J
Jogon
I say 'engineers' but is that actually true in the strictest sense of the word? I guess that depends on how you interpret the work of a Plumber but it's by the by.
I'll put a disclaimer in here so as to not confuse some.
I am not attempting a repair of my own, I am not a DiY enthusiast where Electrics/Plumbing are concerned and no information is being sought so as to attempt a quick fix. I am also aware of the forum rules and the various notes
left around the forum re only Gas Safe 'Engineers' can work on gas appliances. I am also physically disabled and
as such and even with the best will in the world and a plethora of qualifications I would not be able to repair / maintain
a boiler.
I don't know quite how some 'engineers' can get away with what they do on Gas Appliances and still manage to get
themselves on to the Gas Safe Register.
Initially had a boiler fitted some 2+ years ago, the old one was removed by the same 'GS engineer' that fitted the
new one , day job, out with the old, in with the new. Price agreed and paid.
The reasons for the old one coming out were reliability (or lack of) and an incorrectly fitted flue with an angle that
should not have been, the angle caused water to stay in the flue pipe and rust through the inner pipe which was metal
and into the outer-pipe and then run back down into the boiler and over the components. This boiler was installed
by a Gas Safe engineer. The flue had to go through one wall, and into a small room, a couple of bends and then out
through the main wall, the length was within the defined limits of the overall flue length
Roll on to the new boiler and again fitted by GS engineer and after a short amount of time I had to call out another 'engineer' to fix several leaks on the pipework into and out of the boiler, nothing major but the pipes were weeping water, easy enough to occur I guess, this may have been a result of higher pressure on the mains in (but would of thought it would have coped)
Roll on a couple of years and I've just very recently had the new boiler serviced by the company that manufacture them, in fact it had two services in the space of three days, the latter being a check on the work carried out by the first 'engineer' which sort of shows they're amogst self regulating.
However, this is where the inconsistencies are apparent, at the point of the first service I mentioned that I was having to keep removing water from the system and that occasionally I would lose hot water, the 'engineer' then said 'ahh, that reminds me, I need to empty your expansion vessel of air and pump it back up as sometimes the 'bag' in the vessel deflates over time and cannot get the correct amount of pressure back into it (what ever that means) . He then placed some screws into the Flue pipe (the new one with the new boiler) as they were missing and technically it's some sort of 'fail' so the original installer Gas Safe engineer had forgotton or simply not bothered?
Roll onto the second service just a few days later, the first service lasted 30 mins, this service took just over 90mins and also involved running a hot water tap furthest from boiler and checking pressure, this was not done on the first service but I assume this isn't technically something that is required on a service but nontheless it was done and the report back was that the pressure being supplied by the ho****er was sufficient and within whatever boundaries set
Again I had mentioned the having to remove the cold water from the system ever 3/5 days but this time I was informed that it would most likely not be the expansion vessel but instead quite possibly that of a small flexi hose under the boiler as they had a tendency over time to leak/weep, he couldn't replace it as he didn't have one. I asked if I could get one from a plumbers merchant but was told it's a manufactuers part only ( not quite sure thats right because it looks pretty standard with it's fitting) but he was adamant it wouldn't be the expansion vessel. However, after reading here somewhere I can
see the problem with the over pressurising could be a seal on the expansion vessel?
In the other instance re the lack of hot water it can of course be a host of other things such as pcb's, diverter valves, some sorts of propellors etc etc. I wouldn't know, but I was trying to find out or at least garner some opinion as to what gives so that when I do call the 'engineers' I will have some information to hand that may just may help me..sort of forewarned and as I've had several different explanations by engineers that have attended the property as to what may be wrong but have failed to find the fault or even really identify it, then inconsistency is just that, at least here and where opinions given are usually taken from practical experience/knowledge and do not not cost me money....
I will also add that in the vast majority of instances the Gas Safe aka previously Corgi plumbers I have had attend my property(s) have been excellent and have completed their work with diligence and professionalism but of late and given
year on year I have a problem with a boiler and when it comes to maintenance then this current batch of alleged
'engineers' have cost me both money and my family a good amount of discomfort and these are supposed professionals with the GS tag strapped to their back.
