New condensing combi boiler needed - any advice please?

[BoiledUP]

Hi again,

Just had someone out to look at the boiler and he thinks that:

1. The PCB board has blown as it smells of burning everytime the power is switched on.
2. The fan may have broken.
3. There could be more faults as the wiring seems to be all wrong.
4. It's going to cost a lot of money to fix

So, we're looking at getting another boiler instead. This one was 10 years old and it's been a bit cronky for a while.
Does anyone have some advice as to which is the most reasonable priced but efficient / reliable boiler we could go for?
I've heard that Intergas boilers are pretty reliable? But I've no idea.
Thank you...in advance.

 

[muggles]

This question is asked on here on an almost weekly basis, most people will say either Intergas or Vaillant, with a few saying Worcester Bosch and one or two madmen suggesting the Ideal Logic.

Intergas is the way to go, very reliable and a 5 year warranty when installed by an Intergas approved installer - look on their website for your local one

 

[landyandy]

I would recommend Vaillant.

Can't fault them.

They have a 5 year guarantee promotion on at the moment which is ridiculous for Vaillant.

http://www.vaillant.co.uk/homeowners/about-vaillant/knowledge-base/2012-guarantee-offer-1/

Very good offer.

Getting any boiler correctly installed is just as important.

Andy.

 

[ALEC1]

Really its about the installer and his approach to his work, his understanding of the technology, rather than the boiler..

Avoid ones at the bottom of the range, they are cheap for a reason...thats both boilers and installers...

 

[matt1e]

Hi again,

Just had someone out to look at the boiler and he thinks that:

1. The PCB board has blown as it smells of burning everytime the power is switched on.
2. The fan may have broken.
3. There could be more faults as the wiring seems to be all wrong.
4. It's going to cost a lot of money to fix

Hi boiledup
Why don't you get someone a bit more competent to have a look at your boiler?

1. the PCB probably does req replacement now
2. May be broken???? does he not know?
3. yes it may have another fault elsewhere but as for the wiring being wrong, is that diagnosis due to this

Bizarre shenanigans with the boiler.
Fuses blowing left right and centre.
PCB board burning and fan neutral and live showing 240 volts!!

that should tell him there is nothing wrong with the fan, presumably he hasn't unplugged it and is testing the terminals with respect to earth (it shows that the neutral is missing but some pcbs actually switch the neutral)
4. it's certainly going to cost some money how much depends on what is actually wrong with it, and who you get in to fix it

Though to be honest you are probably due a new boiler anyway

Matt [/quote]

 

[Agile]

You have called someone who presumably was not paid to see your boiler and not surprisingly he is not going to fix it when you will agree to have a new boiler.

I expect that he expects to get the job and guess what ? He can start today!

But for Intergas you need an approved installer to get the five years.

Tony

 

[BoiledUP]

Hi Agile & Mat1e,
To be fair the guy I asked to look at it is supposed to be registered and whom I used for servicing the boiler.
He cut the mains wire to the boiler in half (which cut power to the whole house) as he thought this was not live - due to the fact that he thought he'd already tripped the fused spur - even though we can't find one of these in the house - so he didn't know this for sure before cutting through the wire).
I'm pretty worried now that he doesn't in fact really know what he's doing.
I didn't tell him I might look at getting another boiler until he said that it would cost in excess of around £500 to fix it.
I will have to borrow money from my mum to get a new boiler so this is not a flippant decision - but this boiler is over 10 years old and has been behaving oddly for a while. Is there any point throwing £500 at it? I'm really not sure.
We want to sell up and buy a tiny house in the country, as we can't afford to stay where we are. So the last thing I really wanted to do was buy a new boiler for this house - but a new condenser with 5 year guarantee just might be an added bonus to help us sell.
I could pay my mum back when we sell the house so don't feel TOO bad about borrowing it from her - just a little bad.
So..does anyone know how much an approved Intergas fitter would charge to fit one of their boilers at all?
I am incredibly grateful to you all for your honest and straightforward replies. I know you've all heard sob stories like mine before and you must get sick of hearing it on this forum. But you do make a big difference to people that come here looking for help when they don't know where else to turn.
Spot on guys..

 

[BoiledUP]

New thinkings!
I've now been told that as we have 15mm piping to the old boiler, we would also have to change the gas supply pipe to 28" to install a condenser boiler.
Just don't think we can generate enough cash to do all this.
So...
Been hunting down parts for the old boiler that should cost a lot less than we've been quoted so far.
PCB for £80 rather than £150 for starters. If this solves it then jobs a good 'un and we don't have to borrow money.
If it's something else maybe we can just go with the flow until it's sorted.
Is it possible that the PCB could be fitted by a unqualified DIYer or is this a qualified job only?
Cheers all..

