How do gas engineers charge?

PoGee

With my Vokera boiler (rental property), the heating works but no hot water. Engineer came out and looked at error code A07 and without diagnosing fault, replaced the thermistor (£222 + £144 call out). Still no hot water. There can be no hot water for a number of reasons. Found this online 

Here are some of the most common reasons for a Vokera combi boiler having no water:

• Diverter valve stuck or broken
• Plate heat exchanger blocked or covered in limescale
• The temperature sensor is broken
• The flow/micro switch is broken

Will a gas engineer go through each possible cause of 'no hot water' and keep charging £100s until he gets to the correct cause? Which of the above relates to thermistor?

At the moment, no hot water but no error code either. The temp for hot water reads 65 degrees but water is cold. Does this sound like the diverter valve?

Le_Kirk

Presumably the engineer is still there trying to diagnose a fault!  Why did you let them escape with the fault not sorted?

MikeyPGT

Bit of a cowboy that he didn't test it before he left - if it's a rental why are you paying?

FreeBear

MikeyPGT said:

Bit of a cowboy that he didn't test it before he left - if it's a rental why are you paying?

PoGee is the landlord and trying to do the decent thing by getting the boiler fixed for the tenants.

I would check to see if Vokera will do a fixed price repair, and then get one of their approved engineers to fix the problem. Certainly wouldn't be paying someone to swap a part & leave without testing to ensure the problem has been fixed.

Eldi_Dos

@PoGee
         Depending on the age of the boiler if you were thinking of changing it does boiler subscription make sense for a             landlord. No initial capital cost, fixed monthly price,for up to ten years and the company you take deal out with               take on annual service and repairs and replacement parts if required.
         I know if you tally up the cost over ten years it does not make good value for a homeowner but wonder if any                 landlords find it fits their needs.

Ectophile

I would hope that a good plumber would turn on a hot tap, then watch and listen to what happens.  They would then fix the fault.

For example, if the flow switch was broken, then nothing would happen as the boiler wouldn't even know the tap was running.  But if the heat exchanger is blocked, it would start up, but soon overheat and shut down again.

PoGee

Thank you for replies. I'm the landlord and yes, my LA has sent in incompetent gas engineers. I've 2 companies in mind, to call in - either Vokera or a company that did my own gas boiler service. My boiler, which is a Glow Worm, has been in my property since 1993 and has broken down once only. Re turning on hot tap, yes I agree. I'll decide what to do about the LA's guy once I get my own engineer out.

PoGee

Ectophile said:

I would hope that a good plumber would turn on a hot tap, then watch and listen to what happens.  They would then fix the fault.

For example, if the flow switch was broken, then nothing would happen as the boiler wouldn't even know the tap was running.  But if the heat exchanger is blocked, it would start up, but soon overheat and shut down again.

The boiler fires up when in heating mode but does not when turning switch to hot water. There is no error code now (after the engineer replaced the thermistor £222 + 'checked wires' £144). The water temp reads 65 degrees when turning tap on but water is cold - ever so slightly warm first 3 seconds but then cold. It was working fine before tenants moved in.

FFHillbilly

PoGee said:

 I'll decide what to do about the LA's guy once I get my own engineer out.

I think you will be giving them an easy "get out" that way, your new guy will fix it probably, and then the original GSE will not have had the opportunity to rectify the works. 
however, getting a trusted trader yourself will get the job done quickly, I realise waiting for them to admit their mistake and fix it and charge reasonably will probably just be dragging the job out and annoying your tenant