I'll put a disclaimer in here so as to not confuse some.
I am not attempting a repair of my own, I am not a DiY enthusiast where Electrics/Plumbing are concerned and no information is being sought so as to attempt a quick fix. I am also aware of the forum rules and the various notes
left around the forum re only Gas Safe 'Engineers' can work on gas appliances. I am also physically disabled and
as such and even with the best will in the world and a plethora of qualifications I would not be able to repair / maintain
a boiler.
I don't know quite how some 'engineers' can get away with what they do on Gas Appliances and still manage to get
themselves on to the Gas Safe Register.
Initially had a boiler fitted some 2+ years ago, the old one was removed by the same 'GS engineer' that fitted the
new one , day job, out with the old, in with the new. Price agreed and paid.
The reasons for the old one coming out were reliability (or lack of) and an incorrectly fitted flue with an angle that
should not have been, the angle caused water to stay in the flue pipe and rust through the inner pipe which was metal
and into the outer-pipe and then run back down into the boiler and over the components. This boiler was installed
by a Gas Safe engineer. The flue had to go through one wall, and into a small room, a couple of bends and then out
through the main wall, the length was within the defined limits of the overall flue length
Roll on to the new boiler and again fitted by GS engineer and after a short amount of time I had to call out another 'engineer' to fix several leaks on the pipework into and out of the boiler, nothing major but the pipes were weeping water, easy enough to occur I guess, this may have been a result of higher pressure on the mains in (but would of thought it would have coped)
Roll on a couple of years and I've just very recently had the new boiler serviced by the company that manufacture them, in fact it had two services in the space of three days, the latter being a check on the work carried out by the first 'engineer' which sort of shows they're amogst self regulating.
However, this is where the inconsistencies are apparent, at the point of the first service I mentioned that I was having to keep removing water from the system and that occasionally I would lose hot water, the 'engineer' then said 'ahh, that reminds me, I need to empty your expansion vessel of air and pump it back up as sometimes the 'bag' in the vessel deflates over time and cannot get the correct amount of pressure back into it (what ever that means) . He then placed some screws into the Flue pipe (the new one with the new boiler) as they were missing and technically it's some sort of 'fail' so the original installer Gas Safe engineer had forgotton or simply not bothered?
Roll onto the second service just a few days later, the first service lasted 30 mins, this service took just over 90mins and also involved running a hot water tap furthest from boiler and checking pressure, this was not done on the first service but I assume this isn't technically something that is required on a service but nontheless it was done and the report back was that the pressure being supplied by the ho****er was sufficient and within whatever boundaries set
Again I had mentioned the having to remove the cold water from the system ever 3/5 days but this time I was informed that it would most likely not be the expansion vessel but instead quite possibly that of a small flexi hose under the boiler as they had a tendency over time to leak/weep, he couldn't replace it as he didn't have one. I asked if I could get one from a plumbers merchant but was told it's a manufactuers part only ( not quite sure thats right because it looks pretty standard with it's fitting) but he was adamant it wouldn't be the expansion vessel. However, after reading here somewhere I can
see the problem with the over pressurising could be a seal on the expansion vessel?
In the other instance re the lack of hot water it can of course be a host of other things such as pcb's, diverter valves, some sorts of propellors etc etc. I wouldn't know, but I was trying to find out or at least garner some opinion as to what gives so that when I do call the 'engineers' I will have some information to hand that may just may help me..sort of forewarned and as I've had several different explanations by engineers that have attended the property as to what may be wrong but have failed to find the fault or even really identify it, then inconsistency is just that, at least here and where opinions given are usually taken from practical experience/knowledge and do not not cost me money....
I will also add that in the vast majority of instances the Gas Safe aka previously Corgi plumbers I have had attend my property(s) have been excellent and have completed their work with diligence and professionalism but of late and given
year on year I have a problem with a boiler and when it comes to maintenance then this current batch of alleged
'engineers' have cost me both money and my family a good amount of discomfort and these are supposed professionals with the GS tag strapped to their back.
