Oil boiler service

[rmp]

Our oil boiler has tripped out a few times over the last few days in the morning. First time I read it can be because water has frozen in inline water filter by tank so went and put warm water on it, wrapped it in insulation and reset. All was good for two days then it tripped out first thing Monday morning but we could just reset it and it worked fine that night.

Phoned up to have someone come look at it Tuesday (today) and also service as it hadn't had one for two years which turned out ok as it triped again Tuesday morning.
Guy turned up just before 6pm when only my other half was there and then all he did was reset and stick probe in (after he could find where to put it) and as reading was good that was it

Other half asked him about water freezing in water filter but he said he didn't have torch and still didn't want to go when was offered a torch.
Boyfriend also asked about changing nozzle etc but he said he didn't want to take it apart incase it didn't work again afterwards so cleaned none of it .
So he never seemed to try and find a fault or actually service it so I expect it will trip again tomorrow.

Livid at other half for paying him and will be giving them grief tomorrow and demanding money back.
They are suppose to be OFTEC registered but left not receipt or other paperwork that I thought they were suppose to.

I am not being harsh am I? Sticking a probe in for a reading is not a service and it will not have fixed why are boiler has tripped out three times?

We will be finding someone else to come and do a proper job but any advice would be greatly appreciated on whether we have a case for getting our money back as I requested a service but they never even asked what the boiler was so he didn't have the nozzle with him if he had been brave enough to change it

 

[Burnerman]

Forgive me but I'm not too sure what you are trying to achieve here.....
by 'sticking a probe in' means that your engineer was taking a flue gas analysis, looking especially for a carbon dioxide reading in the boiler exhaust.
Ideally, the engineer should have tested the burner oil pressure first, then set up the combustion air to achieve the required CO2 reading.
If you suspect that your oil tank has water in it, it makes sense to dismantle the filter(s) in the feed pipe, and get rid of any water and debris that has settled there. This is a fundemental part of any boiler servicing.
Its not necessary to automatically change the nozzle, although it is recommended every year. Likewise, you only need a new oil pump if the one you have can't provide the necessary pressure. (There is a filter inside the pump too).
An oil boiler service should start with a good clean inside the combustion areas and flue. Once that is done, its time to focus on the burner, give it a good clean and then check its settings against the manufacturer's specifications.
This should be done every year.
John

 

[leakydave]

How much did he charge for THAT?

 

[rmp]

Thanks for the replies.

£95 plus VAT

I wanted to know if I was being over demanding expecting him to do more than he did or whether all the other engineers that had come out over the years and done it had been overly thorough and what he did does qualify as a service.

 

[Richard C]

That’s not a bleedin service! Just had my 8 year old Camray 5 done; £55 + Vat & included strip out & clean of the combustion area & flue, new nozzle, pressure & combustion test/set. Pump was leaking so a new one fitted (extra £80); service engineer didn’t want to know about just replacing O rings said it could be too unreliable but I don’t really blame him; he left me the old pump to play with.