VALIANT ECO TEC

[AJVAT]

I had a valiant eco tec boiler fitted 3 yrs ago. All seems to be working well except that i noticed a drop of water fall down onto the kitchen worktop from the side of the boiler. took the cover off and to see what it could be. Couldnt see no immediate leak from anywhere.

Back of the boiler where it is hung has what appears to have condensation water. could this be the reason where the water droplet came from.

Side of the boiler near the expansion vessel has a sponge which is slightly damp in places could this be where it has come from.

There doesnt appear to be any drop in pressure in the boiler.

 

[Agile]

You seems to have opened up the boiler by opening the sealed combustion area.

We don't give advice involving this here.

the obvious advice is that you call a gas reg engineer to diagnose the cause of the leak and check the boiler for safety after your opening it.

Tony

 

[AJVAT]

Was advised by gas safe engineer on how to take cover off to give him an idea have since replaced it haven't taken off anything in terms of combustion chamber etc

 

[Agile]

He was wrong to advise you do that. Its the sealed combustion area.

So you were asking him how to fix your boiler yourself?

Why is he not coming to see the boiler himself?

Tony

 

[AJVAT]

Wasn't thinking of fixing boiler myself at all leave that to professionals he wanted to get an idea where it was coming from as he was out of town hence would give him an idea

 

[JSHarris]

Is removing the boiler front cover (which is what I take to have happened here) tantamount to accessing the "sealed combustion area"?

I ask because I've been asked to do the same by two people that have fixed my boiler (also an Ecotec) whilst they've been on the other end of the phone giving directions. The first time was when the rubber hoses started leaking, where he asked me to shine a torch in there (and it was pretty clear where the water was coming from). The second time was when the diverter valve developed a small leak, and again it was pretty easy to see where the leak was, with his direction. The advantage of doing this was that the chap only had to make one call, bringing the right part out with him to fix the problem, which seemed sensible to me.

 

[AJVAT]

I totally agree jsharris I don't believe that by taking cover off boiler equates to exposing the combustion chamber as that to me is the heat exchanger

 

[JSHarris]

This raises a point that has bothered me for some time now. What can a DIY'er do, legally, with a gas boiler?

In the past I've always assumed that as long as the gas side of things wasn't touched in any way, then DIY repair was OK. In fact years ago I used to clean and service an old cast iron heat exchanger gas boiler, vacuuming out the crud from the (open) burner and checking things like the thermocouple (I've probably replaced two or three thermocouples, too).

Nowadays things aren't anywhere near as clear cut, though. I'd not risk playing about with any of the sensors, opening the combustion chamber or replacing things on the gas side, like fan motors or valves.

I am contemplating replacing the PCB in our EcoTec that seems to have developed a problem, but have taken the view that this is not something that falls within the definition of criminal activity (although, to be honest, I'm not 100% sure of this).

Do any of the professional gas engineers here have a view as to what is or is not an acceptable DIY job on a gas boiler?

 

[Dan Robinson]

Yes it tantamount.

There are parts in there that can affect the safe combustion of gas, that if knocked may cause trouble.

Likewise not fitting the cover properly has its effects.


A diyer must be competent to do the work. He must also have the necessary equipment with current calibration to do certain tasks.

The only recognised form of competence is a valid ACS certificate.

It always amazes me how many people post on here claiming to be some whizzbang in the field of engineering as if that makes it OK. Not everyone that reads and acts upon the information has the necessary skills to do so safely. It is those that the forum rules are there to protect. For all we know/care you were the tea boy.