Gas back boiler needing serviced...

Ramagamma

Good day, I'll keep this quick.

I've got a baxi back boiler, the older style ones with the front mounted gas fire, it's not been serviced for 4 years. I've booked it for a service but the gas man can't make it till the end of November.

I'm cautious of turning it on till then, it's only been run in the winter months (we have an immersion heater I use for hot water in the summer) and I don't want to fire it up for a month if its a risk.

You hear horror stories about them blowing up, etc. I've already got a carbon monoxide alarm but gas is a dangerous thing. I know you should really get them serviced every year but that's life.

Anyone any experience with these boilers and how "safe" they are?

Thank you

Alter_ego

Has anything changed since you last used it?

Ramagamma

Alter_ego wrote: »

Has anything changed since you last used it?

No but it's not been switched on since February and it worked as normal then, I would presume that makes it safer to go ahead and use but you never know with these appliances

Alter_ego

I'd check the flue outlet isn't blocked then give it a go. Your choice though.

ChaunceyGardiner

Check that the wall vent hasn’t been obstructed.

Grampus8

Ramagamma wrote: »

Good day, I'll keep this quick.

I've got a baxi back boiler, the older style ones with the front mounted gas fire, it's not been serviced for 4 years. I've booked it for a service but the gas man can't make it till the end of November.

I'm cautious of turning it on till then, it's only been run in the winter months (we have an immersion heater I use for hot water in the summer) and I don't want to fire it up for a month if its a risk.

You hear horror stories about them blowing up, etc. I've already got a carbon monoxide alarm but gas is a dangerous thing. I know you should really get them serviced every year but that's life.

Anyone any experience with these boilers and how "safe" they are?

Thank you

Doesn't that cost loads in electricity?

EachPenny

Grampus8 wrote: »

Doesn't that cost loads in electricity?

I do the same, and it doesn't cost much because it runs on Economy 7.

OP, you should always put safety first and not do anything if you have concerns about it. But if it helps, I used to leave my back boiler off from about March to October and never had a problem. Before running it I'd check that the flue was clear at the exit. I'd also run the CH pump a couple of times through the spring/summer just to stop it seizing.

If it has a pilot light has that been left on since February? If not, then you'd need to relight it before the boiler would work. Personally I'd always relight the pilot with the power supply to the boiler turned off, so the boiler cannot fire immediately the pilot is lit. The reason for that is lighting mine involved laying down on the floor with my face quite close to the boiler. If (that's a big if) something went wrong with the main burner I didn't want my face to be near it.