Yet another Ravenheat boiler problem

[JipMeg101]

Hi all,

I am unlucky enough to have a ravenheat LS100T in my house, and from what I can gather, they aren't the best of boilers.....

Unfortunately our 5yr old boiler has developed a problem

About 3-4 months ago we found we could only get hot water when the CH was on, now it has given up the ghost and no hot water at all now, we turned the boiler to off on the timer, and the central heating came on, the only way to turn the CH off was to switch it on by the timer!!

Are these problems related, is the boiler goosed? any rough prices on repairs

Any help is greatly appreciated

Michael

 

[Agile]

Diverter valve failed. Not the nicest of jobs to replace.

Last one I charged £240.

Tony

 

[JipMeg101]

Thanks for the reply Agile

So would that cause the on/off problem as well, because my worry was maybe something electrical had gone like the circuit board or something like that, (just to add more expense to the repair)

 

[adlplumbing]

if central heating working then pcb proably fine

 

[DP]

End of the day a boiler is a boiler. A cheap boiler can be difficult to work on due to cost cutting during manufacture, but almost always uses parts that are often found in more expensive boilers.

Problem with Ravenheat is that (as far as I am concerned) access to components within is problematic, so time consuming when it come to repair and servicing.

Give me a Ravenheat to repair/ service instead of modern day Ideal any day of the week and I am content.

 

[JipMeg101]

Thanks for the replies, so it looks like diverter valve needs replaced,

good job the weather is warm, as it may take a week or 2 to get the money together, thankfully the in laws live 200yds away so we can have showers/baths there

 

[Agile]

End of the day a boiler is a boiler. A cheap boiler can be difficult to work on due to cost cutting during manufacture, but almost always uses parts that are often found in more expensive boilers.

But thats with the exception of Ravenheat ( which we are discussing ) who use a different diverter valve and 25k thermistors!

I would prefer to explain the difficulty to carry out repairs as due to poor design rather that any cost saving in manufacturer.

A suitcase without wheels is heavy to carry! One with wheels follows you with little effort. Plastic wheels are cheap and even the idea of putting wheels on suitcases took over 5000 years to be thought of!

Which got me to thinking about the history of wheeled luggage, so here is the best history you can get on the subject based on a brief survey of the (internet-hosted) literature:

circa 1851: In "Moby-Dick," Queequeg talls the story of strapping his seachest to a wheelbarrow but then, not knowing how to maneuver the barrow, gathers the whole assembly and carries it.

very early 1900's: steamer trunks with two wheels are advertised.

1970's: wheels appear on traditional suitcases; travelers pulling them by leashes and poorly balanced suitcases toppling over ensue.

1989: Northwest Airlines pilot Bob Plath develops the roll-aboard suitcase for flight crews.

Tony

 

[JipMeg101]

I so hope that question comes up in a pub quiz now.....who invented modern wheeled luggage??

who would have guessed came on the forum for boiler problems and have found out some facts on luggage...

BTW what do you mean when you said 25K thermistors?

 

[adlplumbing]

i think he means kil ohms
but no idea what luggage think was about but he is getting on a bit
(senial)

 

[Agile]

Most boilers us NTC sensors which are a nominal 10k at about 20°C.

Ravenheat are pretty unique to use 25 k sensors on most of their boilers. That means we have to carry their sensors just for their boilers.

In electronics 25,000 ohms is conveniently referred to as just 25k.

I dont think the wheeled suitcase question has come up in a pub quiz yet. I dont do very well in those because there are too many sports and TV soap questions, neither of which are my Forté. Questions on boilers dont even feature!

Tony

 

[pianogen]

The problem with our "high efficiency boiler" that "A shade greener" claims to "save over £300 a year" is actually costing us hundreds of pounds MORE than our old, inefficient boiler. We have confirmed that no gas is leaking, we have no other gas appliances except a gas hob which is rarely used, and hot water costs us less than a unit a day, but the heating is adding an AVERAGE of 5 units a day.

 

[Agile]

What is the definition of your units?

Whats house size, type and annual gas bill?

Tony

 

[pianogen]

I have no idea what the definition of a unit is, they are shown on the gas meter, and have almost doubled since we got our Ravenheat boiler from "A shade greener".

It's a 3-bedroom end-of-terrace.

I don't have a gas bill handy.

 

[Agile]

Have you looked at the Wiki and FAQ on this site to help you?

 

[transam]

what model is it ? combi I assume has it got hot water pre-heat some have & this may not be obvious to the user ?????