gas central heating questions

[sidecar_jon]

capped it off or switched it off
there is a difference

the engineer just now said capped...but as he didnt knwo what was going on at all he might be wrong...but my understanding is capped off...

 

[kevplumb]

if it was capped then its ID
if turned off its AR
still should have got some paperwork tho

 

[sidecar_jon]

if it was capped then its ID
if turned off its AR
still should have got some paperwork tho

what?..... i think i was offerd, capping off, or capping off plus £135 bill for "service"... at least thats what it apeard to me to be. The letter from BG didnt mention capping at all just it was failed due to it being "inacessable".... which it isnt.... troubel is i dont trust them now. and cant aford another boiler anyway...

 

[chrishutt]

The BG guy should not have capped off your boiler without issuing you with a form explaining what had been done and why. Failing this, the guy has arguably acted illegally and I would be considering claiming against BG for the inconvenience of losing your heating, etc.

The critical point might be whether he insisted on capping it off, or whether he offered to cap it off and you agreed. Did he offer you any alternative to having it capped off? He should have, even if the appliance was considered ID (immediately dangerous).

 

[ollski]

jon he put a label on the boiler......what does it say??, the word inaccesable on its own means nothing at all. If the heat exchanger was sooted up its ID, the repair would be 132.00, it may still have been capped off afterwards depending on the reason for the sooting until parts were fitted (in the price).

 

[sidecar_jon]

it says.... this appliance is immediately dangerous etc... which is fine as far as it goes. But what was the "service" bit about and as it seemed to me he was offering the "service" with no hope of it passing any test, so us just ending up poorer and in same situation. We hadnt a problem with this until we got a letter saying the reason it was shut off was due to it being "inacessable"..... we inquired, we got odd answers, we got angry about it etc... i was told that anythign older than 2 years old would fail. (but as i said we may have been talking about diferent things, they about the "maintainace plan" and me about just haveing heating)... im not about to try to turn it on again.

alternative to capping off was £135 and probably have to be turned off anyway... seemd a bad deal at the time.

 

[sidecar_jon]

new gas "engineer" has been just now and his considered opinion is its knackerd too.... he phoned the last engineer etc.. its knackerd. Ok so now i know where i stand. He did sugest we could put a gas fire in its place. which maybe a cheeper option.... now to google gas fires... question tho can i buy a fire and have a Corgi guy put it in?..or would he need specific fittings etc or do they want to suply the fires themselves and make even more money?

 

[sidecar_jon]

just had quite an odd conversation on phone with the guy who arranged for the second engineer to call.... he asked how the heating was so i tould him its aprently compleatly broken.... he seemed suprised. It dont inspire confidence in these people. I think next move is find a local indipendant with no call out and ask them how much to fix it...... or just give up (which i feel like doing )

 

[chrishutt]

its knackerd

This is not an adequate explanation of why your appliance cannot be used. You should receive something in writing with a proper explanation of the problems. The "engineer's" lack of explanation makes me wonder if he is really competent.

 

[ollski]

It's not completely broken unless damaged parts (burner, gas valve etc.) are unavailable, which they may be as we don't know what the appliance is. I would say get someone else in as you have no confidence in what anyone from BG says and as you are not on contract or paying for these inspections or remedial work they are not likely to be very intensive.... a fresh pair of eyes may just clarify things.

 

[themaster]

u have one of the finest and most reliable boilers of its age. It will far outlive its modern counterparts, and i guarantee it can be repaired and serviced easily. Parts are always available for these boilers, just get a reliable engineer to service and repair it and it will outlive u.

 

[sidecar_jon]

Baxi Bemuda.... oddly the "engineer" said that back boilers wernt sold anymore.. i just found this isnt true (on the net) maybe he meant that BG don't do them...

im looking at the stuff he left right now...

BG headed note paper saying no charge, on the back, Customer check list. boxes to be ticked on what checks hes done, none of which are ticked, its just blank, and an immedietly dangerious notice, addressed to the wife. saying we switched it off with my consent and its dangerious and sorry for any incovenience.

chattign to the guy, whats wrong (once you disentagle the "not to current stadards" from the danger bit) is the heat exchanger is black and sooty. Now that i would presume is due to the burners not burning properly. he said mysteriosly that he could wash the exchanger and still obtain an unaceptable CO reading (surely washing it wouldnt effect the burners, they are under it not in it)...

 

[cozzmic]

Have to agree with the master, the Baxi is nearly bullit proof and even if it has sooted up there is usually a good easily remedied solution to the problem. The only reason I can think it could be inaccesible is the BG guy couldn't figure out how to take the front off to gain access to the BBU ( back boiler unit). Smells like, comdem the boiler and I'll sell you a new one! Had phone call tonight about noisy BBU (kettling) from a friend and could I quote for a new seperate boiler as a comparrison to BG quote for new boiler. I'll try and talk her out of wasting a lot of money on a new boiler as I think all it needs is a flush and inhibitor added. This seems a common complaint about the selling tecnique from BG.

 

[sidecar_jon]

could the heat exchanger be taken off for cleaning? i mean its iron (presumably).. ive decoked bike exhausts with castic soda very effectively...

 

[ollski]

u have one of the finest and most reliable boilers of its age. It will far outlive its modern counterparts, and i guarantee it can be repaired and serviced easily. Parts are always available for these boilers, just get a reliable engineer to service and repair it and it will outlive u.

lol ok my friend I will have a new burner and gas valve for a bermuda plus please gc 4407701.

Bg no longer fit back boilers as they do not meet current building regs (unless they have changed again), you can buy them though because the regs only apply to England.

Regards to the heat exchanger I'm at a bit of a loss to see how he could have discovered it sooted up if he couldn't get the front off and with regards to cleaning take the burner out and run it under the sink and while its out stick a tray under the heat exchanger and pour water through it....well if you're registered of course.

The fault will most probably be caused by a blocked lint arrestor due to lack of servicing, but it could be a number of things that will only be discovered during or after a proper service.