18 month old boiler Sludged up - what should I do??

[LuDster]

I had a new central heating system fitted 18 months ago. The Installers who did it worked for a major Gas Company, but they did the installation as a 'Foreigner'.

All has been fine until recently the Boiler started loosing pressure each time it was used and required frequent top-ups.

I got an engineer out to investigate who said the problem was dirt in the Pressure Escape value, he said the System is badly 'Sludged up' and that it requires Flushing out (he also said the Boiler wouldn't last more than a couple of years in it's current state!).

He showed me the valve (which looked a mess) and said that it didn't look like the installation had been flushed when it was installed. The Engineer said I should get the Installer back and get him to remedy it and if he refuses I should report him to Corgi, as Corgi take a dim view of poor installations.

What I need to know is what to do next, is what the Gas Engineer suggesting a valid approach or is it worth just paying somebody else to do the work, in which case how much will it cost (Glowworm xtrafast boiler with 13 Rads)?

Any ideas greatly appreciated...


MOD

see item 9

 

[gasgeezer]

prv will not cost much if the boiler is that bad the plate to plate would be shot if i were you get glow-worm out to service it ask for a cheap summer service boiler probably fine

 

[kevplumb]

I got an engineer out to investigate who said the problem was dirt in the Pressure Escape value, he said the System is badly 'Sludged up' and that it requires Flushing out (he also said the Boiler wouldn't last more than a couple of years in it's current state!).

what caused the prv to lift in the first place

 

[gasgeezer]

could be caused by loss of pressure in exp. vessell excess hydrogen in syst. or a faulty prv maybe even syst leak if your continually topping water up introducing untreated water into syst. which will lead to scale sludge

 

[Agile]

I dont understand what you mean that it was installed as a "Foreigner".

Perhaps you mean they were British Gas Engineers working on the side in which case they were not CORGI registered.

Clearly, they did not power flush the system and have left you with an expensive mess, power flushing is about £300 plus a small few bits.

Since the installers were not CORGI registered you have them over a barrel if you know who they were. Get them back to power flush it as they should have done in the beginning. If they refuse, report them to CORGI for installing boilers when not registered.

This should serve as a lesson NOT to get jobs done "on the side" by people who are not CORGI registered. Even if they work for British Gas they are NOT registered to do work on the side, only while doing ligitimate BG jobs.

Tony Glazier

 

[DP]

I wonder if LuDster picked these muppets as they were cheaper over someone offering a 24 karat installation therefore was dearer.

No wonder I do not do estimates for installs and boiler changes. Nothing wrong in asking for estimates/ quotes. What I find difficult to understand is why people go for the cheapest without looking at what they are being offered.

Not long to Christmas. Punters will very soon be buying LFE fires at be in the que and will be phoning around to have these fitted for some 50 notes.

 

[ChrisR]

Have to disagree a bit with some of the above.

Corgi only care abut registration, and gas safety issues. They don't care about poor installations as long as they're safe.

The boiler isn't being damaged by the sludge, it's all cleanable. You shouldn't have to change anything like heat exchangers.

A normal service doesn't touch any of the problems you've mentioned, don't be persuaded it would. There is a servicing need to check and if necessary repressurise the pressure vessel every few years, but not normally after 18 months. It isn't something which many heating bods would do unless you asked specifically. The sludge issue would not be affected at all.

 

[gasgeezer]

once attended boiler complete melt down found syst had leak but loss of pressure switch blocked boiler fired and took fan aps wiring and heat exch. out simple service would have shown fault am always changing plate to plate heat exch due to blockage most virtually impossible to clear due to narrow water ways

 

[kevplumb]

Have to disagree a bit with some of the above.

Corgi only care abut registration, and gas safety issues. They don't care about poor installations as long as they're safe.

The boiler isn't being damaged by the sludge, it's all cleanable. You shouldn't have to change anything like heat exchangers.

A normal service doesn't touch any of the problems you've mentioned, don't be persuaded it would. There is a servicing need to check and if necessary repressurise the pressure vessel every few years, but not normally after 18 months. It isn't something which many heating bods would do unless you asked specifically. The sludge issue would not be affected at all.

says it all chris

fight the good fight mate