Taking it off and refitting looks straightforward enough. Is that reasonable or should we have expected someone with his level of expertise to have picked up on this on his first visit?

ghostlymoron

Bash wrote: »

Update:
The chap came back this afternoon and fitted the flue manifold that had corroded and then switched the boiler and heating back on. However the boiler is still vibrating and noisy, exactly as it was before he fitted the manifold.

The noise and rumbling is actually coming from the fan.

This time when he opened the boiler I was present and it is not really corroded other than part that was fitted. He wants to charge £40 for each visit which was around 2 hours of actual work for both occasions and £30 for the part. So £110 in total, which I suppose seems ok.

I am not a boiler engineer but with the front cover off I could clearly see and hear the fan being noisy and then as soon as the heat shield was replaced, it was causing the front of the boiler to vibrate.

The fan will cost £90 and he is expecting to be paid his labour again to come and refit it. Taking it off and refitting looks straightforward enough. Is that reasonable or should we have expected someone with his level of expertise to have picked up on this on his first visit?

His charges seem quite reasonable. Is he gas safe registered? He should have spotted the obvious on his first visit.
Some modern boilers don't have a very long life expectancy and I expect your Mum's is well out of warranty.
I would get him to fit a new fan although the costs are mounting to the point that a new boiler might have been a better bet but you've already spent £110 and now £150. Small new boiler is £400 + fitting.

unclebulgaria

Forgive me but I get a little tired of being accused of the same thing you're complaining about.
If the engineer who visited found the boiler to be dangerous he has to isolate it, its got nothing to do with blame and claim culture.
A corroded part has been replaced which is perfectly correct and his charges aren't over the top. The fact you have a noisy fan is another matter, he was alone with an elderly lady when he isolated and made arrangments to fix "the obvious" which was the corroded part. If he had purchased a new fan without you being there to see the problem you may have thought he was "milking the job" again.
If the fan is working but noisy then really and truly it shouldn't be reaplaced unless you requested it on top of the corroded part. IMO.
steer clear of these £400 boilers they are absolute rubbish and a false economy!
If the fan is noisy it may require lubrication to quieten it, as stated Ariston aren't known for being robust, everyone I go to is noisy. This guy seems to be above board and has charged you a very reasonable rate to repair the boiler.