Vaillant boiler

[Tully]

Hi,
Looking at replacement boilers what do you professionals think of the
Vaillant ecoTEC plus 430 MkII ? Any problems concerns please
Thank You
Tully

 

[matz]

sorry I am not a pro but we had a Valiant eco tec approx 4 yrs ago. Its never run right (keeps kettling) . Apparently the heat exchanger can block up more easily than others especially if fitted to an old system. I wouldnt have another for that reason. Just had a Worcester fitted to a rental property that has a 10 yr guarantee which I hope will be ok.. Probably I should have gone with an Intergas (more of which you will prob read later!) but time was against me.

 

[GuessMan]

sorry I am not a pro but we had a Valiant eco tec approx 4 yrs ago. Its never run right (keeps kettling) . Apparently the heat exchanger can block up more easily than others especially if fitted to an old system. I wouldnt have another for that reason. Just had a Worcester fitted to a rental property that has a 10 yr guarantee which I hope will be ok.. Probably I should have gone with an Intergas (more of which you will prob read later!) but time was against me.

Your system is at fault not the boiler, CSTs or a low loss header would sort it out. And as for blockages, was the system cleaned?
You go on to mention a rental property........aaaaahhhh another penny pinching landlord going for the cheapest price and bemoaning the quality received.

 

[dilalio]

Vaillant ‘were’ ok, in my opinion, but started to see lots of plastic bits appear in them, that used to be metal plus other small design changes that, to an engineer’s eye, were not improvements.

We now recommend Intergas where feasible but still opt for the Vaillant Ecofit Pure, occasionally, when a rear flue is more suitable to the customer’s siting requirements.

 

[GuessMan]

I have no experience with the Intergas brand, but they seem to have a very loyal following. Other than their cosmetic appearance I won't criticise them. As for the plastic in Vaillants, they used to say that was the difference between them and Glow-worm. They used to flaunt it as a badge of honour. Ten year warranties need to be paid from somewhere.

 

[dilalio]

Ten year warranties need to be paid from somewhere.

As does a huge marketing budget

 

[matz]

You go on to mention a rental property........aaaaahhhh another penny pinching landlord going for the cheapest price and bemoaning the quality received.

what??? lol

on what basis can you even say this?

 

[matz]

google "Valiant heat exchanger blocking" for stuff about that issue. Why would I want to buy one if I am at risk from any of this happening?

 

[GuessMan]

google "Valiant heat exchanger blocking" for stuff about that issue. Why would I want to buy one if I am at risk from any of this happening?

You said it's never run without kettling, did it arrive full of crud?

Just for fun how many radiators do you have and what Vaillant boiler was thrown in?

 

[matz]

You said it's never run without kettling, did it arrive full of crud?

Just for fun how many radiators do you have and what Vaillant boiler was thrown in?

12 rads
eco tec 415 not a combi (came with magniclean)
gas safe installed - presume it was done properly but didnt stand over them watching
paid full going rate for the install

it didnt kettle straight away prob about 6 mths in. I had had these people back much earlier to fix a diverter valve (which they proceeded to wire up wrong) and they also diagnosed hot water cylinder as blocked and needing replacement (it wasnt blocked) so my faith in them a bit diminished. Subsequently I got Valiant in who changed the heat exchanger straight away with no quibble . I should have jumped on the original installer straight away and kept pushing them to sort it but didnt - that was my mistake, then the time passed by.

as an aside the bathroom rad needs fortnightly bleeding ie it gets almost cold right the way down so dont know if thats a clue.

 

[John D v2.0]

Sounds like nothing to do with the boiler but just a bad installation. The boiler can't stop air getting pulled in, and air will quickly ruin any system full of water and steel components.
We have a vaillant ecotec pro, and it's indeed not the most fancy boiler in the world (fitted by the previous owner) but it produces heat and hot water when needed without fuss. It'll be over 5 years old by now but I'm assuming it's got a lot of life left.
To answer the OP, I would happily get another fitted, but I don't know what is like to work on. I

 

[ABC Gas Care]

Hi,
Looking at replacement boilers what do you professionals think of the
Vaillant ecoTEC plus 430 MkII ? Any problems concerns please
Thank You
Tully

 

[ABC Gas Care]

So I am a heating engineer and a landlord with Lot boilers , but little experience in hard water areas but lot experience with boilers ,
We have few Vailliants and I love them but dont tend to buy them on price BUT I have one at home and probably own another twenty older model to ecotec Ecomax they are great boilers well designed and for retail customers good choice , my Buy list ATAG love them around £1200 10 year guarantee .
one my top favourites build quality design parts are cheap ,Vailliant , Baxi duo tec great boiler or less priced cousin Potterton Gold same boiler less guarantee less price ,Viessmann , the cheap end the Biasi Advance Plus £600 or Biasi Riva £400 to £480 , what does all theys have in common Stainless steel heat exchanger No Aluminium so if your plumber says there OK no issues ignore him buy what you want or it will come back to bite you and long term loose efficiency there hard to clean Aluminium on service , Every one of theys stay max efficiency IF YOU FIT Magnaclean and top inhibitor up yearly .
I can write for ages help and advice but bigest advice is No Aluminium and fit a filter pref Magnaclean and inhibitor clean the filter regularly .
yes fit a magnetic scale inhibitor on incoming water I now fit standard £20 nothing if helps water quality and boiler heat exchanger .

 

[GuessMan]

12 rads
eco tec 415 not a combi (came with magniclean)
gas safe installed - presume it was done properly but didnt stand over them watching
paid full going rate for the install

it didnt kettle straight away prob about 6 mths in. I had had these people back much earlier to fix a diverter valve (which they proceeded to wire up wrong) and they also diagnosed hot water cylinder as blocked and needing replacement (it wasnt blocked) so my faith in them a bit diminished. Subsequently I got Valiant in who changed the heat exchanger straight away with no quibble . I should have jumped on the original installer straight away and kept pushing them to sort it but didnt - that was my mistake, then the time passed by.

as an aside the bathroom rad needs fortnightly bleeding ie it gets almost cold right the way down so dont know if thats a clue.

As I guessed bad installation, your boiler is correctly sized (maybe slightly undersized) for your system and should have worked fine with 22mm pipes and definitely no LLH. Microbore or a restrictive system could be helped by CSTs
But despite fitting their boiler on a dirty system a £350 part was changed FOC and you’re not impressed. Pour mud in to you cars filler cap and see how far you get with that manufacturer.

 

[ABC Gas Care]

Yes Guessman is 100% correct a Dirty system is a unhappy one thats why new boiler needs clean system would any one buy Ferrari then put oil in from ASDA , same as buying the best boiler then it fails because it needs help you need to clean system and put filter and chemicals in , The fact boiler is sytem or cobi is irrelevant its virtually same with little extra , works the same and you need to treat water in the system and keep it clean . then work 20 years seriously ,