Baxi 105e - Whats this part and could it cost £200?

[ACIDTECHNO]

Ive got a Baxi 105e combi boiler. The heating works fine, as do most hot taps, but the bath tap chucks out cold water when turned up past a trickle. Leave it trickling and it's very hot, but takes ages to fill bath.
Heating engineer looked at boiler ( I was out) and said that the part shown in the pic (round brass coloured thing) needs changing at £200.
Is this likely, or is it, as I suspect, simply a £10 diaphragm that a DIYer could change?

Thanks for any advice, and help to avoid being ripped off.

 

[petit_pablo]

Possibly the diverter.

Run the tap and see if the pin makes the switch at the front. If it does that rules out the diaphragm.

Next, turn off CH and let the pipes cool down. Run hw tap and see if the heating pipes start to get hot under the boiler. If they do then the diverter is passing and will require changing. If he is quoting £200 all in thats a fair price.

If the heating pipes remain cool then the plate heat exchanger is probably blocked. If this is the case generally the boiler will cycle on and off when the taps running.

 

[ACIDTECHNO]

Thanks for the very quick reply. Wife was in at the time, and she's just more or less described that he did what you've said. I'll check myself in the morning, though. Cheers.

 

[ACIDTECHNO]

Looks like the diverter. The pin comes out OK, the hot water pipe gets hot, then the heating pipe gets hot as the water coming out of the tap cools down.
I'll give the go ahead. I feel a bit guilty for being suspicious, he came highly recommended.

 

[ACIDTECHNO]

Just a little update:

Diverter changed, and the pipes do the right thing now, ie heating pipes stay cool, but, hot water going cold when the tap is opened past about quarter way. Looks like a new heat exchanger is required.

Can anyone recommend anywhere, maybe online, where I can get one, or at least compare prices. Engineer has no problem fitting one that I source myself, should I be able to find one cheaper than him.

 

[gasright]

For gods sake let the guy earn a living

 

[ACIDTECHNO]

It was his idea that I have a look around for the part, he said his supplier isn't always the cheapest, and he hasn't time to hunt down bargains. If he'd just said £150, I'd have just said OK go ahead. Anyway, he isn't losing out, he'll get the same labour, don't think he was intending to make a profit on supplying the part.

 

[namsag]

www.gas-spares.co.uk
£40 list you may get 20% off this price 7 quid delivery plus vat .
Tkes ten mins to fit, 2 screws

 

[powell30]

Plus cut fingers and a leak unless you change the O rings......if it's an instant it is tight getting it out too........believe me i have changed enough of em....

 

[namsag]

Never had a leak not changing the O rings but yep fingers sliced everytime

 

[ACIDTECHNO]

Well, I've now spent over £300 and the problem is still the same. New diverter valve, new heat exchanger...
Do heating engineers use some form of diagnostics? He seems to have used the educated guess principle. It could be that - changed it, no change, it must be this, change that, nope it's not the either.
If it was just the bath it wouldn't matter, but the shower is unusable...too cold.
Any idea's as to what I should do next?

 

[Agile]

I think he used the uneducated guess principle.

We call these guys "parts changers".

They just change parts at YOUR expense until it works and charge you for their incompetence all along the way.

Tony

 

[bellairaphon]

have u checked simple things like microswitches, thermistors. whats the boiler doing when you turn your tap on? you say that all the taps apart from the bath tap are ok. have you checked the tap? mixer perhaps.

Nath

 

[rojaca]

Your engineer needs to check the flow rate at 30 degree temp rise as stated in the m.i. If thats correct, and I suspect it is from your description suggesting that most taps are correct, then it is your expectation, not the boiler, which is faulty.

If it is on the low side I would suggest that he may want to check Inlet working, burner pressure and gas rate before changing any other parts

 

[ACIDTECHNO]

have u checked simple things like microswitches, thermistors. whats the boiler doing when you turn your tap on? you say that all the taps apart from the bath tap are ok. have you checked the tap? mixer perhaps

Tap is fine. When I turn tap on, it depends how far I open it, as to what happens. If I open it fully like I used to, I get lots of cold water. If I leave it at a trickle, I get nice hot water trickling into the bath.

I would have thought heating engineer would have checked 'simple things' before doing any major work.

Your engineer needs to check the flow rate at 30 degree temp rise as stated in the m.i. If thats correct, and I suspect it is from your description suggesting that most taps are correct, then it is your expectation, not the boiler, which is faulty.
If it is on the low side I would suggest that he may want to check Inlet working, burner pressure and gas rate before changing any other parts

My only expectation is that the heating system should work like it has done since it was installed. One day I had gallons of hot water supplied to shower and bath, next only cold unless it's a trickle.
Thanks for suggestion re pressure / rates etc.