Can you solve my Vaillant combi boiler problem, Sherlock?

[gas4you]

I reckon u could get a nice condensing boiler replacement, with power flush thrown in, for £1200 plus VAT max fitted and commisioned.

Then he woke up

 

[Scrufflepeck]

Ravenheat Condensing Natural Gas Combination Boiler With Timer RHE85T White - on special offer at B&Q for £529 incl VAT. Plus its an award winning boiler. If an installer says he cant make a decent profit by installing this baby for £1200 plus VAT he's having a laugh.

Al

 

[namsag]

Explain why turning water down will cause catastrophic combustion chamber failure. Perhaps you don`t like combi`s because you don`t understand the basic`s.

And what award did a raven heat win ..... work for a month without breaking down

 

[Scrufflepeck]

Ive not heard any adverse stuff about ravenheat boilers. Received Award Of Excellence for innovation in energy saving design resulting in substantial savings in fuel costs with significant reduction in noxious global warming emissions. If u insist on a combi Id get this baby if I were you Grimly and send that old Vaillant heap of junk to the crusher where it belongs.

I've heard too many stories of exploding old boilers not to take them seriously and advise extreme caution in DIY settings adjustment. If the burner fires and there is insufficient water in the system then BANG!! goodbye Grimly and possibly also his family and pets if he has any. What sort of a name is Grimly Feindish anyway?

Al

 

[Grimly Feendish]

I might ask, what sort of a name is Scrufflepeck??? It sounds like a chicken with dementia to me!

Listen scrufflepeck, I appreciate the advice but I cant afford a new boiler, £1200 or whatever. If there is a chance to keep this "pile of junk" going for a few more years at reasonable cost then that's what I'd like to do.

Out of interest though, as it seems you're in my neck of the woods, are you a Corgi installer and can you quote me a decent price?

Scrufflepeck has rather taken us away from my aim, which is to try to diagnose my problem. Anyone help? Tony?

Grimly

 

[namsag]

Out of interest scufflepeck at the begining of this topic you answered Chrisr . "How can i check it`s the hw sensor and what other things do you think it maybe"

Strange thing to put unless you are the alter ego of grimley fiendish.

And your reply about exploding boilers clearly shows you have no idea how a combi or gas boiler works

 

[Scrufflepeck]

namsag with 15 years of plumbing experience under my belt I have a pretty shrewd idea of how a boiler works. As for my post to Chris I was trying to draw him out to help Grimly as no-one seemed to have a clue how to answer (me included if Im honest!). Thankfully Im not Grimly Feindishes alter ego - Ive got an Aga and it works fine thanks!!!

Al (not Grimly)

 

[namsag]

If you say so but still don`t believe ya suppose its just chance you are both on here at exactly same time as well...Ok Then tell me how turning down a cold water under a combi would create a dangerous situation and then list at least 3 safety devices that would have to fail for a combi to become dangerous as in exploding

 

[Grimly Feendish]

I have to say Al (aka Scrufflepeck) I was also a little confused by that post, but I do appreciate your interest. Ive got some ideas from this which Im going to follow up (Ill do flow rate test tonight) but Ive just called Vaillant and they say they will do a repair including parts for £210 (even though they dont know what the problem is - £70 to condemn it), so I may be forced down that road. Shame though because that will put my total spend to £450 which is not a million miles away from one of those Ravenheat "babies" that Scrufflepeck is recommending.

Grimly

 

[gas4you]

Ravenheat Condensing Natural Gas Combination Boiler With Timer RHE85T White - on special offer at B&Q for £529 incl VAT. Plus its an award winning boiler. If an installer says he cant make a decent profit by installing this baby for £1200 plus VAT he's having a laugh.

Al

2 days labour, powerflushing, new programmer/timer, thermostatic radiator valves if needed, cost to cover warranty call outs for up to 2 years, probably bi-monthly with a Ravenheat.

Just because it wins an award for excellence and energy wat nots doen't make it a reliable boiler. Just impressed the likes of a suit on some waste of time, must give another award to keep myself in a job quango with a probable allegded back hander from the manufacturers

 

[HarrogateGas]

Grimly, turning down the cold water feed into the boiler could be dangerous - it could cause a catastrophic combustion chamber failure (and possible serious injury or death) at worst, or at best a new boiler, if you have an undiagnosed gas or combustion issue.

From what Ive read I would get a new boiler anyway - yours is old, knackered and obsolete. Modern boilers are mostly rubbish but at least you get a guarantee. Also, 243 output is pretty low by todays standards. Wickes and B&Q do cheap combis and Ive not heard of any serious complaints about them - no more than Vaillant or Bosch/Worcester anyway. I reckon u could get a nice condensing boiler replacement, with power flush thrown in, for £1200 plus VAT max fitted and commisioned.

Of course, your real problem is that you've got a combi - I hate them! I doubly hate condensing combis which do exactly what it doesnt say on the tin. Fine for underfloor heating where the return temp to boiler is low, rubbish for trad CH where return temp is high. Waste of money. Get a Rayburn and have an immersion heater backup!

Al

What a crock of horse poo!!!

Gave me a laugh anyways!

 

[bobthebender]

namsag with 15 years of plumbing experience under my belt I have a pretty shrewd idea of how a boiler works. As for my post to Chris I was trying to draw him out to help Grimly as no-one seemed to have a clue how to answer (me included if Im honest!). Thankfully Im not Grimly Feindishes alter ego - Ive got an Aga and it works fine thanks!!!

Al (not Grimly)

Did you do the plumbing at Glastonbury

 

[Scrufflepeck]

What exactly is a crock of horse poo? I thought I was giving pretty solid advice - and some work for a hard pressed heating engineer, which is surely what we should all be trying to do isn't it? I mean, I dont know about you, but I need the work and if a boiler is marginal and I haven't a clue how to mend the piece of junk, and the customer wants the nice shiny new one that Ive told him about at a price he can afford, I'll be more than happy to take his money. Come on lads, we'd all be bankrupt if we didn't pad a little - its standard industry practice!

 

[namsag]

And then again you can give good customer service and actually fix it ,if you have not got a clue how to fix it don`t go to let someone who knows fix it as opposed to getting customer to replace before they have to.

Still waiting for explaination of how boiler would go bang

And it`s not industry practise a good living can be made without making customers spend for something they don`t need.

Last week friend of a friend gives me a key tells me his boiler is up the swany And needs a new one just see what i need and do it as soon as i can fit it in... Well it needed £18 quids worth of parts all fixed in half hour one happy customer nice easy job for me and when the boiler does need changing i will be doing it but in the mean time my name is getting put about as an honest engineer who won`t rip you off . I know what i prefer

 

[Grimly Feendish]

Well said Namsag. I would certainly want to avoid any plumber that sells me stuff I dont need, and I think Scrufflepeck seems to be suggesting that is exactly what he does. If Ive got you wrong on that Al you will no doubt put me straight.

Does anyone know any reliable Corgi registered gas engineers who know their way around Vaillant VCW in the SN14 Bristol Bath Swindon area?

Cheers

Grimly