Warm Front boiler gone wrong and out of guarantee

asif7

We had a new Ideal Logic Combi 30 boiler and radiators installed by Warm Front approx. 4 years ago. It was serviced and guaranteed for 2 years and we did not take out the further cover from the company when the guarantee ran out as I did not think we would need it so soon (also because we were not happy with the Warm Front installers or service engineer for other reasons regarding the quality of their work and attitude and although we intended to explore other firms to provide cover, we did not get round to it).


The boiler went wrong about this time last year so we got someone in and the boiler had a part replaced (think this was called something like a tri-fold manifest?) which was apparently leaking along with getting it serviced. Then in Spring of this year it started losing pressure (F-1 showing on the display).


The person who had repaired and serviced it a few months before could not seem to get to the bottom of the problem and kept saying we should be noticing a leak somewhere if the boiler was losing pressure but there was no leak to be found. He did tell us how to adjust the valves to get things working whenever the pressure dropped but this loss of pressure became more and more frequent so we decided to leave it as we were not in need of the heating during the warmer months and could not afford any further callouts.


We have now had a different person in to have a look and firstly he thought he had fixed the problem by re-booting the airbag but within an hour or so of him leaving, the display was back to F-1. He returned and has now found that the problem is a faulty heat exchanger and says that is where the leak is and it is going into the pump.


I have done a bit of googling and found that faulty heat exchangers are indeed a common problem with this boiler and have not been given a price yet but was told that this is the most expensive thing that can go wrong.


The problem is affordability. I am no better off financially than I was when the boiler was installed and do not know where I can find the amount needed to pay for this. I realise that Warm Front is no more and filled out an eligibility check online for Affordable Warmth but do not know what they offer and did not realise that this involves them calling me back (which has not happened yet). Does anyone know if this deals with repairs anyway rather than replacement and if I am eligible, does this mean there is a possibility of help with repair costs?


I definitely intend to sign up for breakdown cover once this is sorted but I simply cannot afford constantly paying for the parts and repair costs of this.


Any other suggestions about how to deal with this would be welcome and apologies for any errors/lack of knowledge in the technical department!

phill99

You're on your own on this one!

Ruski

I don't really like recommending BG, but this is one possible solution for you to keep the costs of the repair down AND sign up for cover.


https://www.britishgas.co.uk/rc-app-slot-booking/


HTH


Russ

27col

I've found that BG are pretty good when it comes to my service contract.. There are several different levels of contract to choose from.

southcoastrgi

asif7 wrote: »

He returned and has now found that the problem is a faulty heat exchanger and says that is where the leak is and it is going into the pump.

which pump ?

if he means the central heating pump = get a new engineer to look at it, one without spurs on his boots,

put a freezer bag or similiar over the 15mm pipe that goes out the wall, tape it on tight does it get water in it over a 24 hr period using the boiler ?

see what happens & come back

asif7

Thanks for the responses. Have decided to go with Ruski & 27col's suggestion and have signed up for fixed price repair with ongoing cover from BG as I don't want to end up paying for a repair now and then have the risk of something else going wrong where I'll have to pay for yet another callout. Thanks to southcoastrgi also but not physically able or confident enough to attempt your suggestion.

Seronera

I'm surprised nobody suggested contacting Ideal. There have been a few heat exchangers fail, but no its not a 'common fault' at all, but they did have one batch early on that were not up to scratch. I don't speak for Ideal but I do know they have been pretty good at replacing some parts out of warranty where they know there has been a quality control problem. As far as I know the Logic does not have any common faults..unlike its predecessor the Isar/Icos, which has too many to mention.

I'd certainly have contacted them, after all the worst they can say is 'No'.

Seronera