Getting an Atmos combo boiler serviced

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Hi, it's now almost 6 years old , never had any problems with it and in that time has been serviced twice by the same Gas Safe engineer who installed it.Unfortunately, he lives too far way from me( about 20 miles) to make it worth his while to continue servicing it so my question is should any regular gas safe installer who has never come across this make of boiler, be able to service it? I ask because i am aware they are designed somewhat differently to regular boilers.
My main concern is one of safety(CO) but the chap who fitted it told me they are very stable and require little in the way of servicing, in fact, he knew of one which was left running unattended for 16 years.Still, I would feel more comfortable if it was serviced more often and the system checked over.Thanks
 
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Any particular Atmos? Where do you live? Yes, anyone can service it, but there might be someone on here who is familiar with it
 
If it's an Intercombi than anyone that's familiar with Intergas boilers should be able to service it.
 
You made me smile when you said that you are concerned about safety but had only had your Atmos serviced twice in six years.

The recommendation is that boilers are serviced every year! Indeed in your case it should have been serviced each year during the warranty period to validate the warranty.

It would be better to have it serviced by an Intergas listed engineer as they have been on their course and been given an Intergas mug.

My lodger, seeing the statement on the mug "less is more" took that to mean that he should break off the handle!

Tony
 
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I originally bought the boiler on recommendation as I wanted the best and thought that given it has fewer parts to go wrong, it seemed to make sense.Unfortunately, the downside is that it is nowhere near as popular as it should be and I guess most gas safe installers are only happy fitting and servicing that which they are familiar with.Even Which hasn't given it the raving review it probably merits so maybe its lack of popularity is not surprising.Frankly, it needs to be promoted far more. I have tried to myself but being pretty ignorant re the workings of boilers ,its kind of difficult - 'Fewer parts ,mate. No secondary heat exchanger or diverter valve'. "Oh, what are they?" 'I have no idea but it must be a good thing.I was told so by someone in the know.' "oh so you are trying to promote something you know sweet Fanny Adams about?" Errr hmmm silence
Anyway, I am having trouble finding the model number of the boiler as there is nothing on it that shows which one it is .I have, though, found a local fellow who installs Intergas boilers and hopefully, he will service it in March (apparently he is very busy at the moment).I will probably take an annual contract with him
 
Boilers should be serviced during the warmer months when engineers are less busy!

There is nothing new about the concept used in the Intergas boilers! There have been combi boilers using it for 30 years. None have been terribly successful though. The Intergas does rather better now that we have more clever electronic control of the boiler.

The slightly unique feature is the solid ali heat exchanger with copper pipes embedded in the aluminium block. It is expensive to make but has proved very reliable. The copper heating pipe is smooth and larger bore and so is not likely to easily become blocked up.

The hot water tube is a relatively smaller bore and has significant resistance. So to get the maximum hot water heat output you do need a fairly high mains water supply pressure.

The Heat exchanger is quite large and has significant latent heat required and so from cold there is a bit of a delay before you get hot water. This can be reduced by setting the boiler to preheat the block at the times the boiler has learnt that you are likely to use hot water. But it does take extra gas of course.

There is also another small issue. With higher CH settings, the first few litres of hot water will be hotter than the setting because the block starts off hotter. In most installations this extra heat is dissipated because it has to heat up the hot water pipes from cold.

But when the boiler settings are best set the boiler operates very well and has proved pretty reliable.

For an installer it has a special advantage not available on any other boiler. I can install an IG boiler and have it delivering hot water without needing any heating circuit connected to it.

Tony
 
Which? ratings mean pish when it comes to boilers. If you do indeed have the InterCombi it is an older UK import version of an Intergas, which are becoming very popular amongst discerning installers. Anyone familiar with IG week have no trouble working on it
 
Boilers should be serviced during the warmer months when engineers are less busy!

There is nothing new about the concept used in the Intergas boilers! There have been combi boilers using it for 30 years. None have been terribly successful though. The Intergas does rather better now that we have more clever electronic control of the boiler.

The slightly unique feature is the solid ali heat exchanger with copper pipes embedded in the aluminium block. It is expensive to make but has proved very reliable. The copper heating pipe is smooth and larger bore and so is not likely to easily become blocked up.

The hot water tube is a relatively smaller bore and has significant resistance. So to get the maximum hot water heat output you do need a fairly high mains water supply pressure.

The Heat exchanger is quite large and has significant latent heat required and so from cold there is a bit of a delay before you get hot water. This can be reduced by setting the boiler to preheat the block at the times the boiler has learnt that you are likely to use hot water. But it does take extra gas of course.

There is also another small issue. With higher CH settings, the first few litres of hot water will be hotter than the setting because the block starts off hotter. In most installations this extra heat is dissipated because it has to heat up the hot water pipes from cold.

But when the boiler settings are best set the boiler operates very well and has proved pretty reliable.

For an installer it has a special advantage not available on any other boiler. I can install an IG boiler and have it delivering hot water without needing any heating circuit connected to it.

Tony
Thanks for the detailed reply . By all heat exchanger I assume you mean it heats both the water and CH so no need for heat exchanger or diverter valve.The water supply seemsfairlyy high although the hot water does take some time to reach the downstairs taps ( I was told that is to do with doglegs in the system).I have not experienced any blockages despite the water being hard down here in the South Downs.Not too sure about "setting boiler to preheat the block" so would have to find the user manual to see if that is feasible.Either way I would either use more gas or water
 
Which? ratings mean pish when it comes to boilers. If you do indeed have the InterCombi it is an older UK import version of an Intergas, which are becoming very popular amongst discerning installers. Anyone familiar with IG week have no trouble working on it
I know and that probably applies to a lot of consumer products , but people seem to trust it .I know I have from time to time.My wish is that more and more installers become familiar with IG but I am reluctant to let anyone who isnt, touch it
 
You'll get your wish. Intergas are growing in the U.K. Really fast.

In fact things are going to get Extreme very very soon ;)
 
In the meantime its a matter of going into several forums and shouting INTERGAS!
 

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