Glow Worm Swift Flow 80

Hi,
I need help to discover whether my boiler has been messed up by a botched job or if it's a case of one thing happens, then something else goes.

Here's the situation. I moved into my first flat in April. Soon found a radiator leak which was repaired. That guy was excellent and explained everything. He found that the last people had repaired a lot of stuff with silicon and had left the water flowing constantly through the system to keep the pressure up. He fixed the leak, got me a new radiator and all was well.

Then, he wasn't available when i noticed the pressure was down so I called another firm. This time, the slow leak was repaired - the emergency valve was siliconed so that was replaced.

Over that same weekend, the pressure was down more and water was dripping. They came back (for free) and said I needed new isolation valves on flow and returns. I thought that was reasonable because there was a lot of silicon on one.

So, for two weeks, I filled it once every other day to keep pressure up & kept a bowl to collect the dripping water, as advised. They returned & fitted the valves Wednesday. That guy said they had also 'fixed a kink' in a pipe. I said I was worried b/c the fillpoint screwhead is soft. The advice was not to worry because you normally only use it once a year and just get a check up every autumn.

5 hours later, I went to turn the heat on and it didn't work. There was no hot water. The pressure was up to 3. I checked, and it appeared he'd left the water running in slightly, so I turned the screw some more to close it. I used the emergency valve to decrease the pressure back to 1 bar. I returned almost 5 more hours later and it was back up to 3 bars. And no heat or hot water. I turned it to continuous heat to see if that did anything (I'd turned it off thinking that was safer).

I rang them the next day and they sent someone while I was at work. When I returned, there was no note, no phone call, nothing (as promised). There was water soaking the receipts and the history I'd left. And still no heat or hot water. And the pressure was up to 2.

This morning, I phoned again and they are saying I need a new circuitboard. Is this randomly breaking at the same time? Or does it have to do with the pressure blowing it or something? They haven't mentioned the fact that water must still be getting in from somewhere if the pressure is rising even when the heat is off. I'm still waiting for the return phone call that was meant to come over 30 minutes ago.

When I turn on the hot water, it may work for 30 seconds or less and the boiler makes noises - like a fan that's grinding.

The joint with a kink that the one guy said he fixed has a bit of water around the knobs. That happens to be going to one of the valves he put in, which goes to a big green thing that may be a motor. That had a bit of water too.

So now I'm out £250, still waiting to hear back on how much the circuitboard is, and my trusted engineer can come back on Monday morning. I want to get the trusted engineer in, regardless, on Monday.

What I don't know is whether this is normal or if I'm being taken for a ride. On one hand, I think they've not done any of this properly and have actually broken it themselves. On the other hand, is it plausible for this all to occur? I do understand it's an old boiler but have been told,even by two of these engineers, that it'll work another few years.

Advice appreciated.

Kind regards,
Lisa

i think they are pulling your leg !

Fan going - Yes
Isolation Valves leaking - Yes
Filling loop worn - yes (if its been used alot) (get a new one fitted that doesn`t require the use of a screwdriver)
PCB - HMM has any water leaked onto it ? try to use a hair dryer to dry it out .

This firm sound like they don`t know what they are doing .

Arf

sounds to me like the h/ex is passing

have you disconnected the fill loop ??

arfurrrr said:

i think they are pulling your leg !

Fan going - Yes
Isolation Valves leaking - Yes
Filling loop worn - yes (if its been used alot) (get a new one fitted that doesn`t require the use of a screwdriver)
PCB - HMM has any water leaked onto it ? try to use a hair dryer to dry it out .

This firm sound like they don`t know what they are doing .

Arf

Click to expand...

Thanks, Arf. I agree, a new filling loop would be better. It does appear to be more a case of not knowing what they're doing & sending different people each time because they would've sold me that on any of the 4 times they've been here.

Hair dryer is a good idea. Found the wiring diagram but not yet the circuit board.

I hope the new isolation valves aren't leaking, but I'll find out.

Fan - this sounds like a bad thing to go. Is this one of those things that warrants a new boiler or is it a reasonable fix?

My trusted engineer is coming on Monday so that is good. Though the other group said they'd get me someone tomorrow, they reneged on that. The good thing is that they said they would review what he comes up with and reimburse me if that's warranted. I will wait for my engineer from now on, that's for sure.

kevplumb said:

sounds to me like the h/ex is passing

have you disconnected the fill loop ??

Click to expand...

Hi kevplumb,

Thanks for this. I understand (from the definitions page, not my own prior knowledge) that h/ex is heat exchanger. That sounds like a severe problem. I'm am paranoid about needing a new boiler. Is this one of those things?

I also saw the fill loop picture on the definitions page. I can find it but I am scared to do anything in case water goes everywhere. Can't find how to turn off water in my Collins DIY manual.

Now looked at FAQ and found that reducing pressure with the emergency valve (as the first guy did when I had the first leak) makes it not work. Guess I need to replace that, now, too.

Also saw that pressure can rise due to perforation on the inside. That sounds bad, too.

Cheers,
Lisa

now the (possibly) good news remove the loop if its passing it will give you the same effect there may be a bit of water

but hey your skin is waterproof

as for the prv have a look outside is it dripping ? if it is then yes replace it if not leave it alone and slap the next clown that uses it to drain the boiler

the fan is only a cheap item cost apx £80 + fitting (small job , not daft money)

Arf