Problem with hot water and heating

Duke4

My boiler which is a standard sytem was installed 3 years ago.  Recently heat abd hot water stopped.  New pump fitted now works intermittently  recently diverter valve head gets very hot outside casing very hot to touch 

opinions received are I could have it repaired but there is problably sludge in system which will cause or may have caused other problems.  Powerflush May cause problems with existing radiators as these were installed as was pipe work in the 70’s 
advised ideally to have a new combi  boiler pipe work and radiators.  

Quotes are £4800.  Obviously so unsure what to do given the price  

vacheron

Diverter valves will always run hot, and are designed to. The pump could be running intermittently because the boiler is continuously cutting out and then re-firing.

Is your boiler cutting out with any codes, indicator lights or anything like that?

Duke4

Sometimes the heating or hot water don’t heat up even though lights are on the boiler

victor2

Have you had it serviced annually? Does it have any sort of warranty?
Can you get in touch with the original installer to give an opinion?
Telling you the whole system needs replacing with a combi and all new pipework is ridiculous and sounds like someone just touting for business.
There is an option to get a chemical flush. Not as effective as a power flush, but can put less stress on older pipework. Has anyone suggested that, along with replacing whatever part has failed, and adding a magnetic filter to the system (if it doesn't already have one)? Just a few avenues to explore before spending thousands...

ThisIsWeird

Duke4 said:

My boiler which is a standard sytem was installed 3 years ago.  Recently heat abd hot water stopped.  New pump fitted now works intermittently  recently diverter valve head gets very hot outside casing very hot to touch 

opinions received are I could have it repaired but there is problably sludge in system which will cause or may have caused other problems.  Powerflush May cause problems with existing radiators as these were installed as was pipe work in the 70’s 
advised ideally to have a new combi  boiler pipe work and radiators.  

Quotes are £4800.  Obviously so unsure what to do given the price  

Hi Duke.
Please provide useful extra info - make and model of boiler.
You say it's a 'system' boiler, so I'm guessing that means it's 'sealed', 'unvented', has a pressure gauge, and you don't have a small F&E tank in the loft? If so, then changing to a combi boiler ain't going to change anything in regards to your old radiators.
You will sometimes have issues with old, weak (internally-corroded) radiators when you change from a 'vented' system (which only has gravitational pressure) to a sealed (which is much higher pressure).
Anyhoo, if your current boiler is only 3 years old, you shouldn't have to replace it.
Going by what you've told us, it would appear that the plumber has diagnosed a sludged-up system. If so, this first begs the Q, why wasn't this cleared out when the boiler was fitted 3 years ago? It should have been.
Anyhoo, Q's: make and model of boiler? Does it have a pressure gauge? And, what do you want - keep your hot tank, or go combi?

FreeBear

ThisIsWeird said:

Duke4 said:

My boiler which is a standard sytem was installed 3 years ago.  Recently heat abd hot water stopped.  New pump fitted now works intermittently  recently diverter valve head gets very hot outside casing very hot to touch 

opinions received are I could have it repaired but there is problably sludge in system which will cause or may have caused other problems.  Powerflush May cause problems with existing radiators as these were installed as was pipe work in the 70’s 
advised ideally to have a new combi  boiler pipe work and radiators.  

Quotes are £4800.  Obviously so unsure what to do given the price  

Anyhoo, if your current boiler is only 3 years old, you shouldn't have to replace it.
Going by what you've told us, it would appear that the plumber has diagnosed a sludged-up system. If so, this first begs the Q, why wasn't this cleared out when the boiler was fitted 3 years ago? It should have been.
Anyhoo, Q's: make and model of boiler? Does it have a pressure gauge? And, what do you want - keep your hot tank, or go combi?

Unless this is a real cheap budget boiler, at 3 years old, I would expect it to be still in warranty. Most boilers will have a working life of 10-15 years. But this all assumes that the boiler had been installed according to manufacturer's instructions.

Mine required a chemical flush, magnetic filter on the return, and a scale inhibitor on the cold feed - The magnetic filter does a pretty good job of catching sludge before it causes a problem (very important with a combi).

Replacing a 3 year old boiler isn't going to fix any sludge problem, and a power flush may even aggravate things. And if you are getting multiple quotes around the £4800 region, I'd seriously consider ripping the whole lot out and fit a heat pump - Octopus are doing some pretty competitive quotes at the moment, so it would be worth asking (if they cover your area). 

Duke4

Thanks the boiler is a baxi eco.  When it was installed he did a magnetic flush then put bottle of chemical - inhibitor in.  What I didn’t know at the time is the boiler should have had a magnetic filter fitted.  It worked well until the current issue.  Had the tank inspected nothing wrong despite it being over 40 years old! The tank is on a cupboard the water part is built onto the top of the tank.  No tank in loft.   The heating and hot water went off.  I thought I had a tank problem as two plumbers told me I had.  So I contacted Gledhill who said no issue with the tank.  They changed the pump and got the heating and hot water going.  Since then it has worked but intermittently.  Then someone asked me about the diverter valve.  All I did was touch the casing of the head and it was sooo hot despite not having had water or heating on since the afternoon of the previous day.  I have switched off the boiler etc as worried the divertor valve was going to set on fire!   I had someone out the guy who installed and serviced the boiler and he said after charging me £75 you have an airlock and if I stayed to try and sort it out I would need more money.  He left and then later said it was a tank issue and quoted me £1760 for a new tank as did another plumber.  Yet Gledhill said it’s not a tank issue

I been in touch with two gas engineers who say that the pipe work is very old 46 years and radiators are very old.  Opinion is that if start to repair given there will be sludge etc that it may be more effective and to have peace of mind with a whole new system rather than spending money on repairs.  The radiator down stairs hurled since this happened as does the tank and boiler wheb powers up initially makes a banging noise from the pipes

I just can’t decide what to do .  

Duke4

victor2 said:

Have you had it serviced annually? Does it have any sort of warranty?
Can you get in touch with the original installer to give an opinion?
Telling you the whole system needs replacing with a combi and all new pipework is ridiculous and sounds like someone just touting for business.
There is an option to get a chemical flush. Not as effective as a power flush, but can put less stress on older pipework. Has anyone suggested that, along with replacing whatever part has failed, and adding a magnetic filter to the system (if it doesn't already have one)? Just a few avenues to explore before spending thousands...

Hi I had baxi out again yesterday and the chap was very thorough he said it is an airlock.  Bled the pump turned pump down from 3 to 1.  Used hose connected to boiler and drew water many  times   He said no sludge water was brown but normal no sludge.  He checked diverter valve  etc.  nothing wrong with. Boiler.  He got hot water and heat on. Said air lock may come back.  Boiler installed on same level as my seperate cylinder abd pipes on boiler go over top of boiler and down then across under floor to tank which may posdibly cause it.  However it’s been working for 2 years.  Made a mistake when I said it’s 3 year old but it’s only 2 

victor2

Hopefully that sorts it out and you won't get another one.

FreeBear

Duke4 said: He got hot water and heat on. Said air lock may come back.  Boiler installed on same level as my seperate cylinder abd pipes on boiler go over top of boiler and down then across under floor to tank which may posdibly cause it.

One possible solution is to fit air vents at the high points on the pipework. I've used a pair of these on my plumbing -> https://www.screwfix.com/p/essentials-compression-manual-air-vent-brass-2-pack/7341v - You can get automatic air vents, but these are expensive and do dribble on the odd occasion.

Duke4

where are these air vents fitted to and would it be expensive for a qualified person to fit them