Hello. I have a Halstead finest 90 (Wickes variant) about 9 years old. I fitted it then had it set up by a Corgi mate. It has the proprietary vertical flue with no restrictor inserted, as per the instructions. There is only a single pipe section above the boiler, then it is directly into the vertical flue by the flared connector, just above ceiling level. It operates on natural gas. The dwelling is a modern detached bungalow about 15 years old, with 10 rads and two towel rails. It rarely ever is run above minimum setting on the CH, although the DHW is usually set near to full. It replaced an old Baxi Bermuda back boiler and standard seperate hot water tank. Most of the pipe work was new. I have always been dissapointed by the boiler's ability to heat DHW, and it seemed much more expensive to run than the previous system ever was. The system has always had inhibitor in it since I renewed the boiler. Pressure is about 1 bar cold and rises to around 2.5 bar when run very hot.
After about a year or so, in cold weather, the front of the boiler box began to rattle until the boiler modulates. This can be very loud at times, but only when the boiler is cold. Sometimes it was better after its anual clean out, but almost always, the noise returns eventually. The gas inlet pressure is as recommended and the burner pressure is within spec.
More recently the hot water became almost non-existent although the heating was fine. The flow sensor diaphragm was found to be holed (by a small piece of solder found in the housing), and a new diaphragm and O rings cured the problem.
I discovered at this time that the rattle is dependant on how tight the cover screws are re-fitted. If they are over-tight the rattle is worse. The front has a crease in it about half way up, and this seems to have been done at manufacture to ensure a tight seal at the middle of the burner box as there are only four screws, two at the top, two at the bottom. The front (behind the enameled cover) seems to vibrate in and out by about 6mm, sometimes hitting the white outer casing and emitting even more noise.
The flame viewed through the spy hole looks unclear and confused when the boiler is cold, although it is universally bunsen blue, but until the boiler heats up there is no clear top to the flames. Once the vibration stops, the flame is much better defined.
So far as I can tell the fan and pump are running normally, and apart from what I have always felt was a rather high running cost, the unit seems to operate fine, but I would love to reduce the noise, and the running costs if possible.
Is this a known problem with these boilers, or the combination of boiler and its vertical (ugly!) flue?
I may well consider replacing it with a condensing combi soon. Is there any particular make that would find favour with most installers, or that are particularly cheap to run?
After about a year or so, in cold weather, the front of the boiler box began to rattle until the boiler modulates. This can be very loud at times, but only when the boiler is cold. Sometimes it was better after its anual clean out, but almost always, the noise returns eventually. The gas inlet pressure is as recommended and the burner pressure is within spec.
More recently the hot water became almost non-existent although the heating was fine. The flow sensor diaphragm was found to be holed (by a small piece of solder found in the housing), and a new diaphragm and O rings cured the problem.
I discovered at this time that the rattle is dependant on how tight the cover screws are re-fitted. If they are over-tight the rattle is worse. The front has a crease in it about half way up, and this seems to have been done at manufacture to ensure a tight seal at the middle of the burner box as there are only four screws, two at the top, two at the bottom. The front (behind the enameled cover) seems to vibrate in and out by about 6mm, sometimes hitting the white outer casing and emitting even more noise.
The flame viewed through the spy hole looks unclear and confused when the boiler is cold, although it is universally bunsen blue, but until the boiler heats up there is no clear top to the flames. Once the vibration stops, the flame is much better defined.
So far as I can tell the fan and pump are running normally, and apart from what I have always felt was a rather high running cost, the unit seems to operate fine, but I would love to reduce the noise, and the running costs if possible.
Is this a known problem with these boilers, or the combination of boiler and its vertical (ugly!) flue?
I may well consider replacing it with a condensing combi soon. Is there any particular make that would find favour with most installers, or that are particularly cheap to run?
