Greenstar 27HE condensation leaking through chamber seal

[Gasguru]

When I promote a particular boiler I suggest a customer looks at the overall package....

Manufacturer (are they here for the long term etc)

The individual boiler model (eg. some Baxi/Pottertons are great and others a pile of junk)

Manufacturer backup and robustness of the warranty

Whether the manufacturer employs their own staff or subs out (usually for peanuts)

Parts availability

Parts prices

Support at bank holiday times

etc

So you can push all these minor players but they are nearly always agro in the end. With Worcester, Vaillant, Baxi and Potterton parts availability and knowledge is plentiful...try that when your local Intergas installer is away on holiday or the one man and his dog importer can't cover the holiday leave.

Too many on here choose to dislike a particular brand simply because they've had a poor experience..perhaps because of a poor quality install install or their own system is rotten or it never gets proper servicing. When you've worked on thousands of boilers from all manufacturers then you can make an informed judgement.

 

[Dan Robinson]

Been fitting them since 2004 Thanks

 

[simond]

"Frankly, while your post is well written it's drivel never the less".



There's a compliment in there somewhere.

 

[Dan Robinson]

Had far more trouble with Wooshitter Botch, Ideal, Potterton, Vaillant (top a lesser degree).

My product choices are based on practical reasons and disassembling the product, not shiny brochures and free fleeces.

 

[Agile]

The IG is probably the only boiler where you still get hot water if a rad bursts or leaks all the water out.

Tony

 

[simond]

Ferroli Modena? That was a cracker.

 

[Tibbot]

If you believe (as your previous posts on the subject suggest) that the Intergas is the same as the Ferroli or indeed any other single HE model, then it seems you don't take any interest with the innards of boilers.

The UK importer may be flaky but the product is reasonably well proven. It's over 5 years since posts about the immediate demise of Intergas were first put out.

 

[cartooncat]

interested to see the outcome of this. I have had my 27he (also about 10 years old) doing the exact same thing for the last year or two. 3 different boiler engineers have failed to diagnose the issue. The last one did replace the chamber seal, but it did not solve the problem. I have also had some rubber seals from a long grey tube in the chamber replaced, and I belive something to do with the condensation outflow (syphon i think). never a problem when the heating is on, but always happens in the summer when i am only running hot water. system pressure does not drop so I assume it must be condensation. usually get about a yogurt pot full overnight dripping onto my worktop underneath.

 

[simond]

Of course the Ferroli has not got the same innards. The Modena is years old. The point I was making was that it had a bithermic heat exchanger, and therefore it needed no diverter valve or secondary HEX.

And that is the main selling point of the Intergas. So I should be allowed to say it has been done before. And if you know the insides of your boilers, there have been a couple of others too, one from Worcester Bosch of all people.

The Intergas might be a good boiler, but it is a small voice fighting in a very crowded market of good boilers. In terms of market share, the polite way of looking at it is that they have everything to play for.

For me, I'm not specifying a boiler with a Wilo pump in it, because I've seen how well they have performed in Vaillant and Viessmann boilers. If it hasn't got a Grundfos in it, you've lost me immediately.

 

[Dan Robinson]

The Intergas HEX is nothing like the Modena, and pishes over anything WB has concocted in the last 20 years.


Nothing wrong with Wilo pumps either. Certainly don't take out PCB'S like the UPS2

 

[Tibbot]

The other bi-thermics do the same job but only the Intergas is constructed as separate copper channels fused into an alloy block. Almost no alloy oxide is evident at service time, in fact far less general cr*p than I find on stainless coil types. The WB is very hard to clean as the oxides gets everywhere (as it does on every other alloy type).

My only concern is DHW scale. The pump is not an issue on the regular model. I don't find Grundfos any more reliable as an OEM. Their stand alone pumps are superior though.

 

[Richardthe3rd]

The Intergas HEX is nothing like the Modena, and pishes over anything WB has concocted in the last 20 years.


Nothing wrong with Wilo pumps either. Certainly don't take out PCB'S like the UPS2

Going purely on the figures & the recommendations of Dan & others. I'd have no problems recommending any of the Intergas appliances.

As for the drivel regarding the importer, when combi boilers started to appear on the scene, late 70s. There was loads of boiler importers, importing Italian boiler, that went t.ts up. Most of these boiler manufacturers are still in the UK today. I fear some are lost with the concept of import agreements & a manufacturers willingness to get their appliances in to a particular country.

Worcester Tupperware Bosch have a large advertising budget to promote their boilers, perhaps the management there should redirect some of that money in recalling their dodgy dish washers??!!

 

[simond]

Looked up Intergas postings on the forum.

First one I found was a private punter, who, directly on the advice of many of the regulars here, had one put in in 2012. He posted back after two weeks saying what a marvellous product it was. Must have been heating water in an uber efficient way, I guess.

After a month it went wrong, the pundits here offered help but in the end it had to be repaired by a callout.

He then continued to post, advising other surfers to get the same boiler. Then around 18 months later, he's back on again. Yep, it's gone wrong.

For some reason I can't get my browser to post the link here, but if you search Intergas you'll find it immediately.

I believe one of the pundits here also suffered a breakdown in the first year.

I'm not saying Bosch are perfect but I think Worcester-Bosch are about as good as it gets, if you factor in the whole life experience.

If it makes you feel any better - and in the interests of balanced reporting - I bought a very expensive Bosch built in combi microwave a few years back, that I had to scrap after 3 years of continual aggro.

However this is a completely different part of the organisation, separately managed to the UK boiler company. And that is another thing, Worcester are a successful boiler company based and manufacturing here in the UK. The Worcester iJunior Greenstar, made in the UK, is, I'm told, the best selling combi in the USA.

 

[Dan Robinson]

 

[Tibbot]

It'll depend how you make your living. If you are a volume installer, as you seem to be, who doesn't want call backs then of course WB are hard to beat.

However if you mainly repair for a living it's worth considering that WB is the most laborious to disassemble. Between their own service team & BG they tend to clean up the aftersales business.

On beyond economical repair jobs they are too expensive for most customers as a replacement. Unless you work for peanuts. Which means you don't want call backs, which means WB/BG clean up and so on.

Installers don't choose Intergas for the service team and are more likely to want to do their own back-up, even if that means a little in-warranty grief.

In time though, if Intergas become silly with their parts prices, then you could be proven right and many could be turned off.