Housing association not communicating and not doing repair no hot water or heating

[Deleted User]

I've just been doing some research does any one have any experience with Karbon Homes. I have just discovered apparently that  housing association I rent from and another housing association have joined forces with Karbon homes as a cost cutting exercise to save money on repairs, so apparently Karbon Homes are responsible for doing repairs and are who came out Friday and who phoned me today.

My housing association won't take responsibility for the repair and just keep telling me to speak to Karbon Homes saying its Karbon homes job and nothing to do with them despite me paying rent to them not Karbon Homes.

From what Ive read online Karbon Homes have a terrible reputation and barely 1 star reviews.

People say they are awful and  cow boys, that  they do don't do repairs, people have waited a year for repairs to be done. They sound a horrible company.

I'm even more worried now. 

Just wondering if any one has any experience with them. 

casper_gutman

They don't sound great, and hitting a boiler with a wrench is worrying. I've no experience of them but didn't want to read and run. I hope that - against all the odds - your boiler will be repaired soon.

Communicate with the HA and their repairers in writing (e.g., by email) as much as possible, and keep records of all contact you have with them. Make a note of the times and durations of phone calls and what is discussed. Keep careful records of energy bills. All this will be useful later, for complaining and for seeking compensation for your losses. I know this doesn't help now, but in the end you shouldn't have to be out of pocket. 

macman

They are at liberty to subcontract the repairs if they wish, but their contract remains with you, and their responsibility.
You don't fault-find by randomly replacing parts, or hitting things with a spanner. What is the make and model of your boiler, and what faults are the lights/display indicating? Error codes?

[Deleted User]

The boiler is a Alpha CD25X.

Lights A and B are flashing red Alternatively.
I have looked at Manual for boiler and from what I can understand I believe, when boiler is called to fire up boiler does a load of checks first and if one of the those checks fails boiler won't fire up and these 2 lights flash red. Its like a safety measure.


So I guess it could be anything causing problem.  boiler only has these lights to indicate a fault there is no display or anything.

diystarter7

Op - just read the reviews re your HA
Good luck.

macman

From the manual:

A Flashing on and off - Temperature sensor fault, contact your Service Engineer.
B Flashing on and off - Overheat thermostat has operated. Rotate selector switch to the reset position (3) to reset. If this continues to happen, contact yor Service Engineer.
B Illuminated continuously - Burner has failed to light. Rotate selector switch to the reset position (3) and the ignition sequence will restart after a delay of about 30 seconds. A and B Flashing on and off at the same time - Blocked flue or fan fault, contact your Service Engineer. A and B Flashing on and off alternatively - System pressure is very low and re-pressurisation is required. A Flashing and B Illuminated continuously - Pump fault or restricted flow

If that's the error, then all that needs doing is to top up the pressure via the filling loop under the boiler. Open both valves until the pressure gauge is at 1 bar (when boiler cold). Close the valves again. Pressure should then stabilise at 1 bar, and rise a bit to maybe 1.5 bar when the boiler heats up. What pressure is it currently showing on the gauge? Zero?
This may not be a permanent cure, because we don't know what has caused the loss of pressure, but it may get it running until a permanent repair is made. The only 3 pressure loss causes are: PRV sticking open, so the discharge pipe will be continually discharging you can check this outside yourself), a faulty EV (expansion vessel), or a leak on the CH circuit. This is routine stuff that any RGI would know.
If the person they sent out was an RGI, it is beyond belief that he could not trace and diagnose this fault in 2 minutes, which makes me suspect that he was not an RGI but some sort of general handyman? If so, he is not qualified to work on gas appliances and is committing an offence by doing so.
Don't allow anyone else to work on your boiler without showing his Gas Safe ID.

[Deleted User]

Thanks Macmam the guy did try topping up the pressure but it did not matter how much he topped it up it did nothing and this is when he got frustrated and started hitting boiler with a wrench. 

Looking at boiler now pressure if anything its perhaps a bit high. See photo 
I see nothing discharging out side so don't think it's the first thing. Wouldn't I see if there was a leak in heating system or not?

[Deleted User]

Forgot to say the above picture is when boiler is cold. Boiler is completely switched off at wall as guy who came Friday turned it off when could not fix it and told us not to turn it back on. 

I will make sure to ask for ID tomorrow.

HampshireH

[Deleted User] said:

Forgot to say the above picture is when boiler is cold. Boiler is ifcompletely switched off at wall as guy who came Friday turned it off when could not fix it and told us not to turn it back on. 

I will make sure to ask for ID tomorrow.

If he has said it is unsafe to use he should have put a warning notice on it and disced the meter.

If you get nowhere tomorrow with whoever they send I recommend requesting an emergency decant to a hotel until they fix the issue. 

Are your details and family vulnerability up to date on your HA system? Would they have known prior to this of the disabilities to have been able to see that as soon as you called in.

[Deleted User]

He put no warning notice on boiler and did nothing to meter. He just turned off boiler and told us not to touch it.

Yes our details and family vulnerability are up to date. Housing association are very aware of our situation. So yes they would have know prior to this about by children's disabilities and medical conditions.