Recommend a Replacement for a Turbomax 824E ?

[Borell]

I was watching Lee Mack last night and he was talking to someone in the audience .
He asked him his name . " John "
" What do you do John ? "
" I'm a Plumber "
Lee: " Well its f***** nice of you to turn up hey John !!!! "

Funny.

My plumber did turn up and he's working now . I'll report back .

 

[Borell]

Well .... it all looked like it was fixed . And now in the evening I've lost pressure again .

From outside I can not see the end of the pipe that runs from the PRV out through wall .
I assume there is no pressure in this pipe and I can myself disconnect it INSIDE the flat and observe any leaking ?

Sorry the picture is so big !!!

 

[Borell]

So how did this all go ?

Well ..... after being told " There's noffink can be done - you need a new boiler " it's 4 days later , the hot water is scalding , the central heating is purring away and my home is too warm .

So I think it's all good .

New Plate Heat Exchanger , Automatic Air Vent , Internal Cleaning ..... plus the Labour . £400.

I think plumbers get away with out and out robbery . £80 an hour for labour . Doctors don't get that !!!! It's thievery.

So yes --- £400 is a lot less than £2000 . But it should never be £2000 in the first place .

 

[Aquaheat]

@Borell Glad you are all sorted but the £80 per hour comment will get a lot of peoples back up in here. For your area that is about right.

Don't forget that that £80 doesn't go into our pockets. We aren't just a heating engineer we are a business and as such have overheads and running costs.

Van, fuel, maintenance, three different insurances, tools, yearly membership fees, £2500+ qualifications every 5 years, accountants, solicitors, office, admin costs, yearly calibration of equipment, PAT testing of tools, waste carriers licence, uniform, phone bills, ongoing training, advertising, staff wages, tax, national insurance, holiday pay cover, sick pay cover, pension and profit. This is only a quick list, there is more.

Then we have everything that PAYE employees have. Mortgage, car, insurance, normal house hold bills, a wife and kids!!

All of that has to come out of that £80 and don't forget that that £80 isn't every hour of every day. There is all the free time that goes into quotes, writing up job specifications, warranty call backs, time off for training and qualifications.

Doesn't look so expensive now does it!?

Look at it this way. You payed for a very good engineer to get you working again and for a lot less than you were initially adamant on spending. You could say that that repair hasn't actually cost you any money at all and has actually saved you £1600. Now thats an engineer that you want to be keeping and not complaining about.

Jon

PS I've never been to see Lee Mack so it wasn't me!!

 

[JMGas]

Don't tar plumbers/heating engineers with the same brush.

Maybe you should asked around for a reputable engineer to start with?

 

[Aquaheat]

Don't tar plumbers/heating engineers with the same brush.

Maybe you should asked around for a reputable engineer to start with?

To be fair to the OP he did just that after we guided him to a repair rather than replace and he has had a good job done and was also very appreciative of our help. I think that it is the usual case of people thinking that what we charge is what ends up in our pockets.

I would say that for every £100 that I earn I probably get about £20 - £30 actually in my pocket.

Jon

 

[TCCHeating]

I would say that for every £100 that I earn I probably get about £20 - £30 actually in my pocket.

Jon

You do well then Jon. Mine never seems to reach my pocket. Always seems to end up in her handbag

 

[Aquaheat]

I would say that for every £100 that I earn I probably get about £20 - £30 actually in my pocket.

Jon

You do well then Jon. Mine never seems to reach my pocket. Always seems to end up in her handbag

If you look at my previous post I classed the wife and kids as an expense! LOL The £20 - £30 was being generous!! I went out today and did a couple of jobs £200 for 4 hours. How much do you think I have now!!

 

[Bunnyman]

A bit ungrateful of him I thought? We all gave our advice for free an then he slags our profession an thinks the guy who did a good job for a reasonable price is a thief for charging £80 an hour... Typical punter to avoid... What's better mate charge one of ur so called plumbers that failed £40 an hour or a proper professional what he's worth he gave u proper advice an saved u a packet

 

[The831Bunny]

I was going to say the OP should add the £80 service cost he has had every year to his £400 and should think himself not too hard done by. But we also know if he HAD had it regularly maintained by this engineer, he wouldn't have had the £400 repair in one lump anyway. So £400 in 11 years = £36 a year. VERY Reasonable!

 

[Aquaheat]

A bit ungrateful of him I thought? We all gave our advice for free an then he slags our profession an thinks the guy who did a good job for a reasonable price is a thief for charging £80 an hour... Typical punter to avoid... What's better mate charge one of ur so called plumbers that failed £40 an hour or a proper professional what he's worth he gave u proper advice an saved u a packet

I d sometimes wonder why I venture out of the CC and help out here. You just can't help people sometimes.

Jon

 

[easyflow]

We all have our own opinions about which route to take when it comes to repairing or replacing a boiler.
I,m all for repairing a boiler if its worth it, yours clearly is not.
Its just about the shabbiest installation possible, obviously never been cared for and you,v just spent £400 repairing it.
The next repair will exceed the cost of a decent new boiler, two more repairs and you,v paid for a new boiler including installation.
Just my opinion, but there,s no inspiration in throwing money at that boiler.
If it were a car it would have been replaced years ago.