Complete noob homeowner, Ecotec 831 plus issues

[Manos1986]

Hello all

Recently become a home owner. Complete noob.
Ecotec 831 plus boiler stopped working two months after the purchase (naturally).
Before it stopped the pressure used to creep up slowly. Starting at 1.5 bar, it would raise to 2.5 within two days or so. Needing regular drain of water from the system via the radiators.

When it broke, the gas engineer that came around identified the pump and the board as faulty as well as pressure sensor and a couple of valves and proceeded to replace all parts with my approval.

The questions I have:
1. The total for the job was around £800. I have no experience so I need to ask. Was that too much, average or quite OK for the job?

2. The pressure still creeps up, so that was not fixed at all (engineer re-pressurized the expansion vessel, but this had no effect).
-How can a faulty Expansion Vessel lead to a constantly creeping up pressure, surely there is only a certain amount of water in the system. If there is no more water coming in, even with a faulty vessel, why would the pressure creep up all the time.

-How much would I expect to pay for a replacement expansion vessel job more or less?

Thank you all, I am trying to learn as much as I can and I would appreciate anything you can tell me.

 

[BlueLoo]

If you asked an engineer to fix a problem and he charged you £800 to fix it and didn't, you call him back.

I dunno what was replaced or why. There may be valid reason or not but it isn't fixed so he didn't do his job.
Rising pressure can only come from a unwanted input into the system. Either the expansion vessel, He/Ex is knackered or your inlet valve is passing.

If the rise is as bad as you say, it would likely be the inlet valve, so disconnect it. You could shut both valves if it has two.

No idea what changing the pump would do.

 

[muggles]

Sounds like you have a parts-changing cowboy on your hands who is happy to take your money and throw new parts at the boiler without doing any actual diagnosis. Vaillant do fixed price repairs for about £300...

Your continually increasing pressure will either be a faulty filling loop (quite common and cheap to fix) or a pinholed secondary heat exchanger.

 

[Manos1986]

Thanks for the fast replies guys.

To clarify, the boiler stopped functioning independently from the creeping up pressure. The engineer was called out for a non functioning boiler which he did fix i.e. the boiler is working now, albeit with the previous creeping up pressure issue. I asked about the price range because I have no experience and I want to get a gauge and a feel for things.

The filling loop has two valves but they both appear to be shut. As much as I can tighten them. I get what you are saying about the EV, I am trying to understand if there is another way water gets into the system.

 

[wannocks]

You have a passing fill valve. You can pull the clip out of the right one and remove the non return valve (brass bit attached to braided hose). Make sure the fill taps are closed first. If there's a drip the valve needs to be replaced.
Sometimes the handles are loose and don't turn the valve well. You can remove them and turn the spindle with a spanner.

 

[CBW]

It doesn’t matter how tightly closed they are, they are a generally a spherical ball valve, which if it doesn’t seat correctly, then water will pass.

Post a photo of your filling loop and we can advice further.