Boiler Heat Exchanger busted

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Boiler Heat Exchanger busted

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Suzan

Suzan

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92
Hi guys,

Quick question. Had 2 new rads fitted (system was drained) but I didn't test the hot water or heating after he fitted the rads. 4-5 days later I noticed there was no hot water (wasn't in the house) and I kept hearing clanging sounds after the boiler has tried to ignite then shutdown. Only rad that got hot when heating was turned on is one above boiler, rad in the room next to it got a bit hot when i turned the first one off but not fully hot. Plumber came round and said f&e tank was contaminated and when the system got drained, sludge may have gone into the system and caused the heat exchanger in the boiler to overheat. He cut the boiler off from the gas and just labeled it not usable.

So I have a couple of options. I was gonna go with buying a combi boiler that will require the system be drained and flushed anyway, and he said the current boiler is beyond repair because the heat exchanger is expensive.

I saw on ebay a refurb for £55, and I'm thinking, can we not just power flush the system, then install the new heat exchanger, make sure the f&e tank has no gunk, and all good? Or is this a bad idea? This is a vented system btw. Picture of boiler is attached (worcester bosch greenstar 24 ri)

IMG-20190610-WA0004.jpeg
 
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Suzan said:
Yeah I called them up and they registered it for me :D
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This is what's messed up with this trade at the moment. A boiler in stalled by a bg engineer but not by so a cash install that wont be registered with building control not registered with Worcester phone them up 5 years later and they register it.

No other trade would have that but ours just gets screwed over.
 
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Millsy 82 said:
This is what's messed up with this trade at the moment. A boiler in stalled by a bg engineer but not by so a cash install that wont be registered with building control not registered with Worcester phone them up 5 years later and they register it.

No other trade would have that but ours just gets screwed over.
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Also guy who installed it wasn’t gas safe as they arnt qualified out of hours / do jobs on there own time but many do
 
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ShaunCorbs said:
Also guy who installed it wasn’t gas safe as they arnt qualified out of hours / do jobs on there own time but many do
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That's what I mean.

Worcester should turn around and say hahaha tough boobies (I'm guessing the other words I'd use would be blocked :)) you should of got it done properly now pay to get it repaired or replaced.
 
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Suzan said:
Hmm KingDoey it's kinda funny because I did think it was an airlock but that PP was convinced it's sludge. I find it interesting how if it is an airlock, bleeding rads doesn't solve the issue...
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Because as said before bleeding rads won’t always clear an airlock. It all depends how the system is piped

You need to set do a combination of things like cycle the pump vent the heat exchanger etc. Gradually force the heat round the system one radiator at a time. It’s not always a ten minute job
 
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I was shifting from one rad to another until the PP guy came round and deemed the boiler ID and shut it down. Couldn't continue the rad shifting from that point... How would you vent from the heat exchanger?
 
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That PP was also saying in order to check for air near the hot water cylinder, he would have to cut through the pipe. I said to him "i'm guessing you'll solder the pipe back then..." he said "yeah definitely"...
 
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Suzan said:
Hmm ok. Shame he just looked at the boiler and refused to do anything but decommission it.. trying to remove the airlock would have been nice but hey hum...
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Unfortunately it seems your original problem has unearthed a more serious problem. IE the registered engineer removed the case of your boiler and determined it was unsafe. That’s just par for the course I’m afraid
 
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Yeah. I can't exactly say if the seal/hex were looking any different from a few months ago anyway as i just go by the sound... didn't exactly go taking the cover off to look so maybe it was just gradually getting worse. Why it overheated though is another story...
 
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Suzan said:
Millsy 82 I guess you haven't got an actual say on the situation (i.e. what one would do) rather than the initial installation that I had no control over o_O
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You were told on page 2 what the likely problem and cause and remedy was I would just be repeating what everyone else is saying.

Why did your OH say get a proper plumber from a company in? Surely the one who changed your rads was a proper plumber as well.
 
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Millay don’t underestimate the power of logos on vans and uniforms and a national tv/billboard etc advertising campaign on the perception of joe public.
You and I know they only work for bg/pp ‘cos they can’t do it on their own!
 
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Dont mess around the install is very poor and will give you more trouble In the future even if you throw money at the damaged boiler and get it repaired , address the problem once and for all when you come to sell the potential buyers and their surveyor will pick up on the work thats been done and you can recoup the costs on the sale price, you in the mean time have the luxury of and hassle free modern efficienct system which is registered with gas safe and has a long manufacturers warranty, failing to do this the buyers will definitely knock you down on your asking price and their conveyancing solicitor will definitely want to see the gas safe registration certificate for the boiler something you dont have?. Regards kop
 
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Ben-gee said:
Millay don’t underestimate the power of logos on vans and uniforms and a national tv/billboard etc advertising campaign on the perception of joe public.
You and I know they only work for bg/pp ‘cos they can’t do it on their own!
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What a load of rubbish. These companies have some quality engineer. They do also have some rubbish. But not all engineers are bad.
 
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Harvest Fields said:
What a load of rubbish. These companies have some quality engineer. They do also have some rubbish. But not all engineers are bad.
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I cant comment on pp but you have got to admit bg doesnt carry the status it once used to they have a lot more useless engineers than good. It does seem that they are now trained in sales more than breakdowns.

When I started 20 years ago the bg or ex bg engineers were the cream and every company I worked for the best blokes were usually ex bg.
 
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Ben-gee said:
Millay don’t underestimate the power of logos on vans and uniforms and a national tv/billboard etc advertising campaign on the perception of joe public.
You and I know they only work for bg/pp ‘cos they can’t do it on their own!
Click to expand...

More what I was getting at was I bet this un proper plumber was doing it cash like the install and has vanished without a trace with no comeback.

To be fair to him though that hasn't happened since the rads were changed and had they of paid for a service then they may not of need in this situation.
 
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Ok. I've only lived in it for a year and a half and it's a complicated situation. The place was inherited and we weren't in the right frame of mind for a lot of things so that is indeed our failing. I've only taken control of the place a gear or so ago and I've almost been constantly working on it along with working/caring for my dad so the pipework has been something I've been meaning to see to... Unfortunately it happened to go wrong after fitting new rads so I probably should have sorted pipework out first but if an airlock overheated my boiler this would have happened either way, and my mum paid a fair bit to the BG guy all those years ago so... We were naive if it wasn't done properly though we had tenants in there and every year got a gas certificate from legitimate companies as one should.

But anyway, besides the point.

Is it more cost effective to get a combi boiler / cylinder and tank removed. Or. Fix boiler and end of. Riley said they are the same price essentially. What do others think? I'm no expert but I didn't think the boiler was in a bad condition minus the seal+hex. Again. Proper clean of pipes is obviously a must.
 
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