Boiler Problem - Help needed from a CORGI guy

addictive_saver

There is a thread going on 'Housing & Renting Board' here

The problem is summarised as below:

I moved in to property in Winter. No person from Letting Agent came to show me how to operate the boiler and no instruction manuals provided. I just asked my previous tenant about it (my fault) and came to know that he was using a switch for switching it on/off (later came to know that its called as isolator switch)

Recently (20 days ago) boiler has developed some problem and stopped working.. I reported the problem to Letting Agent and they sent on engineer to look at the boiler. Letting Agent then sent me the letter (after received report from the engineer) that had following statement:

....Because you have been using Isolator switch to control the boiler it has caused damage to the appliance inside. Consequently, for the boiler to produce hot water, the boiler fan needs to be replaced. The switch should only be used by Professional Plumber...

Till date they have not repaired the boiler and asking £500 from me before fixing it..

Could anybody please guide me whether:
1. Usage of the isolator switch would really cause some problems to fan
2. it will really cost £500 for this repair...

Appreciate your help...Thanks...

discobaby

get on to british gas they do a one of service/repair for your boiler for around £130 and you don't have to be suplied by them, no extra costs/charges etc hope this helps better than £500 what a rip off!

btr30

I'm afraid controlling the boiler using the isolator could cause damage to the boiler, as the boiler is not being shut down in the normal controlled manner. e.g. normal shutdown( either on a thermostat or time clock) would allow the fan and pump to continue running for a period to dissipate any residual heat. By switching the power off directly, all parts will stop together, and potentially the fan and printed circuit board could overheat.
Depending on boiler type fan supply only cost would be between £70-150, you will also have the cost of initial call out to diagnose the fault, and labour costs to carry out the repair.
£500 does seem a little on the steep side, but if you know the boiler type, you could search the fan price online to give you an idea of the breakdown.
You could always try yellow pages to get an alternative quote, but the landlord would have to authorise the repair as he is responsible for the safe operation of the appliance.