Repairs on Worcester 28CDI Boiler.

Phil4432

Had some lovely boiler dramas over the weekend, did a regular top up of pressure and during the test run the pressure went up to 3 and water came out of the expansion valve.

Home insurance sent someone round the next day, he's done something with the expansion valve and that's all ok.  Problem is, the filling loop is now weeping about 1/4 bar of water every night.  He's come back and said that fixing the expansion valve may have caused other things to go wrong.

So filling loop now needs replacing, together with another part that I can't recall.  Insurance wont cover that repair as I'm outside of 12 month servicing.

The boiler also needs a new diverter fitted, which I've known about for sometime.

Haven't had a quote for labor yet, but if we say 2hrs work in Surrey at about £80p/h; £160.  Plus parts about £80 + sods law £40ish.  So about £260.

I'm excluding fitting of diverter, which I've known about previously.

The engineer has said that the boiler is quite old, but it looks in good condition and he recommends that I keep it going.  He said that its more likely I'll have to replace due to not getting parts in future, than complete breakdown. 

Comments on the above much appreciated.

IvanOpinion

Have you included vat?
Would there be a call out charge as well? Some seem to charge that as well as their hourly labour charge.
Any maintenance parts that may have to be replaced as part of the repair? Or is that your £40?

Albermarle

How old is the boiler.

Phil4432

IvanOpinion said:

Have you included vat?
Would there be a call out charge as well? Some seem to charge that as well as their hourly labour charge.
Any maintenance parts that may have to be replaced as part of the repair? Or is that your £40?

Have had a quote, labor they quoted as £100 p/h plus VAT.  Boiler maintenance plus gas safety, £140 plus VAT. 

The quote for the parts was higher than what they cost from City and Plumbing, and I already have the most expensive part. 

They said that they'd only fit the parts they got themselves, and at the price they were charging.  Which is about £80 more than what they'd cost me in total(inc. VAT), if I went down the road and got them myself.  They wouldn't use the part I've already got, despite it being the correct part.   

So I'll be getting a few more quotes.

Phil4432

Albermarle said:

How old is the boiler.

20 years.

The heating engineer that came round said that it looks clean and has obviously been well looked after.  He recommended exchanging parts, and keeping it going.

Had a chat with Worcester, he said that it could indeed keep going or not.  Hard to tell obviously.  But agreed with me, if a few hundred quid gets a few more years out of it, that's worth it.

Boilers will be more expensive to install in a few years of course, so that could mitigate any savings by parts replacement. 

Both the engineer and Worcester rep said that once you start replacing parts, you could potentially have to replace more parts.

I've attached photos of the parts that are leaking; filling loop and return connector.  Perhaps the return connector has been weeping for sometime, judging by the corrosion.
Third pic is how much pressure was lost overnight. 

Expansion vessel currently seems to be doing its job, with no leaks I can see.


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