Leaking boiler.

dnpark38

Have you only got that one quote?

I'ts a lot of money on an old boiler I think I would have it replaced with new with a long warranty.

WIAWSNB

I have to agree with dnpark, tho' I'm reluctant to suggest you pursue an alternative as it seems as tho' you want an 'easy' solution. And this guy is seemingly providing it.

IF you knew which parts need, and will be, replaced, then we could guide you better. IF we felt confident that the list of parts would also be entertained by a WB FPR, then that would be my personal recommendation - it should cost you around £380 for this. (A Fixed Price Repair is carried out on the basis that everyone pays the same fixed amount, but some will 'win' and others will 'lose'!)

A £500 bill on a 11-15 year old boiler is very much at triggering point for replacement for most folk, but that assumes that they have ~£2.5k+ to hand over.

It's a toughie. £500 isn't that much more than WB's ~£380, and you will know he'll do the job (WB could shout BER).

Ok, my 'recommendation' would be to call up WB, tell them the boiler age (make and model, and quote serial number), tell them what's wrong, and ask on the chances of a FPR being honoured. Ie, they won't come out and say it's BER.

But if you are overall happier to stick with this £500 guy, then do so - I'd say the chances are very much that your boiler will be good for a reasonable number of more years.

B0bbyEwing

At another time I'd possibly have gone the new boiler route.

Though we've booked up for 2 holidays this year. On top of that a car I bought turned out to be well story short it needs selling & I made that decision within 300-400 miles of driving it. The other car we've got needs replacing too as it's on its last legs but with the car I've got the last legs one will become mine for a while & we have the last legs replacement already (so 3 cars at the mo) - so just shelled out the best part of 2 grand again at the weekend.

Hopefully I'll be able to recoup much of what I paid for my car & put it towards its replacement.

So with thousands having already been spent in a year which otherwise wouldn't have been spent, I've opted for the £500 fix. Dearer than WB I guess (assuming their £380 isn't like WBAC where on inspection the price shifts) but could WB sort it within the week? Maybe, maybe not. I didn't want to take the chance. Unfortunately as my wife and I work basically the same hours it makes any kind of call out difficult. Our holidays (annual leave) are also set so again, call outs are an issue.

Not ideal but all things considered, that's why I chose what I did.

WBAC - We Buy Any Car. See, now you've got me playing the game ;)

WIAWSNB

Ha-ha :-)

Totally understandable.

Please let us know how it goes, and I'm curious - tho' hopeful - about all he'll replace.

jefaz07

A massive issue on these is the cold water turbine. They crack and leak at the flow switch. Mains water so will never stop unless isolated. But easy to change and an hour would cover it.

Sometimes the manifold pinholes too, and is a pig of a job. But okay if you’ve done a few. When I do them I change both when I’m in there (at the customers agreement)

And to the chap who thinks you can change a PRV on these in 20 minutes, can do all of mine if he wants. 😉

ouraggie

if it helps anyone reading this, i have a combi boiler, 4 yrs old. Recently i noticed it was dripping, but only when the heating was on. I could not work out where the drip was coming from. I eventually called someone out and it turned out that a plastic pipe coming downwards out of the boiler ( which i think he called the condensate pipe) had an elbow joint which had not been glued on properly. This joint was near to where the pipe went down through the floor of the airing cupboard and the water was slowly leaking out of that joint. It cost me £70 for him to put a new, well-glued elbow joint on but no problems since.

WIAWSNB

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81891566#Comment_81891566

Thanks for this, but it's a completely different issue to a failure almost certainly just down to age.

For your disappointing issue, I would suggest that if you'd called out the installer, you'd be £70 better off :-)

B0bbyEwing

Out of interest what would you guys expect a service to cost on this?

Been given a price which is a fair chunk more than the previous plumber charges I think (would need to check last service bill) but for what he says a service includes it sounds like more than what the previous plumber did. One of the jobs was cleaning the magnetic filter. I asked the previous guy to do that because the cap is on stupidly tight & I created a leak by trying to get it off so I wanted him to do it so that it wasn't as tight. He either tightened it back up ridiculously tight or he didn't do it. I'll guess the latter (another reason I'm looking for a new plumber).

WIAWSNB

These caps are notoriously tight, assuming it's a Magnaclean. I smear sili grease on the rubber O ring and thread, and do it up just enough to not leak, but it's still tight come next opening.

Cleaning the filter is, ooh, around 20 minutes?

A normal annual service is, I guess, around £100 tops?

Every 5 or so years it might be more involved - opening up the combustion chamber for a full clear out.

Really don't know, tho'.

B0bbyEwing

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81892494#Comment_81892494

FWIW I'm not blaming the plumber for overtightening initially - that was my fault (yes Magna clean). For the first couple years or so I would take the top off, give it a wipe (barely anything) & re-tighten with silicone grease as advised elsewhere.

But I must've ended up overtightening it at some point & then it became a pig to undo.

I ended up causing a leak which previous plumber sorted. At a later date he then serviced & I asked for the magna clean to be done. After he'd gone I tried to undo it to check & felt too much resistance in it so gave up & decided he'd not done it.

New plumber has quoted £120 for a service. I do hope this is inc. vat Unlike his quote for the current leak which was +vat.