Combi Boiler when to get a new one ?

[Sanders1502]

Hi everyone. I've got a Glowworm Swiftflow 75 combi boiler which is approx 16 years old. It seems to work fine notwithstanding the rattling noise when I turn on hot tap. I'm in the process of getting a new bathroom installed and replacing my 8.5kw electric shower with a modern mixer shower that will, hopefully, work off the combi boiler. One thing that worries me is the hot water from my taps gets hot then cools right down after a while before getting hot again. My new mixer shower is thermostatically controlled but I'm not sure this will work properly with the fluctuating hot water temp.

So, is it time to get a new combi boiler or just hope my old one works with the new mixer shower when it's fitted next week.

Many thanks for reading this.

Andy

 

[JohnD]

have you considered having it serviced and repaired?

 

[Sanders1502]

I had it serviced last week. The engineer said this model makes a noise and not much to be done about it

 

[JohnD]

"the hot water from my taps gets hot then cools right down after a while before getting hot again."

but surely that's not right? Does the bath tap do that as well, or just taps of lower flow?

 

[Agile]

f the hot water goes hot/cold then its clearly NOT working properly!

When they work they do so surprisingly well.

I look after a couple but they do need a proper service which includes cleaning the fan as it runs all the time and gets quite dirty.

Any gas reg installer will know where to get a new boiler and expect to pay about £1500-£2000 depensing on make and model.

Tony

 

[Sanders1502]

The hot water from the bath taps seems to be more stable. It's not exactly very hot like the taps from the sink. I'm just concerned that with the new mixer shower will the hot water go cold on me.

 

[JohnD]

I would be very inclined to have the fault fixed first. I am not a heating engineer but sometimes the flow switch in a combi does not correctly recognise that the hot tap is running, so may turn the flame off or down.

If it doesn't happen with the bath tap, with bigger flow, that's what made me think that was the trouble. If you have a clogged heat exchanger, that could be quite costly.

A modern combi will probably be more powerful, so can provide hotter water at full flow to a bath tap, but all combis have a limit to the amount of heat they can deliver, so big flow is not as hot as small flow.

 

[Sanders1502]

What a dilemma. Should I go down the repair route on a 16yo boiler or go for a new one. Decision time.

Thanks for the responses so far.

Andy