Boiler nightmare

pine77

My boiler stopped working.

Plumber came over. Said it needed a new expansion vessel kit. Paid him, he put it in, it worked for 14 hours before failing again. I paid £250.

Now I am worried because it seems they are just replacing parts with no idea whether it will work or not - I am paying for trial and error until it works..

Spoke to him today and he said the system needs flushing because it is a blockage and he wants another £250 to do that. i am not even sure if that is the problem and he is not taking advantage.

Does this seem a normal process for a London Plumber?

bridgedino

it seems like a bit of a rip off, in any part of the country

I would be looking at getting a couple of quotes before committing to spending any more

Crinkmeister

Sounds like he doesn't know what he's doing. Is he Gas Safe registered?

bridgedino

Any more news on your boiler?

macman

Plumbers don't all repair gas boilers-you need a GSR RGI.
Make/model, and what is actually wrong with it-'stopped working' doesn't tell us much.

pine77

Worcester 30 Cdi Combi boiler is the make and model. Installed in 2007. Heats 3 rads when working.

Before the change of Expansion Vessel: I run the hot water, boiler fires up, the temperature rises fast (20 seconds) until it hits U9 on the readout (over heat) and then it stops - no hot water, boiler overheated. This is accompanied by some thud sounds from the boiler - like something is blocked or a pump failing. Same if I turn on the heating.

After the £250 new expansion kit: no change.

The people I used with much futility.. http://theplumbers.org/about.html

cyclonebri1

The only thing I have to add is that it must be a problem within the boiler, given what you said.
Is there a short circuit bypass fitted between the flow and return pipes at the boiler, if you open it fully then it has to be within the boiler.

macman

Get the original RGI back and tell him that he has to do a proper fault finding process on it-and not at your expense.
There is no evidence that the fault was related to the EV-is the pressure OK?

pine77

Pressure is fine.

I told the RGI I am not comfortable paying more because he didn't fix the problem the first time. He said: ''I hear what you saying, but that is just the way it is, I will offer you a flush for £250 instead of £450...''

Called citizens advice and they told me to write him a letter, recorded delivery, quoting certain trade acts from the 1980's..

MonsieurFrugal

Get someone in who's professional.

pine77

I called the makers, Bosch. The have a special department for boilers. I read them the code of my boiler, they knew when it was installed and everything..They said just to turn up at my address, before any work is done or parts purchased, I have to pay £274.

The people I got in have all the certificates and were recommended by someone I doubt I will ever speak to again after this..