boiler leak

[andyf]

My 14 year old gloworm spacesaver kfb 50 has began to drip quite a bit from within the body of the boiler when turned on. The engineer that came to have a look said immediatly that it was the heat exchanger leeking, that it was terminal and that I require a new boiler. He did this without opening the boiler.
1) is it this easy to diagnose such a fault?
2) he wants to fit a Viessmann Vitodens 100. is this good?

 

[gas4you]

You need to see the heat exchanger to 100% diagnose a leak in it. Viessmann are good boilers but ridiculously cr*p after sales service. I wouldn't have one. Go for a Vaillant.

 

[andyf]

Just got a quote, this one using a veissmann vitodens 100. Pretty much just a swap of boilers and a powerflush £2500. This is bit more than I thought it might be. Any thoughts? Still waiting on a couple of others one using a worcester greenstar. Thanks.

 

[Dan Robinson]

Pretty much just a swap of boilers and a powerflush £2500. This is bit more than I thought it might be.

Not necessarily; but I would be a little cautious about him not taking the front off.

No personal experience of Veissman, but have never heard anythnig other than good. Vaillant I can't stand, Worcester Bosch are OK, but again this is my view based on personal experience - we all differ.

 

[gas4you]

Depends whether he is upgrading your controls, fitting thermostatic valves etc etc if he's doing all that I would have thought about £2000 + VAT, so I don't think it is too bad a price.

 

[simond]

Yes, depending on spec it is not unreasonable. The Viessmann Compact is a reasonable quality boiler.

The Worcester Ri is possibly not as good, but as Dave says, the Viessmann support is a bit variable at the present time.

Main prob with Worcester is their 22mm gas inlet requirement, which can be a real cost issue and is usually unnecessary.

 

[Dan Robinson]

Main prob with Worcester is their 22mm gas inlet requirement, which can be a real cost issue and is usually unnecessary.

Surely that is dependant on the length of gas pipe?

 

[simond]

Absolutely, Dan

But Worcester stipulate in their MIs that the inlet pipe cannot be less than 22mm under any circumstances.

So if the customer has a 15mm coming out of the floor, and assuming the working pressure etc measures OK, you still can't fit a WBosch to MIs without replacing the 15mm section.

This is a pain in situations where it is unnecessary. And the pain is reflected in the quote the customer gets, and the surface pipework often needed (but not needed, if you see my point).

 

[tryitandsee]

Has this Engineer got x ray eyes, bloody marvellous, perhaps he can do it over the phone next time.

Find some one else who is not so busy, they may take a bit more time with you and discuss things in more detail. Perhaps you could do a bit of 'homework' yourself and gem up on perhaps two boilers that would be your preference. If it's a straight swap and power flush, then I would say this was expensive.

Find out the price of the boiler he has quoted on the web; it will give you some idea what his labour charge is.

 

[ollski]

how on earth do you diagnose a leaking hx without removing the case?, especially on a kfb. Did he check the pressure valve probably above it?, the hx connectors?

 

[Dan Robinson]

Absolutely, Dan

But Worcester stipulate in their MIs that the inlet pipe cannot be less than 22mm under any circumstances.

So if the customer has a 15mm coming out of the floor, and assuming the working pressure etc measures OK, you still can't fit a WBosch to MIs without replacing the 15mm section.

This is a pain in situations where it is unnecessary. And the pain is reflected in the quote the customer gets, and the surface pipework often needed (but not needed, if you see my point).

Fair point Simon, MI's supercede any other requirement.

 

[andyf]

The guy who made the initial diagnosis has yet to give me a quote, doubt that he intends to after nearly a fortnight.
The second plumber's quote of £2500 is pretty much just for the Viessmann boiler and flush. No new valves or controls and the rest of the system is up to scratch, the possibility of having to replace the gas pipe to the boiler has been discussed so I guess it might include this.
The third plumber (Worcester) is yet to supply a quote and also mentioned the changing of the gas pipe.
None of them have actually looked in the boiler though i suspect a repair to the old thing wouldn't be cheap either.

 

[tryitandsee]

Boiler £900
Labour £1600


What do you think!

 

[gas4you]

In that case I would think around £1700 - £1800 + VAT. 2 day job at most from what you've described.

 

[andyf]

Got quote from plumber No1, £1900 for flush and Veissmann. A little more palatable and more like what I was expecting.