drain requirement for a condensing boiler

[briwire]

My daughter is considering having her unreliable Vokera replaced by a new condensing Worcester type.

As it is a foreigner, the plumber has asked for someone to have a drain for him to connect to.

I've had a look at our Baxi which was fitted two years ago and it has a 15mm pipe coming through the wall and just pointing downwards. There is also a white plastic pipe that has been fitted to a drain that the previous occupants had for a washing machine, which goes straight outside into a drain shared with a downspout.

My daughter has no suitable drain nearby, they are around the corner about 3 meters away. What sort of water flow are we talking about? Is there another way around it? She said that the plumber mentioned a soakaway.

 

[glasgowgas]

a soak a way is your best option to fit no problems with it backing up

what model of vokera does she have presently?

not met a vokera that after a proper service and re commision
would not give years of trouble free use

would be a lot cheaper than throwing in a WB puddler

 

[briwire]

She has a Vokera 20-80S or is it 80-20S? Anyway when she first moved in the house she found that the plastic front cover that supports the controls etc was broken, leaving all the switches, timer and stats loose, and electrics exposed. I fixed a tufnol sheet to the chassis with off/on and timed/off/constant switches using the type found in industry (I'm a spark).

I intended making a full size sheet and mounting all the controls, timer, gauges, PCb mounted on it. Then the boiler started playing up. When heat was demanded either by turning on the tap or room stat, there would be a click in the boiler as if it was registering but it wouldn't fire up.

She has been putting up with this for two winters. She pays a scheme with British gas, and they come out, but it's usually working when they arrive. They play around with it but within a couple of weeks it will fail again. Each time she has to take time off work.

In desperation I've told her to get some prices for replacement and I'll lend her the money.

last time they came, it wasn't working and the engineer told them to press a button inside (her words). I've not had chance to see it myself as she is 60 miles away, but this button whatever it is seems to get it working again.

 

[glasgowgas]

sorry bri, but again p iss poor response from B Gas

might go into a rant here but BG are not the 4th emergency service.

they are a central heating co providing an insurance service for breakdowns and repairs. if the button inside needs to be pressed then a component part of the boiler is failing/failed or part of the system is failing/failed.

the boiler is getting old but not un repairable, that is what you are paying BGs insurance cover for. if BG could not get parts then they should have refused cover telling you why, but as DP will confirm every part on the 20/80 rs flowmatic is readily available, therefore their engineers are letting you down.

every time it fails phone BG,get them out,until its repaired.

why pay £X per month for however many months you have paid for a still failling boiler and go and spend £2000 pound on top of all that for a new boiler?

 

[gavinda]

as a bg eng i agree with the above.....ask for the next engineer to bring his technical support manager with him.

ask to see proof on his laptop about parts availability as mine shows all parts available apart from for the of version, but i presure thats just flue components.

 

[Paul Barker]

We have a load of them on our patch, when I was doing breakdowns I fixed every one. I don't get paid otherwise.

To be quite frank I would rather turn up at one of these than a Worcester or Baxi of the same era.

That era Vokera is only bettered by a Vaillant (which by the way seldome fails, usually a breakdown every 10 years ) from same period.

 

[fatplumber]

Have to agree with Paul there. I fitted loads of Vokers back then as they had the best hot water and they were easily maintained. I am fairly sure that spares are available for their whole range.

 

[JohnD]

about the condensate drain - the boiler isn't in the kitchen is it? You can connect it the the same waste pipe as the sink, washing machine etc which is very tidy.

 

[nickso]

but as DP will confirm every part on the 20/80 rs flowmatic is readily available, therefore their engineers are letting you down.

there are plenty of parts now obsolete for the flowmatic, modulator coil off the top of my head.

if there is a fault that requires the boiler to be "reset" in some manner then keep phoning them until its repaired or confirmed as obsolete.

 

[briwire]

I try to tell her all this, but she just goes off on one, you know what daughters are like. It seems that there is no co-ordination with BG as to what previous visits have found or replaced.

Anyway back to the original question. If she decides to replace what can I do about the drain. From what I've picked up off the other posts, am I right in saying that the copper tube turned back to the wall is for letting off excess steam? The other one which requires a drain is the one I am interested in. What sort of flow is there, a trickle like your would expect from say a de-humidifier, a flow like a washing machine, or somewhere in between.

It is in the kitchen against an outside wall, but there are no immediate drains to tap into. If I go through the wall, can I just take it to a small soak-away?

 

[nickso]

I try to tell her all this, but she just goes off on one, you know what daughters are like. It seems that there is no co-ordination with BG as to what previous visits have found or replaced.

nonsense. its all on the laptop, at least the last 6 visits, maybe more unless she has had the leccy boys out in which case there could be nothing but guff about washing machines.

 

[sbgasman]

it is a slow trickle,one thing to think about if it is a job on the side,you will not be able to register your boiler with building control,therefore no hips or warranty calls from wb