Condensing Boilers

[fry61]

The trace heating wires are approx 5watt/foot so 200 feet=1kw= 15pence? if you need that long you need to replumb the condense tube!!

[enforcer]

Ok, now I'm getting fed up.

 

Engineer came out yesterday to find he had nothing to do since I had already sorted my non-firing boiler by thawing the condensate pipe.

 

The same guy came out last week (before the big freeze) because we were intermittantly having problems with the hot water - sometimes there wasn't much of it and it wasn't very hot. He suspected that it was the 3 port valve but only replaced the motor as it is a 28mm fitting and he only had a 22mm with him.

 

Anyway it seemed to work ok so we left it at that.

 

Last night the central heating wouldn't turn off. Thermostat turned right down?.... kept on pumping. HW and CW turned off at the programmer?.... kept on pumping. In fact the only way I could turn the thing off was by switching it off at the mains. Phoned British Gas at 1am (waited in the queue for 47 minutes for someone to answer the phone). They told me to keep using the mains switch to turn it off and on when needed. This morning got up at 5am (freezing) to turn the *bleep* on again. Engineer can't come until Wednesday. I'm worried about leaving it on continuously since it isn't being controlled by the thermostat and I am concerned that it could blow the boiler up, which is in the garage, WHICH MIGHT DAMAGE MY 2B!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

I was thinking that this must be the timer/programmer since something is providing permanent live feed to the pump and the boiler is firing continuously, but to be honest it appears to be working fine. Could this be the 3 port valve stuck open? The three pipes are all red hot so I presume it is in the open position. Lots of heating, lots of hot water ........ it just won't turn off!!!

 

Graham - any ideas???? Anyone???

[Guest outtolunch]

My system has not been shuting off for several days because the frost protection stat is activated, the boiler and stat are in a back lobby with singe brick wall. I just turn the boiler stat down at night to stop the house overheating.

as your boiler is in a garrage you may have the same.

[Guest gdc]

hi rich

poss the 3 port poss is stuck , check the lever is not in the manual possition what valve is it ?

or do you have a frost stat ?

if you do have one it may be positioned in the wrong place or in the wrong place in relation to the boiler

and is operating to protect the boiler and pipework .

 

ring me

07860789193

graham

[chris n]

We woke up this morning with a freezing cold house, wall mounted powered flue central heating unit running but no heat coming out of the rads. Turned it all off, got the ladder out and checked the flue to see if it was clear which it was.

Fired it all back up again loads of steam came out of the flue and within 15 minutes the rad where starting to warm up

All appears to be working fine now. At least it was not like yesterdays problems when we had the outside drain pipes from the bathroom frozen with ice good job Becks brother-in-law is a plumber

[Guest Nigel Novice]

Think I read somewhere that the "Green Brigade" now think that these combo boilers are not green down to the amount of energy used to produce heat/water compared to a balanced flue and tank full of hot water, takes less energy to top up a tank than heat from cold.

Put mine in about 15 years ago had 1 3 port valve and 1 gas valve in that time, all installed by moi

cheap as chips

[Guest gdc]

Think I read somewhere that the "Green Brigade" now think that these combo boilers are not green down to the amount of energy used to produce heat/water compared to a balanced flue and tank full of hot water, takes less energy to top up a tank than heat from cold.

Put mine in about 15 years ago had 1 3 port valve and 1 gas valve in that time, all installed by moi

cheap as chips

 

 

i dont think you are wrong !!!!!!!

 

but i have to install the dam things

[Guest john]

I was thinking it must soon be time to replace my 18 year old Potterton Profile, and expect to save some money on run costs.

I'm not so sure after reading this !!

 

Plus my neighbour has had lots of probs this winter with one of them new fangled types. Cost him spares, plus two calor heaters and lots of electric fans to keep their place warm while repairing it. And his quote for a new one is another £1700.

 

Can anyone tell me how long my boiler will last ?

Oh and its never been serviced either !!! ( if it aint broke.....etc )

 

And what part of it is likely to fail bad enough to kill it dead ? The heat exchanger bursting ??

 

 

Thnx

[Guest gdc]

hi i think neary all if not all parts are still availiable for a profile .

the main issue i think it would be the heat exchanger .

parts are becoming more expensive for older boilers but you could prob rebuild yours completly for less than the cost of a condencer ,

stick with it as long as you can .

new condencer average lifespan 10 to 15 years , and thats if its serviced regular and was of a good make to start with .

dont buy a froggy one or italian one , bad news on spares .plus the industry as a whole dont like them .

gloworm tend to be the cheapest of the anglo ones but by far have the most expensive spares .

hope i havnt put you off one of our new tech boilers ?

 

graham

[Guest john]

thanx Graham.

I plan to leave it there while its working ok, even if it is not the most efficient.

 

How many years should I expect out of the heat exchanger ?

Its run every day for 16 years so it been kept flowing etc.

 

Might rebuild instead of replace if spares are still good.

 

Cheers

John

[Knock-on]

I'm going to need mine changing as it needs to be shifted to a different room and the house is growing from a 2 bedroom to a three bedroom one. We are also growing in my house from 1 person to 4 people so need more capacity.

 

A couple of people suggested a Bosch Worcester Combi boiler. Is this a good one and what sort of budget will it cost to buy and fit a new one. Mine definatly falls into the inefficient catagory if I get BG to fit it and they are offering a further £400 off on top of the £400 scheme.

[philshelton]

I'm going to need mine changing as it needs to be shifted to a different room and the house is growing from a 2 bedroom to a three bedroom one. We are also growing in my house from 1 person to 4 people so need more capacity.

 

A couple of people suggested a Bosch Worcester Combi boiler. Is this a good one and what sort of budget will it cost to buy and fit a new one. Mine definatly falls into the inefficient catagory if I get BG to fit it and they are offering a further £400 off on top of the £400 scheme.

British gas charge a fortune so the extra £400 wont make a differance

[Guest gdc]

costs of install vairy throught the country , expect to pay more south rather than north .

i am in beds average cost arround 2 to 3 k depending on each install , as they are all different !

 

graham

[philshelton]

costs of install vairy throught the country , expect to pay more south rather than north .

i am in beds average cost arround 2 to 3 k depending on each install , as they are all different !

 

graham

I agree Graham but british gas quoted £6000 to a friend of mine and then said if he signed now they could do it for £5000. actually paid local plumber £2400. Another case of the big guy tring to rip people off

[Knock-on]

Cheers chaps