Vitodens 200 loud bangs

[DaveR38]

Hi! we have a veissman vitodens 200 boiler fitted which to be honest has been a pain in the a**e for some time. Had the plate heat exchanger replaced in November due to a water leak, expensive job but worked OK afterwards. Now after the heating is on for a while we hear a loud "bang" from time to time.

Have turned off central heating (because I have visions of a gas explosion taking the wall out!) and will call plumber, but was wondering if anyone has seen or heard of anything like this before?

 

[ALEC1]

how do you manage that...these boilers are pretty good...

 

[Happyplumber]

That boiler should have had 5 year warranty and as for parts being expensive i feel for you,I had to change a PCB on 100 series £275 plus vat

where they get their part prices from I will never know

 

[Agile]

OP, little more info would help!

Date installed?

By professional?

Been anually serviced?

Exactly what faults have occured?

Pcb £275+ ? A pcb for a 100 that I am dealing with is cheapest £370 inc. Thats more than 50% of the new cost of the whole boiler!

Tony

 

[DaveR38]

OK, here goes with more info -

Installed August 2005 by CORGI registered professional (who happened to be neighbour)

Has been serviced but not annually if I'm being honest here

Faults: replaced inlet valve (as boiler kept cutting out), replaced heat exchanger (due to leak!). Otherwise OK, but I need to top up pressure from mains about once a month

BTW, when the "bangs" happen the boiler is quite happily working away, showing a green light and no faults...

 

[Agile]

OK, so just two faults in seven years! That seems pretty reliable to me.

Totally unjustified saying it has been a pain in the arse.

A leaking plate HE is very rare, perhaps just one in 3000 boilers! You were very unlucky with that.

When was it last serviced? Combustion bangs would point to a distinct lack of a recent proper service.

Tony

 

[DaveR38]

OK fair enough, will find out on Tuesday I guess. Glad weather is reasonable atm though.

Tony - I've mentioned the major faults, there have been other numerous niggles (fault codes being displayed and boiler cutting out for no apparent reason - plumber ended up resetting system software on that one). Just doesn't seem like we can relax & let the boiler get on with it's job - quite frustrating given the installation cost.

 

[DaveR38]

Plumber came, cleared some stuff out of condensate pipes, think it is sorted but just waiting to see if it bangs again ATM. Oh, and have been old wed need to replace expansion tank sometime, another 300 quid. Will probably change boiler before next winter. Totally fed up with it.

 

[ALEC1]

well thats a pity, this is a great boiler, especially with the vitrionic 200...

is it a combi or system boiler and are all the valves fully open, and the two port valve opening...

 

[ChrisR]

but I need to top up pressure from mains about once a month

Then you have a leak which needs fixing.
You're introducing fresh nasty oxygen on a monthly basis which will eventually overcome any corrosion inhibitor, so your system starts to dissolve from the inside, and clog up its vitals with sludge created. This isn't the boiler's fault, and would give any new boiler another set of problems.

 

[DaveR38]

It's a combi boiler, and therefore supplies all our heating & hot water. I don't know about the valves, is it possible to check?

 

[Agile]

I dont know what valves Alex means either.

But dont touch the lockshield valves on the rads.

They should have been adjusted to balance the system.

If you have all TRVs then you should have an auto bypass.

Tony

 

[DaveR38]

OK, getting the message that I shouldn't be "moaning" as much, though I thought modern boilers were meant to last 10-15 years? In November when it was fixed it had a full service and I was told that it should last another 5 years or so.

 

[Agile]

Another five years will bring it up to 12 years which is reasonable.

Probably last a lot longer though!

Tony