Help, elderly mum without hot water and heating! 3 days now

nadeembutt786

Hi everyone, got an issue that im hoping i can get some advice on . Mum has a conventional setup with:

• A tank in the loft

• A hot water cylinder in the airing cupboard, including a pump and 3-way diverter valve

• A Worcester Bosch 24Ri boiler (installed ~5 years ago by BOXT, serviced annually, and still under warranty), located in the utility room

A few days ago, she suddenly lost both hot water and heating.
A plumber replaced the 3-way valve, but this didn’t resolve the issue and suggested it was an issue with the boiler and he wasnt gas saftey registered so legged it. BOXT (who installed the boiler) sent out a warranty engineer who confirmed the boiler is working, but suspected a blockage in the airing cupboard pipework (based on a magnetic test). He suggested we turned heating and hot water off and call someone else out. We then had a heating engineer out, who confirmed a blockage near the diverter valve (H pipe or something), replaced the affected pipes and the pump and put in some checmicals (X800) and said wait overnight and that might help. That restored our hot water, but heating still isn’t working. He now believes the boiler heat exchanger may be damaged due to sludge and is recommending a full boiler replacement as insurance wouldnt cover it and neither would worceser bosch under warranty.

Before going down that route, I’d really appreciate a second opinion by anyone as she has been without heating for days now. Have purchased her some heaters from argos..

WIAWSNB

Who services the boiler - the same Boxt installer? If so, get them out to sort it - under warranty.

Part of any new boiler installation requires a 'system clean' to some British Standard or other (if you look up the installation instructions for that boiler, it'll state this). In essence, that sludge should have been shifted at the time of installation.

I would consider them liable if they failed to do this.

Is there a magnetic filter installed on the return pipe to the boiler? Has that been checked? Could you do so yourself? Is it full of sludge?

Magic Q - do you have Legal Protection included in your house insurance? If so, call them up and explain the situation.

nadeembutt786

No they have a contract im assuming and they send out a different guy everytime. I didnt see anything in the boxt installation docs to suggest they did any cleanse, all it states in the initial order thats included is  ""Health check of your existing valves and other heating system components" FREE. and "Worcester Bosch magnetic filter and fittings pack x 1". There was no flush done, i was here when it was being installed. I get it serviced every year from BOXY , have a service plan with them, i called them up a few days ago and they said the boiler is still under warranty so worcester bosch rang and sent out an engineer and im pretty sure he checked the filter... in fact he used to tap against the pipes to detect blockage. I just checked the home insurance and it has home emergency cover that "We will provide you with 24/7 emergency helpline for things like a broken boiler, electrical failures, blocked or burst pipes or if you’ve lost your house keys. Max. £1,000 per claim" AND Legal protection. Wonder which is worth doing?

nadeembutt786

Actually just checked the document again in the boxt app and it says that a chemical cleaner was used during installation "mc1" and "mc3". I dont remember them doing this but then again, wasnt watching 24/7

grumpy_codger

I can't comment on the problem, but does she not have an electric immersion heater in the HW cylinder that can be used temporarily for heating the water?

nadeembutt786

The immersion stopped working some time ago.

grumpy_codger

I think it's very easy and cheap to replace.

RavingMad

If you have home emergency cover, probably best to give them a call.  Hopefully they send someone competent enough to sort.  If it is a boiler issue, then you will be covered by WB warranty and not need to claim through insurance 

I'm sure someone will post with helpful tips soon enough 

nofoollikeold

1. If the hot water is working, the boiler is working, and the fault lies elsewhere in the system.
2. Check the system pressure is sufficient.  Should be around 1.3 bar.
3. I'd suggest you need a heating engineer who can do a much more thorough diagnosis of the system.  
4. What are the symptoms?
4.1 Central heating called for, boiler fires (or not)?
4.2 Runs for a few minutes then stops? 
4.3 Any error codes?
4.4 Was the 3 way valve replaced entirely, or just the actuator head?

nadeembutt786

nofoollikeold said:

1. If the hot water is working, the boiler is working, and the fault lies elsewhere in the system.
2. Check the system pressure is sufficient.  Should be around 1.3 bar.
3. I'd suggest you need a heating engineer who can do a much more thorough diagnosis of the system.  
4. What are the symptoms?
4.1 Central heating called for, boiler fires (or not)?
4.2 Runs for a few minutes then stops? 
4.3 Any error codes?
4.4 Was the 3 way valve replaced entirely, or just the actuator head?

1. Hot water is now not working, was working fine when the heating was off, i turned it on and now lukewarm water and still no heating.
2. Boiler was just serviced, cant see anywhere where it says system pressure...
3. I only it were that easy
4. No heat and no water
4.1. Have a tado, calls for heat, boiler fires 
4.2. Yes
4.3 No
4.4 - Both replaced

grumpy_codger

nadeembutt786 said:

nofoollikeold said:

1. If the hot water is working, the boiler is working, and the fault lies elsewhere in the system.
2. Check the system pressure is sufficient.  Should be around 1.3 bar.
3. I'd suggest you need a heating engineer who can do a much more thorough diagnosis of the system.  
4. What are the symptoms?
4.1 Central heating called for, boiler fires (or not)?
4.2 Runs for a few minutes then stops? 
4.3 Any error codes?
4.4 Was the 3 way valve replaced entirely, or just the actuator head?

1. Hot water is now not working, was working fine when the heating was off, i turned it on and now lukewarm water and still no heating.

...

Does it still work if you turn the CH off?