Ravenheat Combi problems

cgoode · 9 Dec 2005

My RSF82ET combi boiler was installed Feb 01, making it less than five years old.

Three months ago, a problem with the timer and domestic hot water developed. The engineer said the timer had packed up and the diverter valve was also faulty which had to replaced at considerable expense, especially for a boiler which was then 4 1/2 years old.

I have recently encountered the same problem with the domestic hot water. I called out the gas engineer again (another £70) who spoke to Ravenheads technical department. Initially, he suspected a faulty thermaster but after having spoken with the technician, I was told it was due to scale build up in the heat exchanger. The option was powerflushing at about £400-500, a new heat exchanger (same price) or a new boiler.

Now, I am no plumber, but I think I should be able to expect a bit more than than 5 years from a boiler, even in a hard water area ?? Or is this usual??

The last combi boiler was a Vaillant which lasted 15 years !

Does anybody have any thoughts or advice on this ???

Bahco · 9 Dec 2005

I would not spend any money on this brand of boiler and would opt to replace as i believe you are throwing good money away

Ravenheat do not have a very good reputation and I have a friend who regularly takes advantage of his BG heating cover because he too has one.

Bite the bullet and get yourself a reliable make such as Valliant or Worcester.

cgoode · 9 Dec 2005

Hmm. That's what I thought. I certainly won't be spending £400 on getting it fixed.

But even if I took out a BG contract, it wouldn't cover it because they don't cover scale ???

chrishutt · 9 Dec 2005

The last combi boiler was a Vaillant which lasted 15 years !

Why did you replace the Vaillant? And with a Ravenheat!

cgoode · 9 Dec 2005

The Vaillant was 15 years old and starting to go wrong, so we thought it was time to invest in a new boiler. Not knowing a great deal about boilers (having only ever bought one - the Vaillant) we left the decision to our "trusted" plumber. But we know now !!!

Agile · 10 Dec 2005

To do my bit for John Wilson and Louis Pickersgill, even though they have failed to register us as one of their accredited engineers!

The main problem described above is due to dirt in the heating system and is not the boiler manufacturers fault. It should have been removed at the installation time. Doing it later would usually cost about £300-£350 in the independent sector.

Hydraulic operated diverter valves have a limited life of about five years before the diaphragm has to be changed. An effective routine service arrangement will do this at the third annual service to ensure that a failure does not occur.

Properly installed on a power flushed system even a Ravenheat boiler will give a good and reliable service.

Tony Glazier

chrishutt · 10 Dec 2005

Tony said:
Hydraulic operated diverter valves have a limited life of about five years before the diaphragm has to be changed

But old Vaillant diaphragms last for decades - I don't think I've ever found a failed diaphragm on the Vaillant diverter, only on the water section and that's typically after 10 years at least.

Other makes also endure - Worcester for example. Why should Ravenheat (Giannoni) and some other diaphragms be so short lived in comparison?

Agile · 10 Dec 2005

The Worcester 240 uses a similar Giannoni diverter and one assumes have the same life expectancy. I certainly change a few.

The later Vailant 242 with the diverter behind the pump seems to have an even shorter life than the Ravenheat and I have been changing or repairing them after only 3-4 years.

As for the Vaillant 824, the whole diverter needed changing after only 14-24 months on most boilers. Dreadful thing is that most of those boilers are heading for three years old and most of them are now needing the APS changed and they are not cheap!

As someone who repairs boilers I dont see the expensive ones being much more reliable then the cheaper ones. Local HRPC stocks 20 diverter valves for the Vaillant 824 and sells about 10 each week!

Tony

pierrot · 11 Dec 2005

ravenheat boilers pah.
if you lived in newcastle would you drive to london in a reliant robin.
What do you expect for 350 quid.

ChrisR · 11 Dec 2005

Faced with dismissive comment like that it's worth backing up what Agile has said. Scale is not the boiler's fault, and many of the parts on that boiler are exactly the same as used on many other boilers. If the pump were to fail, the same would be true, but cynics would blame the boiler entirely.

Not only have Vaillant diverters been failing for years, they'e still doing it! Even the lastest version, in a long line of versions, is still failing! In fact they're made by Giannoni, the same company who makes the far more reliable ones in the Ravenheat.

"Scale" is not the same as "sludge" which also affects heat exchangers, so we can't be sure which problem you have. If the problem is sludge, it's the fault of the installer or perhaps the customer demanding a cheap installation.
Scale is a problem due to very hard water - is that the case here?

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Ravenheat Combi problems

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