Glow worm cx 30 update ..and questions

another_casualty

Howdy!
Some of you may have seen my previous thread regarding the above.

I have update : Managed to fix the pressure last night
This morning I receive a call from gas co. telling me an engineer is in the area, and would it be ok for him to pop round.
Of course I said yes. Well, he has been and gone .

The company charge £74 per hour, which I was told before call out and I was happy with this .
When the engineer came , he said basically that as the boiler was working he would service it and look at radiator also , rather than just take the £74 for a few minutes work . Fair enough , no complaints.

Upon looking into things further , he did say the boiler is not in the greatest shape and he was not confident in saying how much longer it would be running as it should .
He mentioned lots of orange gunk under the AAV . The AAV is leaking
He showed me the radiator in the hallway,which was leaking.
He noticed the radiator in the living room was hot ontop , but cold in the middle . He tested it for a while , and initially thought that the pressure would sort it out. It hadn't changed while he was there.
I did ask him if it was better off for me to get a new boiler altogether .
I asked if it would last another year. He said maybe, but wouldn't say one way or the other.
He also said that the rads were full of junk and needed a complete clean , or even replaced.
I've signed the invoice and will obviously pay the £74 when it arrives.
He said that the invoice would show his recommendations .He said that I'd be talking around £270.00
On the invoice where it said parts to be ordered/ fitted :aav @1 hour
Where the invoice says work undertaken : co96/22 co29.5/9.2
ratio o.ooo9B P 17mb max / o.ooo3 min

So, should I do nothing? Get a new boiler ?

Thanks

Alex1983

Why would you get a new boiler because of orange mess under aav, he can remove it and clean the float and all will be good. The boiler is a ok model, I wouldn't change it if it was in my house, every bit is still available.

With regards to rads, is the only trouble with the one cold spots?

another_casualty

Thanks Alex

He was saying that it hasn't been serviced properly for some time . I believe him , as the person I purchased the flat from let it out and they seemed to be on the manky side .
The rad in the front room seems to be the only problem now.
Yes, it's true what you say . That boiler has got a good reputation.

You know the score and I listen to what you say . However, if I have to pay say,£270.00 and a few months/ year down the line something else goes wrong then I'm not sure.

The rads are full of gunk though , hence the one in the front room being half cold .The hallway one is leaking. I think he fixed it though .
With service costs and parts and not knowing, it can be a bit of a minefield.

Alex1983

If the rads are full of sludge, have them flushed out, will cost but once it's done it's done.

New boiler will not cure your sludged radiators, you will have the exactly the same issue with the new boiler.

If your worried about parts cost and service cost take a maintenance agreement with BG or homeserve.

another_casualty

Thanks again Alex .
Good points again ,duly noted. It does seem the right thing to get the rads flushed out .
I must be honest though ,and won't even think about British Gas .
Homeseve, not so sure . I do wonder if it's worth taking out one of those type of policies . I was hoping to just have a yearly service for sometime . I'm just wondering how much a new boiler like for like would cost including installation etc.

One thing I must mention . When I was purchasing the flat, I never had a service as such but the company I used ( same as this ,with a good reputation ) sent an engineer out because I wanted them to make sure it was safe as it is in the bedroom which the surveyor told me to avoid purchase of the flat for that reason only .
The engineer said it was a good boiler ,and that I shouldn't have much
trouble with it . The chap yesterday however, gave it a full examination and rased the points mentioned. The annoying thing about yesterday was that I wasn't told 100% to get a new boiler or how long it is expected to carry on going . It was more ' you could do'...etc

Alex1983

The problem with modern boilers is your only ever a failed heat exchanger away from the boiler not being economical to repair this is why some many people use BG or homeserve, I have read a few threads on here saying homeserve say its not a economical repair so won't repair and offer a ideal logic at a so say cheap replacement, don't know what there terms and conditions say but BG has no exclusions like that, if it's available it's repaired. Some manufacturers also do fixed price repairs as a option if heat exchanger fails.

another_casualty

Thanks again Alex.
I was just literally going to see the consuktant for a hospital appt
and all of a sudden my phone rang . It was the gas company. Wonder what they want :rotfl:

I am wondeing how old the boiler is , and if it's too old for homeserve etc.

bris

I wouldn't be replacing the boiler either. I also wouldn't be paying £270 to replace a £12 part as that's all that's really needing done.


What I would recommend is getting a system filter installed, like a Magnaclean on the return pipework and dosing it with system cleaner, let it run and do it's thing for a few days then clean the filter, repeat this a few times and it will make all the difference.






It's not a bad boiler and certainly not worth changing.

another_casualty

Thanks Bris.

How much would what you recommend cost? I would probably get the same company to do what's needed.

another_casualty

I just had an automatic air vent fitted . £79, which includes the hourly rate of the fitter fitting it .
The engineer said that the boiler is not in the greatest condition ,and if a lot of money was to be spent in the future then it's best to get a new one.
He did say that I may have to consider getting a new radiator for the living room as it ws not totally hot .
I shouldn't have to have anything else done until next year , fingers crossed. Hopefully then, it will just be an annual service which will be approx £80. The engineer agreed .

another_casualty

Just wondering if it's worth getting a powerflush now for the radiators while the irons hot , or wait till autumn . Also ,how much it would cost