Central Heating Dead - Please help

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Hi

I have a Potterton Prima 50f boiler fitted in this house I moved in January 2005.

Recently the pilot lamp started to switch off and won't come on.

My plumber (who says he's corgi registered) restarted it 4 times for me and then told me to get the boiler replaced.

It's now about a week since the boiler has not been working and I'm trying to find what is the best way to go.

Can anyone suggest me which boiler would need to be fitted as a replacement?

I called couple of companies including Potterton Technical Helpline and they said that I should go for the POTTERTON SUPRIMA HE.

Is this correct?

My existing central heating is gravity based (I think). The cold water tank is in the loft and the hot water tank is in the airing cupboard.

There is also a small pump next to the hot water tank (Myson Compact CP53).

Now I do not know if this means that my CH is fully pumped or not as I do not have any idea.

I corgi registered person suggested me that my existing system needs to be upgraded. I don't know what that means.

Another one told me that the Suprima HE will simply replace the existing boiler without much of an issue.

I would really appreciate if someone can provide some insight into this.

Thanks and Regards
 
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DONT GO ANY FURTHER even thinking about changing ya boiler until u have some body u trust to look at it. ask every body you trust untill you can get a heating enginneer by recomendation. The boiler u have should have many years of life in it yet. If all the plumber was doing was reseting the over heat button the boiler may not even be the fault, He sounds a rouge if he hasent shown u how to rest it your self.
 
The Potty Prima is a middle aged boiler which is not terribly efficient but is nevertheless quite reliable.

It is PERFECTLY repairable in the right hands! Its unlikely to cost more than £200 at the MOST to repair unless the gas valve has failed. ( And we stock BOTH spare solenoids for that anyway if its the W-R )

Being CORGI registered only means that he should be pretty safe to work on gas. It does not mean that he wants to repair your boiler or that he even can! You can sheck his registration at the corgi-gas website.

What you need is a competent engineer who is prepared to visit on a NO fix-No fee basis. That sorts out the real engineers from the boys or girls.

Tony Glazier
 
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Hi Thanks for your replies so far.

Unfortunately, I have just bought a Potterton Suprima 70 HE today. I had to find and buy it myself because my plumber told me that the replacement boiler is going to cost me £785, and he isn't telling me which boiller is that which he plans to replace prima with.

Now that the Suprima 70 HE is with me, can anyone tell me if this is the right one and will replace the prima without any much problem.

If yes, any idea on how much will it cost me to get the boiler changed (as I already have bought the boiler now).

I can also try and return the boiler to the shop I bought it from. But I need to be absolutely sure that I won't have to buy it again.

Actually I'm getting a bit desperate to get this problem fixed by this weekend because it's now been 9 days without central heating.

Can someone please suggest what should I do?

If someone of you can fix the prima, please let me know how much you'll charge.

Can someone also tell me if they can replace the boiler - prima 50f with suprima 70 HE, and the cost, time it will take.

I live near heathrow airport.
 
In my opinion get a better engineer as soon as possible to check out te existing boiler. If ya gona take the boiler back they will still refund ya money as long as u havent opened it even after a week or two.
 
We do cover TW4 7BX for boiler repairs but it seems you have decided to replace the boiler. We dont normally do installations.

Depending on the supplier, there is often a restocking charge of up to 20%. This is not always charged to regular purchasors though.

Tony Glazier
 
Hi Guys

Thanks for your comments which made me understand that my potterton prima may not be dead yet.

I searched on the internet for some more time and found this wonderful site (http://www.partsarena.com/) which told me that there is a reset button under the boiler. It also gave some details of how to reset the boiler.

I just reset the boiler, gave it a fresh start and it came to life.

Interestingly, as one of you mentioned, my plumber never told me how to reset it.

So, now the newly bought POTTERTON SUPRIMA is going back to the shop where I bought it from (let's hope they do not create a fuss of it).

I will now wait and watch. If I get more problems with this boiler, I will come back to one of you and will try and get the damn problem fixed rather than trying to change the boiler.

Thanks for all your help.
 

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