Boiler goes "BOOM"

[vexation]

Warm Front, you say?

What do you think of them now?

Mixed feelings. Glad to get help with the expenses, but you can't help wondering how they go about their business. I would much rather it was done as a grant for which you could contract your own installer and choose your own system.

 

[D_Hailsham]

Well, the boiler was installed under the Warm Front initiative. Its servicing and repair was therefore carried out by Warm Sure. They appointed the installers but we've seen several different contractors come in for various remedial work. I contacted Warm Sure about the latest breakdown but they told me the system was out of warranty now (which I knew expired 7 Nov. '10) and that the previous repair had no warranty at all.

The "warranty" may have expired, but you are still covered by the Sale of Goods Act for six years from date of installation.

Contact Consumer Direct (08454 04 05 06) and explain the problem. They will advise you. I had a computer monitor repaired for nothing a year after the "warranty" expired.

 

[vexation]

The "warranty" may have expired, but you are still covered by the Sale of Goods Act for six years from date of installation.

Contact Consumer Direct (08454 04 05 06) and explain the problem. They will advise you. I had a computer monitor repaired for nothing a year after the "warranty" expired.

Thanks for the tip - I did as you suggested and they advised me that the Supply of Goods & Services Act 1982 is applicable to the repair work carried out last December. As I thought, it's simply not right to tell me that repairs under warranty carry no warranty of their own.

Now I'm looking carefully at what (if any) additional damage has been caused by the repeated explosive ignitions. For instance, around the edges of the top plate of the heat exchanger casting I've noticed a light-brown powdery substance that I suspect has been ejected when the unit has been over-pressured. If this represents a breach of the seal then presumably there's a risk of carbon monoxide leakage? Does anyone think it would be a good idea to insist on having the unit inspected further? Some of the explosions have been violent enough to blow the 90deg. bend on the flue pipe apart.

 

[JohnD]

Warm Front, you say?

What do you think of them now?

Mixed feelings. Glad to get help with the expenses, but you can't help wondering how they go about their business. I would much rather it was done as a grant for which you could contract your own installer and choose your own system.

I've heard similar things before. Sounds like they rely on people being so grateful for a subsidised job that they aren't very demanding.

 

[vexation]

Looks like mitch66 was right when he mentioned the "flux capacitor". That orange glow I was describing is def. a failed electrode (dielectric flux travelling through a capacitor )

Untitled

• vexation
• 16 Nov 2010
• 1

On the phone Glowworm tech admitted there were problems with the electrode assemblies used in earlier models. Looks like the replacement fitted last year was pulled from the same batch.

Update: the electrode replaced in Nov 2010 has broken down again. Looks like these things need replacing quite frequently.