Ideal he 30 burner

[SADRA]

While doing an annual service on my 6 year old boiler the engineer advised me that 2 of the 3 screws at the rear of the cover of the burner had snapped due to corrosion, he then shut the boiler down leaving us with no hot water or heating. He also advised me that the whole heat exchanger unit would need to be replaced at a cost of around £700.00 as he cannot seal it, and as this may be uneconomic for the company they may decide not to replace it and just cancel my home care contract. My question is: are these screws prone to corrosion? As the top is ceramic and I would think that such screws would be either galvanised or coated to prevent corrosion. Any advise would be helpful.

 

[newcastle phill]

You do indeed get corrosion on various things in a boiler.
From the casing itself to screws and flues etc.

 

[Aquazone]

Yes these screws are prone to corroding and snapping, and if they have snapped and the burner has been removed it cannot be resealed until rectified.

However if the burner is still attached to the heat exchanger it could be tested to see if the seal is intact, and turned on if this is the case (would still need fixing).

Also I would question the fact they said your care contract would be cancelled. How long have you had this contract? I would suggest that the engineer or previous had snapped the bolts, and although they may not include your heat exchanger as part of your contract, should be able to give you some sort of discount on the work.

If not ask to speak to their manager or managers manager as I would find it highly they would think it acceptable for an engineers actions to leave a customer with no heating or hot water and without cover.

edit: sometimes these bolts can be drilled out and replaced, although I have never had to do it myself, only heard of people doing it.

 

[SADRA]

We have had the contract since July 2013, the boiler had an initial inspection and had no problems, we had a small problem with the ignition 5 weeks ago which was repaired and the boiler inspected. Everything was work fine with both hot water and central heating until the engineer start his service.

 

[lame plumber]

I presume you are refering to an isar he 30 and its the burner bolts your talking about which would be fairly simple to drill out and use extractors on to get the bolts out, then buy a set of new bolts, or go to his van for some of the old ones a sensible bunny keeps when ripping out these heating bundles of joy.

Another reason for using a decent independent technician rather than a homecare contract imho.

 

[bigads28]

If you contact Ideal they can remove the broken studs and save you the expense. Its certainly covered under a BG contract if that's what you have, provided its a repair contract you have.

 

[village idiot]

While doing an annual service on my 6 year old boiler the engineer advised me that 2 of the 3 screws at the rear of the cover of the burner had snapped due to corrosion, he then shut the boiler down leaving us with no hot water or heating. He also advised me that the whole heat exchanger unit would need to be replaced at a cost of around £700.00 as he cannot seal it, and as this may be uneconomic for the company they may decide not to replace it and just cancel my home care contract. My question is: are these screws prone to corrosion? As the top is ceramic and I would think that such screws would be either galvanised or coated to prevent corrosion. Any advise would be helpful.

Why is the cost of replacing be an issue? It is a chance they take when they accept your contract with them. I bet only around 20% of boilers need work on, so that leaves 80% of homeowners they make a decent profit on. So why not just bite the bullit and replace it? Keep the customer happy.
I think you need to consider using a local chappy/gel instead of that company once this all settles.

BTW, for that amount of money, I would consider fitting a replacement boiler instead of a repair. I bet you they replace it and then tell you the overall cost is £900 as opposed to the £700 you were quoted. If they insist on £700, show them out the door and get someone else to drill out and repair or replace with Ideal Logic +

 

[Paulplumb]

Didn't Ideal used to offer a service to drill out these particular bolts? On ideal training courses they do advise applying wd-40 to icos/isar bolts before trying to remove them. Try giving them a ring in the morning.

 

[SADRA]

Thank you all for your replies, a technical engineer is coming out tomorrow to assess the situation, I spoke with Ideal this morning and they said it would be possible to drill out these screws but would need the go ahead from SP, informed SP about this but no response. Have been researching what my rights are all weekend just in case they refuse to fix it. I hope that they agree that a duty of skill and care must be applied when carrying out such work and as it was their engineer who snapped the screws plus this was not a "repair" but a "service", they will remedy the situation as a matter of urgency and allow us to have some heating and hot water. The situation is getting very stressful.

 

[bigads28]

Thank you all for your replies, a technical engineer is coming out tomorrow to assess the situation, I spoke with Ideal this morning and they said it would be possible to drill out these screws but would need the go ahead from SP, informed SP about this but no response. Have been researching what my rights are all weekend just in case they refuse to fix it. I hope that they agree that a duty of skill and care must be applied when carrying out such work and as it was their engineer who snapped the screws plus this was not a "repair" but a "service", they will remedy the situation as a matter of urgency and allow us to have some heating and hot water. The situation is getting very stressful.

You need to go into the burner on a service for these boilers. They have a modification that needs to checked/fitted on each service. Hopefully your service people will cover it. If they are an insurance company and won't play ball complain and then threaten the FCA.

Ideal can drill out 2 studs if memory serves me correctly.

Hope you get it fixed swiftly!

 

[thorn]

What's the point in a home care sort of policy if the company can cancel and say it's going to be uneconomical to repair. Totally pointless

 

[SADRA]

Hello all, I contacted Ideal to try and find out what metal these screws were made from, just had a reply from their technical department that they are made from Stainless Steel with a Molydal Coating, and therefore are not prone to corrosion. Just waiting for the engineers to arrive. Will keep you updated. Many thanks for all your replies they are greatly appreciated.

 

[SADRA]

Tech manager came today, and authorised the drilling out of the screws, coming Friday, hopefully we will have some heating and hot water by the weekend!! Cost of parts£15.00.

 

[lame plumber]

dont think they are ss fm my experience, but I might be thinking of different bolts.

 

[SADRA]

Engineer arrived on Friday was there for 4 hours, drilled out the snapped screws, but found that whoever ordered the new screws had ordered "Replacement Screws" which did not fit because of the drilling. Now have to wait until Wednesday or Thursday for the same engineer to come back and fit the new screws. He aso had a problem because the previous engineer had capped off the gas in a way that drove the second engineer crazy!.