Remeha has rejected my warranty

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infinitesd

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Hi everyone. I really need some good advice.

We just had a Remeha Avanta Plus 35c Combi installed in November. Ever since it was installed we have had various issues with it, but last week it finally stopped giving hot water. Everytime we wanted hot water the radiators would get hot instead. To me it sounded like a diverter valve issue, but since I'm no expert we called Remeha to have it repaired.

When Heateam came out to look at it they said the motor had gone in the boiler. The root cause listed was the shower unit we have installed on it. This is apparently why we will invalidate our warranty by using the shower. This is where my issue is.

The shower unit was replaced at the same time as the boiler as the old shower box was pumped, where this one is just a valve and processor unit. According to Aqualisa the shower unit is compatible with our boiler, yet when I contacted the Heateam they stand behind what their engineer said, thus Remeha is as well. I also found out the engineer didn't even look at the shower. According to him all of the shower boxes have pumps in them which I think he's wrong. I've even looked at the shower unit and found the part number which is the correct Non Pumped version.

So I'm stuck. Aqualisa says the unit we have is good and in no way can harm the boiler. Heateam say us it and lose our warranty on the boiler. Where do I go from here. Most emails and phone calls to Remeha and Heateam are now very heated and I feel I'm losing the battle to keep a £250 shower unit, and my £2,000 boiler. Heateam refuse to send an engineer back out to look at the unit.

Any advice would be great. Thanks,
 
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Your contact is with the installer and no-one else.

What is the exact model of the shower.

What motor has gone in the boiler.

I would think a covering letter from Aqualisa would go a long way as well.
 
Hi, firstly I'm not a plumber and I'd like to make that clear.

You mention the shower being the reason for the warrantee not applying - did Heateam specifically mention that it was a pumped shower that caused it to fail, or just your shower? I.e. if they are saying it is your shower, then whether it is pumped or not seems irrelevant.

From the consumer point of view, assuming phone calls are not getting you anywhere, I can see two routes of action:

1) Claim against Aqualisa for supplying a shower that damaged your boiler - you already have the Heateam report proving this.

2) Claim against Remeha for not fixing their boiler under warrantee. You will need another report, preferably two, supporting the fact that the shower could not have caused the boiler to fail. Remember that unless Remeha specifically approve the shower (or type of shower) it still could be [seen to be] the reason for the boiler failing, no matter what Aqualisa say.

Assuming the companies are not listening to you on the phone, you will probably have to start some kind of court action. This really is not that much of a big deal and often this is the only thing that will make companies take you seriously. It often does not get as far as the court.

I think getting two reports of what actually caused the boiler to fail by experienced plumbers / engineers looking at your actual equipment would be a good start.
 
Thanks for the reply. The shower we have is an Aqualisa Quartz with external thermastat. Minimum requirements are a boiler that puts out 24kw of heat and fully modulated gas which according to Remeha's website and product guides my boiler puts out 31 kw and is fully modulated. The pump version of the control box for the shower is part number 433100. The one I have is the digital processor part number 433000. Aqualisa have confirmed this product doesn't have a pump and in no way could pull water out of the boiler.

Also I have an email from a tech at Aqualisa saying it's compatible which I have forwarded to heateam and Remeha which doesn't seem to have helped at all.

Forgot to mention, the report given to us from the Heateam only states the fault noticed is due ot incorrect installation of the boiler or flue, but when i phoned them they said it was the pump in the shower.

I've gone back to the installer, but I can't see where he is at fault as the right equipement appears to be connected correctly. Remeha said they will warranty my boiler if the shower isn't used so it keeps coming back to the shower.
 
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It sounds as if the diverter valve motor may have failed.

This might be the common one which costs about £20.

When I see people running round in circles and talking about multiple engineers reports I know that common sense has gone out of the window.

As an engineer I know that a shower will not damage your boiler but the problem is you can only talk to junior people who do what they are told.

The Heateam enginer is very stupid. But they have to employ nupties because they cannot get good ones at their salaries.

Lets have a bit of fun. Ask him to telephone me to explain what he thinks is wrong.

If he refuses, tell us his name so we can all laugh at his stupidity.

Tony
 
You need the confirmation from Aqualisa that the shower is fine for the boiler on paper.
Send a copy of that letter by recorded mail to the head of the warrantee department personal and confidential .
Who supplied the boiler?
 
Thank you for all of your replies.

I have included a small bit of the last email I received from Remeha.

"I have spoken to our engineer who attended on Monday 18th April 11. It does appear the problem is with the pump and the power shower. The shower is asking the boiler to provide water at such a pace which has caused the Motor to burn out. The boiler is not designed to run a shower of this calibre."

I'll ask Aqualisa to provide me a written letter in addition to the email they sent me to send to Remeha.

The boiler was installed supplied and fitted by a recomended installer. Recommended by Remeha as one in my local area who could fit their boilers.

Both myself and the installer have called, emailed, and faxed over a number of different documents, techinical drawings, and I've even taken pictures of the old and new units to show the differences.

Not once have they offered for the engineer to look at it again.

To err is human. Remeha must be machines.
 
infinitesd said:
Thank you for all of your replies.

I have included a small bit of the last email I received from Remeha.

"I have spoken to our engineer who attended on Monday 18th April 11. It does appear the problem is with the pump and the power shower. The shower is asking the boiler to provide water at such a pace which has caused the Motor to burn out. The boiler is not designed to run a shower of this calibre."
Click to expand...
Sounds like utter nonsense to me. If you open a bathtap, the flow is likely to be higher than what the shower can release, and I have never seen a boiler fail because people run the bath.

High flow has absolutely no influence on the diverter motor.

What is the maximum flow of the shower?
 
You get any more water through a boiler than it's designed to do! The boiler internals are designed for a maximum flow that you can't exceed. It's all a lie by an incompetent engineer anyway as it wouldn't make the diverter fail. All that happens when the flow is too high is the water doesn't heat up enough.
 
The operating pressure of the boiler is 0.5 bar to 8 bar, with a relief valve set at 3 bar. Minimal mains feed pressure should be 1 bar and a maximum of 2.5 bar.

The shower can operate up to 7 bar pressure, but as it has no way of controlling pressure. It only works by opening the valve to 70% on normal or 100% on boost. The inside of the shower unit only contains an electronic valve, and processor which allows us to use the existing thermostat unit.

Trust me we had noticed a reduced water flow when the new shower was installed, but expected this as the new shower unit lacks a pump.
 
That stinks, how low will Broag Remeha go to void a warranty. A KNOWN ISSUE WITH THE REMEHA BOILERS IS FAILED DIVERTER VALVES & MOTORS.
 
D

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