Gledhill Thermal Stores

[penpusher]

Just a quick topic for anyone who's done warranty replacements on these units. Am I the only one who thinks that these jobs aint worth the hassle?

 

[Softus]

Not quite with you penpusher - I don't get paid in hassle, so, to me, a job is made worthwhile by the remuneration.

Without meaning to be pedantic ('cos it's just congenital), do you mean "the hassle isn't worth the payment"?
If so, then just charge more?

 

[Paul Barker]

I don't do warrantie work for them, but I am on their list of recommended repairers, customer rings me I fix it and charge them whatever it costs. I didn't know they used independents for in warrantie repairs.

Usually it's one of the Grundfos pumps (which contrary to popular plumbing mythology are no better than Wilex), and sometimes it takes out the control board, But many of them round here are twinned with Glowworms so the inevitable glowworm pcb catastrophy takes out the Gledhil board with it.

there seems to be a common denominator. Can't they make a board that protects itself a but better? Apart from which they are good units. I'm not one of the many anti thermal store evangelists on here. They eem to me to be beneficical to the user, who has a back up of electric heating and hot water fantastic dhw performance, a warm house 15 minutes after turning on the heating, and a boiler that doesn't fire and shut down fire and shut down so frequently, and runs within a better condition hydraulic environment..

 

[Doctor Drivel]

Usually it's one of the Grundfos pumps (which contrary to popular plumbing mythology are no better than Wilex),

Do you mean Wilo?

I'm not one of the many anti thermal store evangelists on here. They seem to me to be beneficial to the user, who has a back up of electric heating and hot water fantastic dhw performance, a warm house 15 minutes after turning on the heating, and a boiler that doesn't fire and shut down fire and shut down so frequently, and runs within a better condition hydraulic environment..

...an intelligent man with engineering reasoning.

 

[Paul Barker]

Sorry my head is so spinning with being dual trade, if I start talking about Wilo distribution boards on the Napit forum they'll disembowel me. They don't like plumbers at all, you have to be very thick skinned to pipe up on there.

 

[Doctor Drivel]

Usually it's one of the Grundfos pumps (which contrary to popular plumbing mythology are no better than Wilo),

Paul, why do you say this. Most give the opposite view on this. I have seen Grundfos pumps silently turning after 15 years. Wilo? enlighten me. I know lost of combis have Wilo fitted.

 

[gas4you]

I still find Grundfos pumps are usually better, although I have been unlucky with the Alpha series in that the few I have fitted have blown pcb on the boilers that control pump from the board due to internal fault!

I have now switched back to standard Grundfos after getting fed up with Wilos being noisey.

 

[Doctor Drivel]

I still find Grundfos pumps are usually better, although I have been unlucky with the Alpha series in that the few I have fitted have blown pcb on the boilers that control pump from the board due to internal fault!

I have now switched back to standard Grundfos after getting fed up with Wilos being noisey.

Grundfos have ceramic bearings while Wilo have carbon fibre bearings. If the system is clean then a Wilo is fine. It is keeping it clean. If a Magnaclean filter is on the system then the longevity of a Wilo will increase. Also having the Wilo on the cooler return helps too, as with all pumps.

Dab pumps. I saw these in B&Q and were pretty expensive. Yet BES were selling this at around £23. I fitted one as a stand by pump once as it would be used once in a blue moon. How good Dab are in the long term I don't really know, I assumed low price poor quality. That may not be the case and it was good buy.

The Alpha pump probs you have come across. Many pcbs just activate a relay for the boiler pump.

I recently fitted an Alpha on system that had three large rads on an leg of the system that had undersized 15mm pipe. Ye olden country plumbers did this. The 15-60 Grundfos could not give enough flow through the whole system starving the large three rads with undersized pipes. So the Alpha came to the rescue. The rads had TRVs on them and the Alpha was only on the leg to the three large rads, in series to the main 15-60 pump. It really did give the flow to the rads. This saved £1000s in lifting solid floors, re-piping and inconvenience. When the TRVs closed up the Alpha shut down.

 

[Doctor Drivel]

I still find Grundfos pumps are usually better, although I have been unlucky with the Alpha series in that the few I have fitted have blown pcb on the boilers that control pump from the board due to internal fault!

Internal Alpha fault or pcb fault?

 

[gas4you]

All were internal grundfos alpha fault

 

[Doctor Drivel]

All were internal grundfos alpha fault

Any feedback on the Wilo Smart equivallent?

 

[Bambergaspipe]

I don't get paid in hassle,

I`m surprised you get paid.

so, to me, a job is made worthwhile by the remuneration.

How many Gledhill`s have you worked on recently

Without meaning to be pedantic

Be pedantic, ( I think that includes knowing what you are talking about).

You don`t.

 

[gas4you]

All were internal grundfos alpha fault

Any feedback on the Wilo Smart equivallent?

Never fitted the Wilo equivalent.

 

[Paul Barker]

Alpha have gone with the Wilo hydraulic block because Wilo give 3 years guarantee, grundfos give 1 year.

Time will tell.