Advice on costs of converting conventional boiler to combi

rayudu

I have checked with Local repair company they said they will charge £110 for call out charge, and engineer will try to fix it, if they can't fix it, they will order new parts and come again to fit it by charging £60/hr. I have asked him, what are the common parts you replace for potterton suprima 40l? He said, the records shows for lot of parts they are not available.

Last year i have serviced the boiler, the engineer told me no problems with the boiler, it is in good condition, no rust or anything.

When i googled the symptoms of my boiler problem, it shows the boiler is in Lock out state. I am not an expert, after little reading, my suspicion is the fan is not running , it make APS is not starting.

I am thinking of 3 potential problems
1) Fan 2) APS 3) PCB

I am trying to find out the parts availability and cost, i have found the parts in this website
https://www.heatingspareparts.com/datasheets/potterton/suprima-spc-40l

Thanks.

no1catman

neilmcl wrote: »

As mentioned, combis are great if you live alone or in a flat/apartment but one of their biggest disadvantages is their inability to meet a high demand for hot water which is what you actually need in a family home with children etc. Imagine what it'll be like in the morning when you've multiple people drawing water at the same time.

But why would you have 'multiple people'? There's only one bathroom, so anyone using the shower/bath may be interrupted for a moment if some uses the kitchen sink for a moment or two.
You're are just as likely to have problems the other way, someone's used the hot water (from the hot water tank) take too long to re-heat - combi no problem. You could have a succession of people using the shower with a combi - no problem.
Then there's the float over--flow valve, take out too much water to quickly - it drops to an almost vertical position, and doesn't rise up with the in-flow - water gushes out of the overflow; with a combi - no cold water tank - no problem.

But ref the 'quote' yes think it a bit high, should cope with a 28 or even less, '30' seems high.

rayudu

I have got couple of other quotes came between £2200 to £2600 for Wocester Bosch greenstar 30i.

At the moment i have 2 options
1) Fix the existing boiler for time being ( i don't know how much i need to spend on this) . As this is 25 years old boiler it might give me problems again. Difficult to get the maintenance contract with this old boiler. I will have problems if it breaks down in winter, it's very difficult to get the appointments of gas engineers here.

2) Right now we have 1 bathroom, combi boiler would be good option. In case if we add another bedroom and bathroom. I will consider having electric shower in the new bathroom.

If i go down the 2nd option, right now we have 7 radiators and 1 bathroom what is the minimum capacity (21,24,28, etc) boiler we can consider?

thorganby

rayudu wrote: »

I have checked with Local repair company they said they will charge £110 for call out charge, and engineer will try to fix it, if they can't fix it, they will order new parts and come again to fit it by charging £60/hr. I have asked him, what are the common parts you replace for potterton suprima 40l? He said, the records shows for lot of parts they are not available.

Last year i have serviced the boiler, the engineer told me no problems with the boiler, it is in good condition, no rust or anything.

When i googled the symptoms of my boiler problem, it shows the boiler is in Lock out state. I am not an expert, after little reading, my suspicion is the fan is not running , it make APS is not starting.

I am thinking of 3 potential problems
1) Fan 2) APS 3) PCB

I am trying to find out the parts availability and cost, i have found the parts in this website
https://www.heatingspareparts.com/datasheets/potterton/suprima-spc-40l

Thanks.

These are good solid boilers that are best kept going if possible, as they will go on for decades unlike the modern boilers of today.

You should be able to diagnose what the fault is, if you download the Installation & Servicing manual for your boiler and read the fault finding flowcharts. hence what parts are required for repair.

If you do need a PCB then they are available much cheaper than the site that you quoted e.g.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/p/Potterton-Suprima-Upgrade-PCB-Kit-5111603-12m/13034593338

Avoid WB boilers as far better boilers are available!

neilmcl

thorganby wrote: »

Avoid WB boilers as far better boilers are available!

If you're going to make statements like this the helpful thing to do would be to give examples of such boilers in the comparable price range.

thorganby

neilmcl wrote: »

If you're going to make statements like this the helpful thing to do would be to give examples of such boilers in the comparable price range.

I'm not convinced that a new boiler is the best option but there are many threads on boiler choice e.g.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5990828/boiler-upgrade&

rayudu

I too not convinced to upgrade, the problem for me is finding a gas engineer when ever i have a problem, one of the attractive thing for upgrade is 10 years warranty and less gas bills.

Still trying to phone up different engineers to get appointments for next week.

robatwork

Almost certainly PCB. These boilers last forever if maintained.

You could risk £20 - it's a decent DIY job for a competant DIYer that I've done myself as you don't have to touch the gas side.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/POTTERTON-SUPRIMA-30-100-L-BOILER-PCB-UPGRADE-KIT/153615510331?epid=13034593338&hash=item23c432ab3b:g:wWwAAOSwtAhdYDpO

rayudu

Does it fit for 40L model?

patel1977

I have a system boiler which is 10 years old. Planning to have the kitchen done and move the boiler in the airing cupboard.

We have 4 bedroom house, 11 radiators, 1 bathroom & 1 electric shower downstairs.

Can anyone suggest should I go for a combi or stick with the same one.

I'm based in Leicester.

When asking for quotes, what points should I ask.

Thanks