Boiler dilemma

I have a 20 year old boiler. I last had a servicing done 5 years ago.
It was high time so I recently had servicing done by a Gas safe engineer. He capped it and marked as Dangerous as :
-the Flue pipe going outside does not have enough empty space around it
-the hole for the flue-pipe is not sealed on the outside
-air integrity failed
-there's a fat metal block in the middle inside the boiler that is meant to get hot as soon as heating is switched on. Mine wasn't doing it
-something about CO being emitted ( guy used a meter )

Moreover, he said the boiler is operating at 50% and quoted some expected and actual figure discrepancy. He recommended the boiler be changed asap. He did also mention that changing the block would cost £300 total but other parts may break down few months later.

I have had two other engineers have a look at it and no one wants to touch the boiler. Everyone suggested replacing the boiler with a new one.
I had one tell me today that if you resolve the flue space issue, the boiler will start working again and does not need to be replaced.

Does a boiler even work like a car ? You fix the parts , do an MOT and the boiler starts working again ?
What's with the cap ? Can I not remove it and get work done down the line ?

Furthermore, it seems the pipes going into the boiler are 15mm but the main one from the meter is 22mm. So, some cowboy years ago must have been responsible for this. All new boilers seem to require 22mm and this would involve digging floors in my case. The only 15mmm I can see is Ideal independent but I have never heard of this brand before!


Suggestions please.

Ideal boilers - some rate some don’t, have been going for years.

Pipesize from meter to appliance needs to be worked out correctly, could be 28mm required. Previous plumber nor a cowboy for using 15mm for a 20 year old boiler, might have been sized correctly.

Capping it because it’s dangerous, this is what we adhere to by the unsafe situations procedure. This will probably mainly to do with a failed air integrity (no products of combustion should be in here).

What boiler make is yours? Any photos? Which part are you asking about removing?

Android 07 said:

What's with the cap ? Can I not remove it and get work done down the line ?

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Dont be so stupid, that gas supply is capped off for your safety

The Novice said:

Ideal boilers - some rate some don’t, have been going for years.

Pipesize from meter to appliance needs to be worked out correctly, could be 28mm required. Previous plumber nor a cowboy for using 15mm for a 20 year old boiler, might have been sized correctly.

Capping it because it’s dangerous, this is what we adhere to by the unsafe situations procedure. This will probably mainly to do with a failed air integrity (no products of combustion should be in here).

What boiler make is yours? Any photos? Which part are you asking about removing?

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It's a Vaillant combi. The part looks like this ( from the net ):

That’s a plate heat exchanger, which can be expensive to replace, assuming that is the fault. Which model, EcoTEC pro? - that’s the image you have supplied (from the net). As I said, if it’s failed the air integrity then possibly a new flue is required.

Android 07 said:

I have a 20 year old boiler.

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That boiler is not 20 years old

Android 07 said:

there's a fat metal block in the middle inside the boiler that is meant to get hot as soon as heating is switched on.

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not true

Android 07 said:

I had one tell me today that if you resolve the flue space issue

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Can you post a pic of what you are calling the flue space issue

The Novice said:

That’s a plate heat exchanger, which can be expensive to replace, assuming that is the fault. Which model, EcoTEC pro? - that’s the image you have supplied (from the net). As I said, if it’s failed the air integrity then possibly a new flue is required.

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I am not sure what model mine is. There's no mention anywhere inside! But it's definitely a 20 year old boiler as I had installed it back then. The image I posted is one I got from the net to show what the block looks like.

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No wonder that has been capped off, that is a complete mess and totally wrong, and very dangerous , did you fit the roof after the boiler was installed

That’ll highly likely also be why the air integrity check failed, the product of combustion aren’t able to disperse and the fan will be bringing products back in. Flue looks like a vaillant, but 20 years old would be Turbomax or ecomax (as a guess).

Will that go in the hall of botched work? Does not matter who allowed it to happen, even as an electrician I know you can't have a flue like that. I was going to say before the pictures the tradesman can't make a home uninhabitable without finding alternative accommodation, however in that case it is not the gas safe guy who made it uninhabitable it was who ever put all that around the flue.

I am surprised you have even asked the question, it is so clearly wrong. How is it you never noticed that before?

ianmcd said:

No wonder that has been capped off, that is a complete mess and totally wrong, and very dangerous , did you fit the roof after the boiler was installed

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Yes, the conservatory was built afterwards. We paid two builders handsomely at various points and none failed to highlight this.
I even had BG come to do servicing few years ago and they didn't highlight this either.
Meanwhile, the next doors have built this fence for some strange reason even though the right-hand side is ours and this fence they built is over 6m!

I am not a builder or gas engineer by profession so have no clue about these things. I simply pay money to the professionals.

Would I be able to use a plume kit to get round my issue?

Android 07 said:

Would I be able to use a plume kit to get round my issue?

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Nope, you will probably need a new boiler and the new one will have to be raised it wont be able to use the same flue hole

Android 07 said:

I even had BG come to do servicing few years ago and they didn't highlight this either.

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You could try complaining to them but doubt it will do you any good

What's the solution to my issue here fellas ?