Vokera Eclipse - possible heat exchanger descale? noisy bubb

[bendeneo]

Hi all,

I have an old Vokera Eclipse combi boiler and it has gradually been getting noisier (rumbling bubbling noise) and the hot water has been gradually getting less hot...... it takes forever to run a tepid bath.

After reading around the web it seems fairly obvious (please feel free to correct me) that my heat exchanger is scaled up to the point where it really needs a good descale. The water is moderately hard in my area and I am guessing the previous owner never did this..... and I have lived in the house for 5 years now.

The heating is generally rubbish as well.

I have seen that there are a number of approaches to descaling the Heat exchanger, and I think that probably my favoured approach is to remove the heat exchanger, attach some pipes either side, attach a drill powered pump, and then run a very acidic solution through it until it cleans up......

Do any of you have any thoughts on this and whether there is a better way?

I dont know how hard it is to remove the heat exchanger yet....... this may also be something that someone else can help me with!

Thanks for any help/advice you can give.

Regards,

Ben

 

[rgas]

When your heatings been off for a while, run the hot tap on full and put your hands on the flow/return pipe to the radiators underneath. If they start to get warm its your bobbin thats gone and needs replacing, common with the vokeras! Best way to clear the dhw heat exchanger is to fit a new one!! Dont mess with the main heat exchanger, need a rgi for them!

 

[nickso]

Dont mess with the main heat exchanger, need a rgi for them!

if you can find one willing to do it, main H/E is a **** to get out and weighs more than the moon, that's assuming vokera are stupid enough to still manufacture the H/E.

been a long time since i have had the misfortune of tussling with one of these beasts but i have a nagging feeling the secondary H/E is not easy to get out either, i could be wrong....it's happened before.

 

[Agile]

For my convenience and the customer's pocket I normally clean boilers chemically in situ without dismantling.

For yours to be noisy then it may be in an advanced poor state.

However, I have succeeded in almost all cases. Very few others seem to like doing that though.

Tony

 

[bendeneo]

Hi all, thanks for the advice.

Hmm, sounds like taking out the H/E might be a bit difficult then.....

Cleaning in situ I had looked at, and using either a very DIY approach again with the drill pump connected to the inlet and outlet.... or by hiring a machine from HSS....

Agile, what sort of rate would you charge for doing this? I notice you are London, but I am essentially Colchester.

 

[nickso]

cue £85 diagnostic fee's remember and give him a cup of tea or he will just walk out of the job. also remember and check his registration as he might not be

 

[bendeneo]

Hi again all,

I had a quote of £260 for a power flush, but I downloaded the service manual and it seems to suggest its a pretty easy extraction of the DHW Heat exchanger...... I know manuals are liars but does anyone have any knowledge of how difficult this may be?

Manual says:

6.16 DOMESTIC HOT WATER HEAT EXCHANGER
(see fig. 31)
Carry out component removal procedure as described in 6.4.
Remove motorised valve actuator as described
in 6.17. Disconnect condense outlet pipe from the
condense trap. Remove the insulation cover from
the DHW heat exchanger. Locate and remove
both inlet and outlet securing screws. Gently
ease the heat exchanger from its location.
Replace in the reverse order, ensuring the rubber
O’ ring seals are in good condition and are
correctly located.


It does also mention to change any rubbers if necessary.... should and could i buy a universal set or does it need to be Vokera ones do you think?

 

[nickso]

sounds easy enough, will probably be a nightmare.

the o-rings are easy enough to come by, i wouldn't try it without unless you are happy with the chance of them leaking. if you fit a new DHW h/e the rings will come with it.

 

[bendeneo]

Yeah you are probably right!

Well, I am the type that has to try and DIY so I'm going to give it a go I think (I built my extension on my own except for the brickwork)..... so I guess I am stubborn and dont want to spend the money and watch them to find it was easy all along!!!

A boiler spares shop should likely have a good universal set of rubbers dont you think, or even Vokera ones?

Whilst people are still watching my probably now boring thread..... what would you recommend for the descaling of the unit assuming I get it off?.... a branded Fernox type product, or something else?

 

[nickso]

vokera's webshite will probably give you the part number, probably the same as the linea, excell etc.

can't help with the descaler, i just replace them.

 

[bendeneo]

To be fair I would replace it, but looking online they are many hundreds of pounds.....!

 

[nickso]

must be unique to the eclipse then. i'll check.

 

[nickso]

it's listed on the laptop as the same as a linea 28.

8073
301336
£87.73

the new catalogue system on the laptop is utter ****e so there may be discrepancies now.

 

[bendeneo]

Thanks Nickso, thats really helpful.

I'll have a look-see tomorrow and get an idea of what I am letting myself in for but if £87 is correct then thats not so bad at all.

 

[nickso]

Thanks Nickso, thats really helpful.

I'll have a look-see tomorrow and get an idea of what I am letting myself in for but if £87 is correct then thats not so bad at all.

thats the BG price, you probably won't get it for that unfortunately