I'm appalled by the number of times I hear of boiler PCBs needing replacement. There is a well-known list of 'usual suspects'.
When did you last have to replace the mother board of a personal computer? A zillion types more complex than a boiler PCB which fails n times more frequently!
I believe there a four main reasons for the problem:
High replacement cost: boiler manufacturers sell replacement boards for a lot of money compared with a PC motherboard and there's no way the original cost of manufacture of the board is more than a small fraction of the selling price.
Quality of design and manufacture: if the boards never failed there'd be no problem. But the design of board and enclosure (especially to keep water out!) is sometimes extremely poor. The environment inside a boiler is unfriendly to say the least - but there's no excuse for bad designs that fail to take this into account.
No repair service: Boiler manufacturers do not (and do not want to) repair boards. In most cases, they do not make them in the first place and could not repair them, anyway. There are few third parties able to make a decent business out of repairs. First they cannot charge enough for repaired boards and second, they are harassed by manufacturers using claims of design theft, safety problems and other means to keep them out of the market. OK - it's sort-of understandable that the boiler manufacturers want to keep on selling new boards. But given the Cost and Quality issues, they don't deserve the profits!
Mistaken identity: Because a board is usually easy to change and profitable, it is not unknown for a repairer to change a trivial sensor AND the PCB to fix a sensor fault!
Another issue is the EU Waste Electronic Equipment Directive. Presumably this applies to boiler electronics along with everything else. Boiler manufacturers will therefore be coerced into reducing the level of 'waste'.
This is not an attack on the manufacturers. They're in business to make a profit.
But customers have the power to change things if they want. If I had a pound for each time I said myself 'I'll NEVER buy another widget made by X' I'd be a lot richer! For example, I have an Electrolux dishwasher which is fine after 8 or so years apart from the STUPID plastic wheels on the crockery trays which break up / fall off and cost 2 pounds EACH to replace!!! Yup - as far as I'm concerned, Electrolux is history! But they don't know that and wouldn't care anyway.
As a start, I suggest that there should be a 'lemon list' on this site, including all the stupid things suppliers make and do, but WITH the opportunity for them to respond, to say how they've made things better. The webmaster could automatically email the list to all the supplier quality and customer service managers every month. At least it would make the job of Watchdog researchers much easier!
When did you last have to replace the mother board of a personal computer? A zillion types more complex than a boiler PCB which fails n times more frequently!
I believe there a four main reasons for the problem:
High replacement cost: boiler manufacturers sell replacement boards for a lot of money compared with a PC motherboard and there's no way the original cost of manufacture of the board is more than a small fraction of the selling price.
Quality of design and manufacture: if the boards never failed there'd be no problem. But the design of board and enclosure (especially to keep water out!) is sometimes extremely poor. The environment inside a boiler is unfriendly to say the least - but there's no excuse for bad designs that fail to take this into account.
No repair service: Boiler manufacturers do not (and do not want to) repair boards. In most cases, they do not make them in the first place and could not repair them, anyway. There are few third parties able to make a decent business out of repairs. First they cannot charge enough for repaired boards and second, they are harassed by manufacturers using claims of design theft, safety problems and other means to keep them out of the market. OK - it's sort-of understandable that the boiler manufacturers want to keep on selling new boards. But given the Cost and Quality issues, they don't deserve the profits!
Mistaken identity: Because a board is usually easy to change and profitable, it is not unknown for a repairer to change a trivial sensor AND the PCB to fix a sensor fault!
Another issue is the EU Waste Electronic Equipment Directive. Presumably this applies to boiler electronics along with everything else. Boiler manufacturers will therefore be coerced into reducing the level of 'waste'.
This is not an attack on the manufacturers. They're in business to make a profit.
But customers have the power to change things if they want. If I had a pound for each time I said myself 'I'll NEVER buy another widget made by X' I'd be a lot richer! For example, I have an Electrolux dishwasher which is fine after 8 or so years apart from the STUPID plastic wheels on the crockery trays which break up / fall off and cost 2 pounds EACH to replace!!! Yup - as far as I'm concerned, Electrolux is history! But they don't know that and wouldn't care anyway.
As a start, I suggest that there should be a 'lemon list' on this site, including all the stupid things suppliers make and do, but WITH the opportunity for them to respond, to say how they've made things better. The webmaster could automatically email the list to all the supplier quality and customer service managers every month. At least it would make the job of Watchdog researchers much easier!
