ariston and on and on...........

sasquatch · 21 Mar 2006

.........or thats the way it was.

first off i will say hello !!!!

now i ask for advice

i am running an ariston condensing boiler [ eco genus condensing type c ]
over the last fortnight it has been running erratic but now the central heating part is failing. it seems to kick in with the timer but soon fails, the
manual override on the timer seems to have packed up. when the ignition is reset we get an 'E-99' message on the LED. hot water is working fine.

will this need fixing by an ariston specialist ?
can anyone recommend such a specialist ?
is it a pricey job to sort it out ?

apologies for my ignorance if i am posting in the wrong place.

Agile · 21 Mar 2006

These boilers have not been out for that long.

I would suggest you contact your CORGI installer first as he has a responsibilty to install a serviceable boiler.

Are you sure that it is not still under the guaranty?

Any competent boiler engineer should be able to deal with it but to avoid paying people who dont know what they are doing, ensure you agree a no-fix no-fee visit.

You could also ask Ariston about their staff engineers.

Tony Glazier

sasquatch · 22 Mar 2006

Agile said:
These boilers have not been out for that long.

I would suggest you contact your CORGI installer first as he has a responsibilty to install a serviceable boiler.

Are you sure that it is not still under the guaranty?

Any competent boiler engineer should be able to deal with it but to avoid paying people who dont know what they are doing, ensure you agree a no-fix no-fee visit.

You could also ask Ariston about their staff engineers.

Tony Glazier

thanks for your reply
i doubt the boiler is under guarantee it has been in for three years
how do i avoid people who dont know what they are doing ?
is a no fee no fix visit purely diagnostic ?
or does it simply mean if they cant fix it then you dont pay ?
is there a register of reputable engineers ?
the boiler came with leaflets mentioning a firm called MTS
are these aristons own staff as this is the impression i get ?

thanks

Agile · 22 Mar 2006

Being realistic there are probably only about one in fifty CORGI registered people who would be reasonably competent to find faults on a boiler like yours.

To avoid someone coming and charging you when he has no hope of being able to diagnose the problem, I would recommend you either engage somebody on the no-fix no-fee or get staff engineers from MTS who are the holding company for Ariston.

If you had taken the trouble to say where you live then we could see if there is anyone we could recommend. I know a good engineer who is experienced with Ariston, he was their Technical Manager! However he only goes about 20 miles from his base.

Tony

sasquatch · 22 Mar 2006

we struggled but we found someone to do no fix no fee job for us so i
have him coming round for a look. one in fifty sounds pessimistic though.
plenty said they would come but were not willing to do 'no fix no fee'and if i hadnt been on this forum i wouldve been shelling out £90 for the first hours work with no guarantee of success.
so thanks for that bit of advice.
we live south london near kennington oval btw. so if anyone knows an ariston engineer in this locality we may need to know in case the fella who
we made arrangments with is not able to carry out the work.

Agile · 23 Mar 2006

Anyone who is prepared to offer that arrangement will be fairly confident of his ability ( or just a gambler ).

Let us know what happens.

sasquatch · 2 Oct 2006

Agile said:
Anyone who is prepared to offer that arrangement will be fairly confident of his ability ( or just a gambler ).

Let us know what happens.

seems he was a gambler
spent a lot of time swearing at the boiler
said it was fixed but it only works on hot water now.
at least he didnt charge us............but doesnt seem to want to finish the job.
or get paid for it.
does anyone know a good boiler engineer who will work
on aristons and not try to sell us a new boiler unless absolutely necessary
we are in south london, brixton stockwell borders.

btw i hear the ariston slagged off as piece of junk by a lot of people

any opinions ?

Agile · 2 Oct 2006

Firstly he should not be swearing, that just brings our profession into disrepute.

He is however honest and has not charged for not fixing it so there are some good aspects.

What did he do to restore the hot water?

MTS is the holding company for Ariston and some other makes. They have the staff engineers and independent service engineers.

Ariston are one of the many economy brands which when properly installed are capable of perfectly adequate service.

Tony

sasquatch · 2 Oct 2006

Agile said:
What did he do to restore the hot water?

the problem was diagnosed as a leak in the system.
the water had dripped and corroded a electronic switch
which was causing an electronic fault.
this was replaced although the parts took a month to turn up.
he also replaced a flow device [ tap ?] that changes the function from hot water to central heating. when he did the work this was the object of his anger because it kept jamming. the fault code we go now is A22 which
signifies a problem with this device. i did an internet search an found a company that deals with ariston but their phone number is unavailable.

another company i spoke to said aristons were bad machines and there is
a good chance the system will be clogged with sludge. they started talking
in terms of a new boiler before they had even done diagnostic check,
i was told to be cautious because some people would rather sell a new boiler than fix the existing one because it is more profitable. i think this could be a myth but it is hard because we are not rich and a new boiler would be a hard thing to bear.

Gasguru · 2 Oct 2006

You need to talk to Ariston and find a local service agent to do a fixed price service/repair.

A22 fault code states "the flow switch does not open". It can't possibly know whether you have opened a tap to be able to produce this fault code (the hot water flow swicth is a very simple device).

I think this is an erroneous fault.

Since this boiler has an aluminium heat exchanger it will require a full service after 3 years in operation.

Agile · 2 Oct 2006

Isn't the A22 referring to the system flow switch not opening after the pump is powered?

Any independent service agent is unlikely to operate a fixed price repair.

Tony

Gasguru · 2 Oct 2006

Problem is the boiler doesn't have a system flow switch (unlike many Aristons).

The manual indicates a "pump presure switch" fitted on the heat exchanger flow pipe connection but thats only a 2 wire sensor; ie its doubtful if it produces a linear output to allow detection of the slight increase in pressure after pump startup.

My thoughts were its a generic circuit board and its a spurius error code.

I think the last time I contacted Ariston for a boiler repair that I could not attend they were doing fixed price.

Since its a pre-mix burner count me out (although I'm only a few miles away from th OP). Not enough customers of mine have pre-mix to justify the FGA and some are too tight to pay for the correct setting up and servicing.

ChrisR · 2 Oct 2006

Last 2 Ariston condensers I've been to gave fault codes which were nonsense. Ari sent their service people to fix them, as they both "known" manufacturing faults.
One took some harsh words because it was a month outside the gaurantee, but they fixed it.
Be warned they demand to see the benchmark cert before they will repair some of their boilers under warranty (eg the ACO's).

I would ask Ari who does their warranty repairs in your area - they should know all the normal faults.

Gasguru · 2 Oct 2006

Ignore my previous comments on the flow switch.

I was looking at the wrong pdf parts list - why can't manufacturers give their boilers sensible names. Too many versions of eco.....

As Tony pointed out it is a problem with the system flow switch - this may be due to a faulty pump, blocked pipework, split diapgram.

Agile · 2 Oct 2006

Chris said:-

"""Be warned they demand to see the benchmark cert before they will repair some of their boilers under warranty (eg the ACO's)."""

Although I dont like the idea, I am informed that a manufacturer is obliged to attend a non functioning boiler under the Sale of Goods Act regardless of who fitted it or if the Cert is completed. However if its the installer's fault then they are entitled to charge for the visit or if not paid to waive the warrantee.

Who is the Technical Manager at MTS since Dave left?

Tony

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ariston and on and on...........

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