 

[Gasguru]

Just get the boiler repaired. AFAIR the C95FF is based on a Biasi. It's an easy boiler to work on and should be fairly simple to diagnose faults on.

It's possible that bleeding the radiators (and allowing the pressure to drop to zero) has affected the primary flow sensing. This is a common issue on these boilers. This would prevent the boiler from operating.

If the pcb really has got a problem it's not a diy job to change since the burner pressures require adjustment on the board.


The majority of modern boilers have design faults and the quality is dropping all the time. Don't be fooled by Intergas...they have nothing like the parts availability, service backup or support of Vaillant and Worcester. That's something to consider when its Christmas and no one stocks parts etc.

 

[matt1e]

Hi Agile & Mat1e,
To be fair the guy I asked to look at it is supposed to be registered and whom I used for servicing the boiler.
He cut the mains wire to the boiler in half (which cut power to the whole house) as he thought this was not live - due to the fact that he thought he'd already tripped the fused spur - even though we can't find one of these in the house - so he didn't know this for sure before cutting through the wire).

Why on earth would he cut the mains cable in half???

I've just read through your original post and to be honest it should have been easy to isolate the faulty component

He replaced a glass fuse which looked like it had blown and when the leccy came back on it blew - in a big way.

A fuse blowing as described indicates a short not an overload, He should have disconnected all external controls and went from there, did he even check the pump?
I don't know what's wrong with your boiler so I can't even advise as to how much it will cost to repair but if as you say you are selling your house then fitting a brand new boiler may be the way to go forward, it's up to you, but I do think that someone other than your "boiler repair friend" may have had a better outcome concerning your boiler diagnostic

Matt

 

[matt1e]

PCB for £80 rather than £150 for starters. If this solves it then jobs a good 'un and we don't have to borrow money.
If it's something else maybe we can just go with the flow until it's sorted.
Is it possible that the PCB could be fitted by a unqualified DIYer or is this a qualified job only?
Cheers all..

To echo GasGuru, no not the main PCB for the reason stated, the ignition PCB you can though
Are you sure the " burning smell" is from the PCB and not the pump?
Also did the fuse blow immediately when the boiler was powered or when a demand was put on it?

 

[BoiledUP]

Hey Guys - thank you.
I'll try to answer as many questions as I can.

1. The fuse blew when he got his mate to turn the electric back on.
2. He cut the cable because he thought there might have been a problem with the supply to the boiler so wanted to bypass the original supply, put a plug on the end of the boiler cable and plug this into the mains. What this really achieved I'm not sure as he already knew there was power to the boiler.
3. There was no burning smell at all until he'd been tinkering and then he asked me to smell inside the unit and the burning plastic/rubber type smell appeared to come from the drop down front where the pcb is located.
4. He did not check the pump - he did not isolate external controls as far as I'm aware - but I'm not technically minded so not 100% on that.

Can the primary flow sensing be rectified or reset?
Would replacing the main PCB resolve the flow sensing issue?

I feel as if what might have been a reasonably easy problem to fix has now become a bit of a nightmare. I'm so glad that you guys are decent enough to spare time to help. Thank you.

 

[Gasguru]

It's anyones guess at the problems now. Do you have a room stat? Perhaps they connected that connection to the mains and blew the pcb.

I think you'll struggle to find anyone to look at it now given the incompetent "repairs" so far.

Forget primary flow sensing...I suggested this before the botched repairs were known.

 

[BoiledUP]

It's anyones guess at the problems now. Do you have a room stat? Perhaps they connected that connection to the mains and blew the pcb.

I think you'll struggle to find anyone to look at it now given the incompetent "repairs" so far.

Forget primary flow sensing...I suggested this before the botched repairs were known.

We don't have a room stat.
I honestly struggle to believe that someone would refuse to look at it due to somebody else's incompetence? The guy I used isn't just someone I dragged in off the street - he has a business and is registered - how is a member of the public supposed to know if tradesman is competent or not before they start tackling a repair or problem?

So basically the inference is that because we didn't know he was going to make it worse we are now on our own with the problem as 'real' tradesmen won't want to touch the job?

I'm hoping this wouldn't be the case and that there are people out there who would want to help in this situation if they possibly could.

 

[Dan Robinson]

You will find someone... but gas guru is rightly pointing out that your last guy is obviously a total Muppet, so the next chap won't know the size of the can f worms he is opening until he gets there.

As for the public knowing the ability of the tradesman beforehand.

The same same goes for us.... we have to deal with some right loonies who expect the earth for bobbins.