British Gas cover/noisy pump - what to do?

[chris765]

Hi All,
Firstly I apologise for my lack of plumbing knowledge.

We recently were experiencing warm radiators when the central heating was off but the hot water was on. Being part of British Gas' home cover they came out and said the old valve was faulty and replaced it with this one:
View media item 23188After he finished the job (which cost us nothing because of the cover) he produced a pot of water (with a magnet in the centre) The water was brown and grubby.
He told us that the water was too 'sludgy' and that's what would have caused this valve to fail.

He then told us that we needed a flush through our system (costing £600) until we have it done then none of our hot water/central heating system is covered. We also can't get another plumber to do it because British Gas wont guarantee their work.
Basically if we want to continue with their cover, we need to pay £600 for them to flush the system.

Thats not the end. 2 days after the British Gas man left this pump is making an internal 'rattling' noise, and I'm guessing we now wont be covered.
View media item 23189

In your experience as plumbers what do you think we should do for the best. Feels to me like British Gas is using bully tactics to get us to spend money with them.

Thanks for your help.

 

[APHSLTD]

If your system water is dirty then fair enough to exclude water carrying parts but I can't see why you cant have a flush done by an independant or carry it out yourself and then have BG carry out a water test once it was done.

If they are not willing to do this I would be canceling my contract and looking elsewhere.

 

[nickso]

he is talking crap.

either get the system flushed by them and get a lifetime guarantee so if it comes back you get it done for free, or get it done by an independant and your cover will continue.

you may or may not get the pump done depending on who you get back after the flush is done, depends if anyone at BG knew the pump was noisy, if they don't know about it then phone them back after the flush and get that done for free too.

 

[simond]

If your system is full of magnetite it is not the responsibility of the service contractor insurance to resolve it.

It is your problem and you have to effect a remedy.

If you take out another contract and they find parts are failing due to water contamination they will drop you too.

You have two options;

Do what BG ask

Or

Engage private contractors to replace the pump and advise you on the right course of action........it wouldn't be the first time BG said a powerflush was needed when it wasn't.

If you get a third party powerflush and there are any problems thereafter BG will say it wasn't done properly.

You may be amused to know that most powerflush machine manufacturers claim to remove as much as 30% of contaminants from your system - eg: they leave 70% behind.

This includes Norstrom who make BG's machines, which are also the ones we use.

 

[Axel]

Your pump is pumping downwards - rattling noise could be air in pump or some debris - try starting and stopping the pump many times (by holding the speed selector switch inbetween speed settings), running at different speeds, and bleeding system at every point repeatedly. Pump can be bled by loosening big central screw at front - a few drops of water will dribble out & need to be caught.

 

[chris765]

Thanks for replying.

We weren't expecting BG to do the flush for free, rather give us the choice of letting another contractor do it. Tbh, the chap seemed to give a lot of BS, I saw him bringing the 'jar' of water from his van upstairs for which I dont have an explanation to why.


Can anyone give a ballpark figure of how much it would cost for an independent to flush it through?

 

[gas_man_gaz]

you don't have to have the flush done by bg, but if there is any probs with the work and ya dont have um they wont put it right. ya don't even have to have a flush but they can refuse to repair/replace parts damaged by muck in the sys. the jar you are talking about is a demonstration jar to show the customer how poor the water is and how effective a magnaclean would be. ya say he was talking bs, what did he say to make ya think that? valves passing wen closed is a common sign of muck in the sys

 

[nickso]

another possibility, phone them and ask them to come out to the faulty pump. if he is a chancer he may not have noted the sludge issue on the computer and a different engineer will just change the pump. if its the same guy you haven't lost anything but your time.

did he leave you a paper quote?

 

[gas_man_gaz]

id give it 10 days or chances are you will get the same lad

 

[nickso]

id give it 10 days or chances are you will get the same lad

ask for an appointment on his rest day

or get one of those ridiculous bits of text put on the computer that says "do not send engineer 0000001"

 

[keego]

Thanks for replying.

We weren't expecting BG to do the flush for free, rather give us the choice of letting another contractor do it. Tbh, the chap seemed to give a lot of BS, I saw him bringing the 'jar' of water from his van upstairs for which I dont have an explanation to why.


Can anyone give a ballpark figure of how much it would cost for an independent to flush it through?

I've done loads of power flushes for BG customers & as long as you can produce a bit of paper to say it's been done & the system water is clean when they test it then there should be no problem.
As for cost I usually charge £350 for a 7 rad system £20 per additional rad.

 

[nicknox]

The rattling noise from the pump area can be caused by a loose gate in the pump valves. Make sure they are fully open and the noise may stop.

 

[chris765]

I thought he was BS'n because he seemed to over dramatise it, almost pressuring me into accepting a £600 flush, I don't know if they get commission? Maybe he wasn't, I just didn't feel I could trust him.

I have tried turning the pump off and on, adjusting the speed (it's even louder on the fastest setting). I have also bled it from the screw in the center, that made it a bit noisier, my lack of plumbing skills means I don't know where else to bleed it from nor how to do anything with the gates.

I'm gonna call BG back out to have a look, it's worth a try. I'll go from there. Thanks all for your help.

Chris

 

[Gasguru]

As said before sometimes rattling is just a loose gate. Get a small adjustable or pliers and check each gate valve (the square spindle) is fully open (ie anti-clockwise).

 

[nicknox]

Where in Hants are you?