Combi - Repair or Replace

[chrisr100]

We have a 9-10 year old Vokera Linea 24 - the hot water was not working and have had a part replaced £170. Hot water is better but still intermittent hot and cold no so we need a heat exchanger as well quote £200 approx.

We have used same plumber for years (very reliable and excellent service) and he say he can supply and fit new ariston boiler £1600 (wont charge £170 above as we haven't paid him yet) with 5 yr guarantee.

1) General - Is it worth spending nearly £400 repairing a 10 year old boiler
2) He says Ariston boilers are good - anyone got one and can confirm or not and what is service like during warranty period

Thanks

 

[tininho]

Hi,

I'm not a big far of Ariston boilers, but each to their own....

Personally I believe you will get a better boiler for less money... Perhaps a Baxi 105e.... This is not an HE boiler but I have always found it to be a good unit.... Though i'm sure others may dis-agree based on their own experiences.... Not many merchants have it now either as it's not HE....

What was the first part changed???.... I'm assuming (given the cost) it was either the mainPCB, or ignition PCB....

Martin

 

[Agile]

The plate HE can be cleaned by a competent engineer if he chooses to do but is a bit messy.

The plate HE probably costs about £80 so £200 to supply and fit seems very high to me.

To come out, diagnose the fault and fit a cleaned plate we charge £136.

I also wonder what he replaced for £170. Based on the price for the plate it was not much!

But his price for fitting an Ariston is somewhat reasonable although some will fit it for considerable less.

Tony

 

[onlyfitidealboilers]

dont waste your money on the repair. New blr job. for an ok boiler look to pay around £1800 quid ie Baxi Duo tech24, Ideal Logic24, Vaillant eco tech pro,
Worcester 24i Greenstar.

anything less is a good price

 

[nickso]

aristons are very poor boilers, do not fit one.

£400 to sort a HW problem on a linea 24? i think you need a new engineer.

 

[Boilerman2]

You certainly like your C**p Boilers!! replace a C**p Vokera with an Ariston?? are you sure?????

 

[kevindgas]

dont waste your money on the repair. New blr job. for an ok boiler look to pay around £1800 quid ie Baxi Duo tech24, Ideal Logic24, Vaillant eco tech pro,
Worcester 24i Greenstar.

anything less is a good price

i would agree with all the above except the Ideal Logic this has not been out long enough to disprove the unreliability of Ideal Boilers over the past few years.
the vaillant 831 is better than the pro has a better finish and a built in filling loop
the Linea wasn't a particularly sucessful boiler for Vokera but their Pro 100HE seems to be a reasonable priced reliable boiler.

 

[sambotc]

Where abouts are you?

A straight combi for combi can be had for less than that around here, that sort of money could see you a nice vaillant 831 and new controls if the gas is adequate and existing flue terminal complies

Sam

 

[chrisr100]

Thanks for comments. Water was "pulsing" hot cold continually. I think it is ignition PCB that has been replace as old part left he also cleaned the heat exchanger. The water is now hot most of the time but only occassionally goes cold. You can run shower for 10 mins and it doesnt happen or it happens once or twice.

The other part that needs replaced I am not sure - but will cost approx £200. Wife dealt with it and she basically cant remember full details But i have no issues with service or advice given, this is a side issue as I am now considering new boiler option.

Re one comment above - to call current boiler crap (10 years old and never broken down until now) and to say Ariston is crap - pretty opinionated IMHO. I am just trying to get some advice before shelling out a lot of money and have seen bad reviews of all makes of boiler(including Worcestor). Unlike a car there are not a lot of objective reviews out there for boilers.

I wonder if anyone has any practical experience of new Ariston boilers with 5 year warranty and are a WHICH best buy according to Aristons web site.

 

[Agile]

I thought the WHICH best buy was the Baxi Duotec ( not many installer's choice though.

Your Vokera is a perfectly OK boiler if installed on a clean system and kept clean.

The ignition PCB is an occasional failure but even so pretty rare. To diagnose and replace for £170 is a very cheap repair!

An Ariston is not generally considered a very good choice based on the reliability of the boilers they have made over the lats 10 years.

Most would prefer a Vaillant, Viessman or Biasi.

Tony

 

[onlyfitidealboilers]

veissman & biasi are both dog cr$p.