Warranty on radiator

Albert1234

Hi all, I was looking for some advice on a warranty issue we have with a radiator purchased from British Gas.

We moved into a property about 6 months ago and the previous owner had the entire heating system (boiler and all radiators) replaced 3 1/2 years prior to us moving in. The radiators are the expensive stainless steel type.

Last week I noticed 2 pin hole leaks coming from one of the radiators. I spoke to the previous owner and she said she 'seemed to remember' they had a warranty on them but had no details or paperwork on this.

I've looked at similar radiators (stainless steel) online and all came with warranties of between 10 and 25 years. I explained the situation to British Gas and they say this is 'normal use and not covered by any warranty'.

Clearly Stainless Steel shouldn't rust in 4 years and there is clearly a manufacturing issue with the radiator but British Gas won't acknowledge this. Does anyone have any advice on whether it is worth pursuing this further and if so how? Or should I just cut my losses and pay to replace it.

Thanks

shaun_from_Africa

Even if you are able to prove a manufacturing defect and are able to show that the radiator hasn't lasted long enough, you still won't have any legal rights against British Gas due to you not being the original purchaser.

Basically, you purchased a set of second hand radiators from a non business seller (the person you bought the house from) and as such there is no legal requirement for those radiators to be durable or long lasting.

Unless the pervious house owner can find some warranty paperwork and that warranty is transferrable, your only option is to pay for the replacement yourself.

DaftyDuck

.. or replace it yourself. Plenty of online guidelines, or drop into the DIY forum here.

But, as far as a warranty goes, unless there was a transferable warranty (unlikely) of which you have a copy (seems not), and British Gas can't find an excuse (which is easy - you did have the whole system checked annually? Clean radiators regularly? Check anti-corrosion concentration regularly? ... endless excuses), you are not going to get anywhere easily.

For a DIY fit (which really is easy), check and recheck radiator size, visit a DIY shed, or Toolstation or Screwfix, buy a replacement and a new inhibitor, and off you go.

MoneyMate

Stainless steel should not go rusty unless it is attacked by something like Hypochlorite , sounds like one of the welds may be faulty do you know if the system has any corrosion inhibitor in ?

Hope you get it sorted soon.

bris

You wont even need inhibitor, there will be enough in the system to handle one radiator change.
Turn off the both valves, undo one side and collect the water from the radiator with a tray low enough to do the job, undo the other side, lift off the radiotor and put the new one on. Open both valves, bleed the radiator and top up the boiler pressure.


Get a Radiator with the same dimensions and you won't need to touch the brackets.

shaun_from_Africa

MoneyMate wrote: »

Stainless steel should not go rusty unless it is attacked by something like Hypochlorite

It's fairly common for stainless steel to go rusty especially if it's low grade made with a low percentage of chromium.
It is the chromium that protects from rust as it forms a very fine layer on the outside of the metal, a layer that should reform if damaged.
However, in SS with a low chromium content, this layer can take a while to build up if damaged (if for example there was a bit of grit in the water inside the radiator) and rust can start forming before the oxide layer can start protecting the steel.

I come across quite a few stainless steel items that have formed surface rust on them especially if the items in question have been used in harsh, salt laden atmospheres.