Boiler Replacement - problems upon problems

Yawn

Normally, you can find in me in the credit card/bank accounts/etc part of this forum, but today I had a crash course in combi boilers and their possible replacement.

My boiler, a Worcester 24i, broke down two days ago. This was not entirely unexpected as it was an old but seemingly sturdy beast. (It came with the house, so not sure how old, but early 2000s.) I had someone service it shortly after I bought the flat though, who said that it was a good one that could last me another 5 years no problem.

So today when the mechanic came to visit, I had high hopes that it would be something minor, but it seems that the board is fried. (I've googled it, I now know what it is and that it is expensive.) Other parts might also need to be replaced. My personal instinct says that spending that amount of money on an old boiler might not be worth it.

However, it turns out that there are other problems in case I choose to have a new boiler installed. The current pipes (wherever they may be) are only 15mms which the mechanic suggested needed to be replaced with 22mms ones. Chatting to an old school friend who knows about these things, it seems that 15mm pipes for a small 24kw boiler seems fine (and of course, it seems like it has worked fine for 15 years or so). But combi boilers that take a 15mm gas supply may well not exist any more.

On top of this, a new outside vent would need to be installed for the condensate drainage pipe. (The boiler is installed on an outside wall with no access to a drain.) But this seems, by comparison, a minor thing.

As I said, lots to chew over and I need to move quickly, as I'm going overseas for a few weeks in two weeks time. Does anyone have any thoughts/suggestions?

Also, what should the average hourly rate for this sort of thing be? Because I assumed it would be a simple one-hour job and needed someone quickly, I didn't look too closely at the price. But of course, now it has become so much bigger, I really need to.

Thanks for the help and advice!

Alex1983

I'd personally repair it, a pcb will be £150 tops and then cost to repair. I brought this model boiler 2nd hand for a stable to provide hot water and a couple of rads because it's a very realiable boiler, parts are easy to get and easy to repair.

A new boiler has zero chance of working on a 15mm gas supply and no decent gas safe engineer would even try.

The flue could go in the same position but you will need a additional condense pipe which will come off the bottom of the boiler, in needs to go to a drain but can be pumped away if needed.

Yawn

Alex1983 wrote: »

I'd personally repair it, a pcb will be £150 tops and then cost to repair. I brought this model boiler 2nd hand for a stable to provide hot water and a couple of rads because it's a very realiable boiler, parts are easy to get and easy to repair.

A new boiler has zero chance of working on a 15mm gas supply and no decent gas safe engineer would even try.

The flue could go in the same position but you will need a additional condense pipe which will come off the bottom of the boiler, in needs to go to a drain but can be pumped away if needed.

Thanks for the advice! It could be worth a short, I guess, given the amount of hassle involved of replacing. I would definitely be in a better financial position if replacement could wait a few years. The mechanic came back to me and quoted £167 for the board, which looks reasonable from what you've said and the googling I've done.

Roughly, what should someone be charging per hour, you reckon?

Lorian

Check Ebay for the boards.....

Alex1983

I wouldn't know it will vary so much the company I work for, which is big charge just short of £100 a hour. It would only take me a hour to fit tops and that would included the relavant safety checks that would be req. I like eBay for most things but don't think I would trust get a pcb from there.

Lorian

Alex1983 wrote: »

I wouldn't know it will vary so much the company I work for, which is big charge just short of £100 a hour. It would only take me a hour to fit tops and that would included the relavant safety checks that would be req. I like eBay for most things but don't think I would trust get a pcb from there.

Brand new ones? Second hand ones with guarantees?

Ah well. I drive with new brake pads I bought from a dealer on Ebay for 1/3 price.... I'm all for saving money.

Yawn

Lorian wrote: »

Brand new ones? Second hand ones with guarantees?

Ah well. I drive with new brake pads I bought from a dealer on Ebay for 1/3 price.... I'm all for saving money.

Hmm. Food for thought. Thanks for the input!

I'm worried about throwing good money after bad. The mechanic says that he can't guarantee that the boiler will work even after the parts, if there is a hidden fault elsewhere, so it already feels like a gamble. I don't want to increase the odds further. (I'm terrible at poker!)

Alex1983

a slight difference between a sensitive printed circuit board and brake pads. Like I said eBay good for most things but I wouldn't chance a pcb from there, not saying your wrong or they would get supplied a iffy one but my opinion is I wouldn't.

Alex1983

There's unlikely to be a hidden fault with that boiler. You'd be very unlucky. I can only really think of the fan having an electrical fault in it and that has damaged your pcb but so unlikely.

Yawn

Alex1983 wrote: »

There's unlikely to be a hidden fault with that boiler. You'd be very unlucky. I can only really think of the fan having an electrical fault in it and that has damaged your pcb but so unlikely.

OK. I'll call the mechanic and see what he says. If it is just an hour's job, it is worth the risk and it would be nice to get it sorted quickly and swiftly. I'm going away for six weeks and don't like the idea of leaving the issue unsolved for that long.

Thanks for the advice!

southcoastrgi

A mechanic fixes your car
A heating engineer fixes your boiler