Boiler sensor not working, no hot water help!

pinkclouds21

Wondering if anybody could help me please?
My hot water stopped working last week, central heating is working fine. At the moment my insurance company is sorting it, and sent an engineer round on Friday. He said that the sensor had stopped working and that it was a relatively cheap easy job to fix. However he also said that when he replaces that, if the problem persists it's an issue with the dashboard. If that's the case he said the part alone would cost £350 and the boiler would basically be a write off. So I'm basically panicking that I'll need a new boiler, but just wanted some advice really to see if this sounds right? My boiler is 8 years old and is an Ideal isar he35.
Many thanks

molerat

I assume by sensor he means the DHW thermistor which if failed in the "hot" situation would not allow the boiler to heat the water, but anyone who knows what they are doing should be able to test it. As for the circuit board I can find them for under £120. The problem is finding a gas man that can actually do proper fault diagnosis and not keep changing random parts until the fault goes away (or maybe doesn't) - yes, I mean you BG Homecare.

The problem we have nowdays is that boilers are too complex and it is far easier and more profitable to replace a boiler as you can 100% guarantee that the "problem" will be fixed. The only way to fix a "problem" that my son had was to replace the boiler for £2K. I had a look and yes replacing the boiler would have fixed it as the actual offending £30 not-on-the-boiler valve would have been replaced as well. I fixed the whole system for around £50 which included all parts, including some changed because they were old and the system was drained anyway, and chemicals to clean and inhibit the system - a boiler overheat problem that BG had been attending to, and failed to fix, for 2 years - took me about 30 minutes to diagnose.

footyguy

pinkclouds21 wrote: »

Wondering if anybody could help me please?
My hot water stopped working last week, central heating is working fine. At the moment my insurance company is sorting it, and sent an engineer round on Friday. He said that the sensor had stopped working and that it was a relatively cheap easy job to fix. However he also said that when he replaces that, if the problem persists it's an issue with the dashboard. If that's the case he said the part alone would cost £350 and the boiler would basically be a write off. So I'm basically panicking that I'll need a new boiler, but just wanted some advice really to see if this sounds right? My boiler is 8 years old and is an Ideal isar he35.
Many thanks

Tell your insurer the "engineer" they sent was not really sure how to fix the fault and that you want a second opinion from someone that knows what they are doing.

No competent engineer would approach a job on the basis of continuing to change parts until it resolves the problem; he should be able to identify the cause of the fault - that is presumably what he will be charging the insurer for for that initial visit.

If the worst comes to the worst and the £350 part really is needed,(and to me that sounds like a new circuit board), that is quite a simple job to replace and should cost no more than about £50 - £100 in labour (depending on what the engineer charges per hour) - perhaps less if he's contracted to the insurer who will no doubt have agreed special rates for them.

Even so, the repair should not cost more than £450 (based on what he said) and there is no way you can get a replacement boiler for that - the cheapest is going to set you back at least £600-£800 (You won't get an Ideal boiler for that price) plus the cost of installation which is probably going to add at least 50% or more to that cost.

footyguy

molerat wrote: »

... As for the circuit board I can find them for under £120. ...

That's a good price

Not spent too long searching, but I first found them at Plumbbase for £220.74
https://www.plumbase.co.uk/ste174486-pcb-orange-v9-he-10000149-3533278

Having then got the part number, my usual first port of call for boiler spares, keeptheheaton.com, I see are selling them at just £134.79 plus vat (includes free 3 day delivery ... or pay more for quicker delivery)

[Edit:
Or another source (I've never used these so can't comment about them) are charging £135.37 plus VAT (again free delivery within 4-5 days)
http://www.theheatxchange.co.uk/ideal/pcb-primary-control-kit-v9-was-a-black-board-now-orange-isar-icos/sku_STE174486 ]

So yes, I'm sure with a bit of seaching, they are indeed available for £120 or less.

I wonder who charges £350? Other than an engineer who applies an extrortionate mark up?

pinkclouds21

Thankyou all so much! You've been very helpful, I was a bit sceptical about him saying the boiler was possibly a write off. Hoping that him or whoever they send on Monday fixes it. If not I'll most definitely get a different opinion, I'm thinking that the insurance won't cover it if it's the circuit board. But just wanted an idea as to whether it was worth throwing money at.