Condensing boilers - is trap cleaning part of service ?

[Charnwood]

they have their own parts distrubtion net work for next day dilvery from post office

I've been inside the national parts centre in Leicester - we are one of their suppliers for pipe fittings etc. Impressive or what!!
They have over a million pounds worth of spare parts just for their own semi-automated picking equipment in the centre in case anything breaks down so they can keep working.

Shed loads of blue boxes sent out to fitters daily via the post office.

 

[DP]

What you'll find is the sump gets cleaned but the trap simply washed through. The manufacturers engineers told me they never remove the trap but just pour water through the main heat exchanger to check if the trap is not blocked.

I think the idea of pouring water is to flush the heat exchanger. It certainly would not clear ouit the syphon. Try it next time you look at a steamer

I am sure the manual indicates the syphone should be cleaned.

 

[bengasman]

But manuals are not always accurate.
I'm sure that it says in the eyesore manual "remove cover" in stead of "remove boiler"

 

[dcawkwell]

Ideal boilers are awful do yourself a favour and change it.
Don't get BG to install a replacement they will overcharge.

 

[SimonH2]

Ideal boilers are awful do yourself a favour and change it.
Don't get BG to install a replacement they will overcharge.

That's up to dad, and I don't think he'll be doing anything for a while. With all the parts it's had, it ought to be as reliable as new now

Blue van man came this afternoon, and it's working again.

To be fair to BG, I have the boilers in my properties done by a local outfit, and I sometimes wonder if they just drag some unemployed kid off the street ! Some of them seem to lack diagnostics ability.

 

[kevplumb]

That's up to dad, and I don't think he'll be doing anything for a while. With all the parts it's had, it ought to be as reliable as new now icon_rolleyes.gif

and that aint sayin much bonny lad

 

[scatmanjohn]

To be fair to BG, I have the boilers in my properties

A landlord, with a property portfolio full of Ideal Icos/Isar's

never

 

[SimonH2]

A landlord, with a property portfolio full of Ideal Icos/Isar's

never

No, the Ideal is at home.

The flat has a Vokera Excel - original and still going after about 18 years. I'm hoping it will last a while longer since there isn't a legal and aesthetically acceptable (to me) location to put the flue at the moment if I have to change it. Hopefully it should be more reliable now it's not doing any combi function stuff.

The house has a BG RD 532 which replaced the original Vokera Excel - I guess a BG salesman told the PO it was the best thing since sliced bread. I've got the original quote in the paperwork the vendor handed over with the house. Lets just say I'd have thought twice about paying that for such a straightforward replacement job - allowing for inflation since 2004.
I'll give them the benefit of doubt and put the timing down to pure coincidence. There's a quote done in April, and in July there was a "while fixing your boiler we noticed that your installation doesn't meet current standards" letter, and the replacement boiler was ordered in August. I'd have loved to be a fly on the wall because knowing what was installed, and where it was installed, I really, really cannot see what was NCS Boiler in same place, flue in same place, pipes in same place.

 

[screech]

What you'll find is the sump gets cleaned but the trap simply washed through. The manufacturers engineers told me they never remove the trap but just pour water through the main heat exchanger to check if the trap is not blocked.

I think the idea of pouring water is to flush the heat exchanger. It certainly would not clear ouit the syphon. Try it next time you look at a steamer

I am sure the manual indicates the syphone should be cleaned.

Thanks for telling me that but I've removed enough of those useless traps filled with the crap from the corroding heat exchangers to know it doesn't clean them out, I just said what the manufacturers engineers tend to do, at no point did I say it's what I do, but thanks for assuming I'm incompetent and have never removed a condensate trap before.

 

[DP]

Sorry screech, seems I hit a nerve. Rereading your initial posting and one above, now it is clear what you said is NOT what you do. When I posted it seemed you were justifying syphon did not require removal and cleaning. Sorry.

 

[SimonH2]

Resurrecting this old thread, Dad got a letter from BG last week in response to his complaint (or I think it was just rather uncomplimentary feedback in the "customer satisfaction" survey).

Apparently they are going to add cleaning the trap to the service schedule

 

[shambolic]

Resurrecting this old thread, Dad got a letter from BG last week in response to his complaint (or I think it was just rather uncomplimentary feedback in the "customer satisfaction" survey).

Apparently they are going to add cleaning the trap to the service schedule

Bg have been told by ideal for years now that the burner must be removed and the sump cover removed to visually check trap and clean as required. I've been to bg jobs where the sump cover is stuck on and never been off in years!
Gas valve probably wasn't required as choked sump will cause same symptoms

 

[petit_pablo]

Apparently they are going to add cleaning the trap to the service schedule

That i would love to see

The sooner BG decide their service method isnt acceptable and start servicing to MI's the better from my point of view. Then there will be the issue of time, BG guys get 38 minutes for a service at the moment. Thats 38mins from turning up, not actual hands in boiler time.

 

[petit_pablo]

the sump cover removed to visually check trap and clean as required.

Did that on one and hadnt removed the trap first. It was well backed up and dumped a fair amount of water over the board

Tip: Read the sump instructions!

 

[nickso]

Apparently they are going to add cleaning the trap to the service schedule

That i would love to see

The sooner BG decide their service method isnt acceptable and start servicing to MI's the better from my point of view. Then there will be the issue of time, BG guys get 38 minutes for a service at the moment. Thats 38mins from turning up, not actual hands in boiler time.

nope, you forgot your travel time in between jobs.

Cleaning any trap is already in the service schedule of course, problem is with the very little time we have already removing the trap on an icos isar simply isn't going to happen for most engineers as its a complete pain in the arse (combi especially).