Boiler and CH/HW problems - Any help greatly appreciated.

[bert1000]

Hi all,

I have just moved into a house and am having problems - any help would be very much greatly appreciated.

The boiler is pretty old and is a Gloworm (I can't see the model number as it is stuck away in a hard to reach place). I had an engineer come round to get a quote on getting it replaced and he noticed that there was no cylinder stat attached to the tank upstairs. He said this was a bit worrying as the previous tennant may well have taken it off as they weren't getting enough hot water coming through (he also noted that the boiler was turned up to the max 190 degrees).

He installed a new digital program box and fixed the cylinder stat to the tank, then drained the system down to put in the new 3 way valve. Unfortunately, after he did this, the boiler has now stopped working. He called me to let me know and said that he thinks that when he drained the water down, sludge may have moved towards the boiler and caused a blockage somewhere (the water from the drain down was black and sludgy like it hadn't been drained for years). I asked him about solutions and perhaps flushing out the system and he said that would be very tricky due to the small bore of the pipes (I believe it is 0.5 inch in places) and that the worst case scenario would be getting in new pipes (talking around £5k+)

I called a few other engineers for their opinions and got a multitude of different answers from a burnt out pump (the engineer said it was making a grinding noise when he drained down) to an air blockage so am at a complete loss as to what to do next (who is correct?). I have another engineer popping round tomorrow to quote and give me a second opinion, I was just wondering if anyone here might have some ideas/experiences?

Any help/advice is hugely appreciated it, it is a real worry as my girlfriend and I just don't have that sort of money at the moment. Thanks for taking the time to read and thanks for any help.

 

[EliteHeat]

Was the boiler working before the engineer arrived? if so, he is almost certainly talking nonsense about the sludge.

So he fitted a new twin channel progammer and a new 3-port valve and reattached the cylinder themostat - in what way is the boiler not working? does it fire or not?

 

[bert1000]

Hi EliteHeat,

thanks for the reply. I have not been home to check yet, but his words on the phone were "it is now not working". Whether this means it fired up for a few seconds then cut out, or whether it means it wasn't firing at all, I am not too sure (I will have a look tonight after work). The boiler was working on Sunday though.

We have budgeted to get a new boiler, but from what he is saying, he seems to think that the boiler is not the problem and that a new boiler may not solve the problem (if there is a blockage or sludge in the pipes) - and that new pipes (wider bore) might be needed - does that sound right?

 

[Agile]

It really sounds as if he is not very good at diagnosing faults. Its not even obvious if replacing the three port valve was necessary.

You have said "I have another engineer popping round tomorrow to quote and give me a second opinion".

I would like to advise you that we do NOT pop round to give second opinions except on a chargeable basis. You should expect that anyone popping round is not doing it for charitable reasons but to tell you that there are lots of costly things needed to make them some money, its a quiet time now for some people!

If the water was black then this will need to be treated preferably by power flushing.

The pump may have seized up and the overheat stat on the boiler needs resetting. Depending on the model it may be internal or be on the outside.

Tony Glazier

 

[bert1000]

Tony - thanks for the reply.

"It really sounds as if he is not very good at diagnosing faults" - I think that this is the main problem, he can't seem to identify what the actual fault is, so I am fumbling about in the dark a bit.

I am really hoping the engineer tomorrow can have a look, diagnose the problem and do me a quote (for which I am willing to pay his call out fee). I will mention the pump and the resettin of the overheat stat on the boiler to him.