Baxi Bermuda 51/5 Back Boiler

[heatseeker]

It is about 15 years old.

Recently I had a problem with the boiler when it wouldn't fire up using the timer, but we were able to fire it up manually using the boiler thermostat control. Then boiler wouldn't fire up manually either.

An engineerfrom a company I had used previously said it would cost £400+ vat to fit a new PCB, he told me that the PCB was £200.00. I !checked it out and found that I could get one for £78.00!

I got a heating engineer via Rated People. He came out and checked the boiler over. He checked the PCB, using a meter, he said the PCB had a loose connection. He also found the gas pressure was low. He sorted out these problems and fired the boiler up.

The boiler didn't fire up on the timer again the next day and we couldn't fire up the boiler manually either. The engineer returned and fitted a new PCB and this time did another test with the wall thermostat set at maximum and minimum. The boiler worked for a few days and then wouldn't fire up again on the timer or manually.

The engineer charged me for fitting a new PCB and sorting out the gas pressure, he didn't charge me for the second visit. Cost was £194.00

I have now been informed that I need a new Gas Valve and a Thermostat Control.

Can anyone please advise me on what is happening with my boiler, and if the engineer should have been able to diagnose all the faults listed on his first or second visit. He wants to charge £225.00 plus vat this time.

I checked up on the internet and ebay and the gas valve is about £77.00 and a thermostat sensor is about £22.00. Should I pay for fitting these? He has offered to repay me the £100 labour charge if I do not use him.

Would I be better off going for a repair contract with Baxi or British Gas? these cover the initial repair and all parts and labour plus any call outs after that for a monthly fee of around £20.00. This is a 15 year old unit, so it is likely to go wrong again I assume. I have never had a problem with it for 15 years. I just had my kitchen re-done so a new combi boiler is out of the running.

If one of you helpful people would be good enough to list the sort of things I should keep an eye out for, something like a fault finding list would be useful.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Rob Sale]

Remember he is a Business like any other business they have mark ups just like a mechanic does and charges labour.

 

[Plumb Ugly]

Remember he is a Business like any other business they have mark ups just like a mechanic does and charges labour.

I think sometimes people forget that we go to work to make money at the end of the day just like everyone else does and of course there are some rouges but most guys are honest fair and hard working. It may seem to the cust that we are making a lot of money out of them but once you remove the parts, VAT and other costs we are only making a reasonable living for what is a skilled job and hard work a lot of the time. We also fork out a lot of money for various training, registations and insurance that say a plasterer or tiler doesn't have to and its only us and the sparkys that run the risk of making a mistake that can lead to fatalities if we get it wrong

 

[Rob Sale]

If your after a new boiler Baxi do a new condensing back boiler which would be almost a straight swap.

 

[heatseeker]

Remember he is a Business like any other business they have mark ups just like a mechanic does and charges labour.

I have no problem with paying anyone for a fair job.

What I asked was " Should he have been able to diagnose the problem when he first came out"

I gave him the diagnostic manual and there is a full diagnostic check list there to see if the valve is faulty.

 

[heatseeker]

I think sometimes people forget that we go to work to make money at the end of the day just like everyone else does and of course there are some rouges but most guys are honest fair and hard working. It may seem to the cust that we are making a lot of money out of them but once you remove the parts, VAT and other costs we are only making a reasonable living for what is a skilled job and hard work a lot of the time. We also fork out a lot of money for various training, registations and insurance that say a plasterer or tiler doesn't have to and its only us and the sparkys that run the risk of making a mistake that can lead to fatalities if we get it wrong

If you have forked out money for training course etc, doesn't that mean you should be able to diagnose problems?

 

[heatseeker]

I managed to fire up the boiler manually, and it worked for 3 days on the timer, so what is going on with this?

 

[tom609]

If you have forked out money for training course etc, doesn't that mean you should be able to diagnose problems?

intermittent problems are more difficult to diagnose if you are getting power to a part and it aint working then you know its faulty but if the board is also faulty you cant check any thing until thats replaced

 

[heatseeker]

intermittent problems are more difficult to diagnose if you are getting power to a part and it aint working then you know its faulty but if the board is also faulty you cant check any thing until thats replaced

Thanks Tom for actually answering the question, that makes sense.

I have heard of someone who replaced PCB,(I have a new One Now), Thermistor, and valve and still had problems after that lot.

I should have probably got Baxi in to do the work and got one of their Service/Cover Plans, probably would have worked out less expensive in the long run.

 

[lame plumber]

the diagnostic guide is ok if the boiler has one permanently broken bit. Doesnt work for intermittant problems or when theres more than one issue, then experience and knowledge come into play, and you cant get that cheap off the internet. For me if customers want to buy their own parts, I let them, wont fit them though. re your 15 year old boiler, try thinking of it as a car, you try telling your local garage to fit parts youve bought off the internet, good luck!