We have lived in our house for three months and have a vokera linea combi boiler circa 8 years old. We live in a hard water area and have a water softener but I have only recently filled that with salt! The boiler has decent fire power (35 something something....)
The shower was Ok but not great when we first moved in but our previous house had high water pressure so we just assumed we were used to top pressure. Since I turned the heating on for winter the boiler has started cutting out, initially what looked like a one off and now every few days. It resets eassily. When the hot water is turned on, the temperature on the boiler starts shooting up. It seems if the reading stays less than 90 degrees the boiler stays on but cuts out at 90 degrees. The mains water pressure downstairs is fine, not brilliant but not bad. We are end terrace of a shared supply and told that affects the pressure so possibly it is better at nonpeak times, worse at peak times. You can flush the downstairs loo and the sink will still run. The water flow upstairs is not brilliant on cold but pathetic on hot. The water upstairs and downstairs now runs very intermittently hot and cold and the water on full hot only is only hand hot. Downstairs it is teh same though less noticeable when filling a sink than standing in a shower! It used to be hotter. I used to mix cold water in on the shower. Then I had to put it on full hot and step out at the hot bits. Now it is on full hot and I step out at the very cold bits! There is no thermostat control or timer clock. It is (was) remote but we think it was thrown away when the house was sold and cleaned!
I have been told the problem is that the heat exchanger is clogged and needs replacing and the system needs flushing. It is recommended that a magnaboost is fitted to reduce rescaling. And a thermostat is fitted so the boiler is taking some instruction on what to do.
Someone else has also queried whether the divertor valve is dicky.
All that sounds plausible but there is an economic decision to make about doing all this on an 8 year old boiler versus 'simply' changing the whole boiler which will then be under guarantee. But one plumber said he was reluctant to change the boiler only to learn that because of the fluctuating water pressure the boiler underperforms, or that there are other problems in the system - eg permanently clogged pipework, inadequate sized pipes, blocked valve somewhere.
Ideas on what to do?! I don't know anything about plumbing so any answers or thoughts in layman's terms please! Thank you in advance. Ali
The shower was Ok but not great when we first moved in but our previous house had high water pressure so we just assumed we were used to top pressure. Since I turned the heating on for winter the boiler has started cutting out, initially what looked like a one off and now every few days. It resets eassily. When the hot water is turned on, the temperature on the boiler starts shooting up. It seems if the reading stays less than 90 degrees the boiler stays on but cuts out at 90 degrees. The mains water pressure downstairs is fine, not brilliant but not bad. We are end terrace of a shared supply and told that affects the pressure so possibly it is better at nonpeak times, worse at peak times. You can flush the downstairs loo and the sink will still run. The water flow upstairs is not brilliant on cold but pathetic on hot. The water upstairs and downstairs now runs very intermittently hot and cold and the water on full hot only is only hand hot. Downstairs it is teh same though less noticeable when filling a sink than standing in a shower! It used to be hotter. I used to mix cold water in on the shower. Then I had to put it on full hot and step out at the hot bits. Now it is on full hot and I step out at the very cold bits! There is no thermostat control or timer clock. It is (was) remote but we think it was thrown away when the house was sold and cleaned!
I have been told the problem is that the heat exchanger is clogged and needs replacing and the system needs flushing. It is recommended that a magnaboost is fitted to reduce rescaling. And a thermostat is fitted so the boiler is taking some instruction on what to do.
Someone else has also queried whether the divertor valve is dicky.
All that sounds plausible but there is an economic decision to make about doing all this on an 8 year old boiler versus 'simply' changing the whole boiler which will then be under guarantee. But one plumber said he was reluctant to change the boiler only to learn that because of the fluctuating water pressure the boiler underperforms, or that there are other problems in the system - eg permanently clogged pipework, inadequate sized pipes, blocked valve somewhere.
Ideas on what to do?! I don't know anything about plumbing so any answers or thoughts in layman's terms please! Thank you in advance. Ali
