Combi boiler parts are cheap - until it gets old that is. Buy extra parts with your new boiler

[Storms]

Hi Professionals,

I was just wanting to gauge your opinions on boiler parts. For older discontinued models, parts become so expensive that it's cheaper just to buy a new boiler (labour costs aside).

So, for a new customer who's just had a brand spanking new boiler installed... is it sensible to buy some significant parts whilst they are cheap (i.e. before you get the problem?). So then a few years down the line when your heat exchanger/diaphragm/monoblock/gas valve/whatever packs up... you don't get ripped off?

So just want to get an idea from you pro's actually if you agree with this, and also can you list what parts you think most commonly go faulty and therefore are worth buying in advance?

Thanks

Storms

 

[magicmushroom666]

Anything with rubber seals has a limited shelf life.

 

[Dean744PiN5]

false economy imo, for starters there is no guarantee that the parts you buy will get used, and if they do by the time you do go to use them they will be well out of warranty with no guarantee that they will still work after years of storage.

in reality boiler repairs are not that expensive and it would be more prudent to just save a few pounds a month in a separate account so when the time comes you will have the available funds.

 

[Storms]

false economy imo, for starters there is no guarantee that the parts you buy will get used, and if they do by the time you do go to use them they will be well out of warranty with no guarantee that they will still work after years of storage.

in reality boiler repairs are not that expensive and it would be more prudent to just save a few pounds a month in a separate account so when the time comes you will have the available funds.

repairs aren't expensive labour wise... but the parts are eye wateringly expensive for discontinued boilers

 

[Madrab]

Spend the extra money on a unit that will be less likely to break down. Even better.... spend the extra on a boiler that doesn't have the parts that regularly fail/has less parts, therefore less items to fail - I mention no names and other boiler makes are available

Just trying to remain Interpartial

 

[muggles]

You're asking general questions about boiler-specific issues. Which parts are most likely to go wrong depends to some extent on the make/model of boiler. Buying in advance may be a false economy as well - once worked for a chap who had a house converted into a block of flats with the same boiler in each one (Baxi 105 IIRC). He bought a spare boiler at the same time and kept it in his garage in case of need

When the time came, the spare boiler turned out to be knackered as it was never designed to be sat on a shelf doing nothing for years on end. Gas valve didn't work, pump had siezed up, diverter had siezed up...he'd essentially just wasted a lot of money

Better to buy new parts when needed, and buy decent boilers when replacing. There is a boiler out there with very few moving parts, and therefore very little to go wrong

 

[Dan Robinson]

 

[vulcancontinental]

Cue Lee

 

[simond]

If you had bought a Vaillant ecoTEC in 2005, and a load of spares, you find most of the spares were out of date within a few years because they had been determined not to be durable in the first place, and updated.

 

[Agile]

A customer bought a Potty Puma and after a few weeks it failed and several of the Potty engineers failed to repair it.

So they sent him a new boiler for his installer to swap for him but did not want the failed one back.

So he kept it in the garage!

Now about 12 years have passed and during that time I have used the PCB and the pump as free on site parts!

Tony

 

[Agile]

Buying spare parts with a new boiler is just plain stupid!

I regularly service two Biasi 24S boilers both installed during 1999 and so 16 years old.

Apart from a few diaphragms over the years they still have all the other main components in full working order after 16 years.

A very reliable model if installed on a clean system.

Tony

 

[Storms]

Cue Lee

I like the cut of your jib... and by that what I really mean is that I fancy that bird in your avatar pic.

 

[vulcancontinental]

Stick around, there'll be another, temporarily, but that one might not float your boat.

 

[Agile]

Whats all this interest in birds suddenly?

 

[Madrab]

You needed to see VC's previous avatar T