Worcester vs Vaillant vs Gloworm...

[spile]

How were Vaillant about the issue? Did they give the usual 'the boiler was at the end of its life, despite the same boiler lasting nearly twice as long in Germany?'

Could it have been an installer issue?

The Worcester 8000 seems to have a 12 year guarantee, though only if you take their filter and pay another £40.

Fine until the warranty ran out and because of numerous issues they gave me an extra year. Numerous pressure sensors, diverter valves and a new heat exchanger. System was flushed and inhibitor present but made no difference. Been running for 12 months with no issues so keeping fingers crossed.
No evidence of an installer issue (all warranty work carried out by Vaillant) and I subsequently found it affected a number of Vaillants across this period.

 

[Johntheo5]

I know somebody (UK) that has a ~ 2 year old ecoTEC 630 which has a very, IMO, useful feature, in that it can control the circ pump speed to give a settable (flow/return) dT of 10C to 20C., unfortunately this does not work on this boiler, Vaillant Technical couldn't really offer any fix, except, finally, to say that the boiler was working as it should. It would be interesting if anyone is using this feature and can post a comment, (new thread maybe?)

 

[Madrab]

TBH a boiler can sometimes be only as good as the installer.

Most modern boilers will run happily, without issues, if they are installed properly, looked after regularly and are connected to a system that is in good condition, maintained properly, setup properly and run correctly.

Trouble is though, component failure can often be the weak point and that comes down to manufacturing quality control and out sourcing with a lot of these still coming from the seemingly still favourite Asian suppliers who's quality control can sometimes be sadly lacking. That means you can have 2 of exactly the same boiler and one fails because of components that weren't quite right at the time and the other ticks along quite happily for 15yrs without a hiccup. Unfortunately sometimes there is no logic to it these days.

 

[Phil473]

TBH a boiler can sometimes be only as good as the installer.

Most modern boilers will run happily, without issues, if they are installed properly, looked after regularly and are connected to a system that is in good condition, maintained properly, setup properly and run correctly.

Trouble is though, component failure can often be the weak point and that comes down to manufacturing quality control and out sourcing with a lot of these still coming from the seemingly still favourite Asian suppliers who's quality control can sometimes be sadly lacking. That means you can have 2 of exactly the same boiler and one fails because of components that weren't quite right at the time and the other ticks along quite happily for 15yrs without a hiccup. Unfortunately sometimes there is no logic to it these days.

Avaliability of parts, is definitely an issue to be considered. As far as I'm aware, there are no shortage of engineers to service any of the three boilers.

Is there any lack of parts for any of the three companies mentioned? Like I said, there was no isse getting parts for an older Worcester before we replaced it, which is why we went with another Worcester on our other house.

 

[Pete the Feet]

Vaillant ecitec 624 system boiler fitted in 2015. Seven year warranty, but I had to have an annual service for the duration. This was carried out by an independent who was the installer. Three months before the warranty expired I noticed the pressure was dropping and needed contant topping up. I figured out it was a leak on the heat exchanger which was draining via the condensate receiver. I called Vaillant but they instructed me to get the installer back to verify the fault. Only he, a gas safe engineer could summon Vaillant. When the Vaillant engineer came and verified the diagnosis they replaced the heat exchanger within a couple of days; a Saturday morning. The response was quick, the outcome satisfactory. I presume if the original installer is no longer available, then another suitably qualified engineer would have to be called at the users cost. Or maybe a Vaillant engineer, I really don't know.

 

[dilalio]

Vaillant ecitec 624 system boiler fitted in 2015. Seven year warranty, but I had to have an annual service for the duration. This was carried out by an independent who was the installer. Three months before the warranty expired I noticed the pressure was dropping and needed contant topping up. I figured out it was a leak on the heat exchanger which was draining via the condensate receiver. I called Vaillant but they instructed me to get the installer back to verify the fault. Only he, a gas safe engineer could summon Vaillant. When the Vaillant engineer came and verified the diagnosis they replaced the heat exchanger within a couple of days; a Saturday morning. The response was quick, the outcome satisfactory. I presume if the original installer is no longer available, then another suitably qualified engineer would have to be called at the users cost. Or maybe a Vaillant engineer, I really don't know.

The difference is...
If vaillant send out an engineer and it's not the boiler, they charge you anyway, so they always give the installer /customer's regular operative, the opportunity first, as they also charge, but will offer to repair if it's a fault outside the boiler.

 

[Phil473]

Vaillant ecitec 624 system boiler fitted in 2015. Seven year warranty, but I had to have an annual service for the duration. This was carried out by an independent who was the installer. Three months before the warranty expired I noticed the pressure was dropping and needed contant topping up. I figured out it was a leak on the heat exchanger which was draining via the condensate receiver. I called Vaillant but they instructed me to get the installer back to verify the fault. Only he, a gas safe engineer could summon Vaillant. When the Vaillant engineer came and verified the diagnosis they replaced the heat exchanger within a couple of days; a Saturday morning. The response was quick, the outcome satisfactory. I presume if the original installer is no longer available, then another suitably qualified engineer would have to be called at the users cost. Or maybe a Vaillant engineer, I really don't know.

I beleive heat exchangers are expensive, so looks like you were lucky. If outside the warranty, the cost of a new exchanger may not have been justified.

Which is what has happened to me. With my boiler manufacturer, I had an expired 5 year warranty, little avaliable parts and a chronic shortage of engineers willing to actually look at it.

Now I will only go to a reputable boiler company, with long term customer service and parts avaliability. A shame because I'd rather support a British company. But if they can't provide the appropriate support to the British public, how can I?

 

[Pete the Feet]

Vaillant and GlowWorm part of the same group. The difference being price and some Vaillant I believe are the GlowWorm footprint, so paying for the Vaillant name.

I'd heard that the Vaillant use stainless steel heat exchangers and Gloworm do not. However an engineer would have to confirm this as it may be all *******s. Plus the heat exchanger on my Vaillant went for a Burton just prior to the end of the guarantee, which was handy.