Hole in Backplate....Does boiler need replacing?

[sb13471]

Guys,
During a recent service a heating engineer 'condemned' our boiler, as he said while checking for corrosion he put his 'finger through the heat cell'.

Access to the boiler was difficult at the time as it had cupboard built around it but now while preparing and clearing the space for a new boiler to be fitted I have got clear access to view the problem and his finger has not penetrated into the heat cell at all- its galvenisied and showing no signs of corrosion.....he has in fact found a small area of corrosion on the backplate near the heat cell. I have even removed the front from the heat cell and it looks pretty new inside.

Does this hole/corrosion in the backplate really justify the boiler being switched off and condemed or can it just be fixed????

The boiler is a Potterton Neataheat, and although I don't claim to know much about boilers, I am an engineer and can see it's built like a tank and looks as though it'll last another 25 years if the backplate is fixed.
The casst Iron heat exchanger looks like it's bomb proof...

Any comments are welcome...especially if they will save me nearly £3K for replacing most of my heating system!

 

[twgas]

your engineer is doing you a favour - netaheat backplates are an essential part of the 'room seal' and as such would be extremely dangerous to use. LEAVE IT OFF and get it replaced.

 

[Deleted member 105431]

your engineer is doing you a favour - netaheat backplates are an essential part of the 'room seal' and as such would be extremely dangerous to use. LEAVE IT OFF and get it replaced.

agree with that, it's a very well documented and known fault. The neataheat has served you well, time to move into the 21st century.

 

[sb13471]

OK thanks guys......that's pretty much what he said.

Just wanted to check, as the same guys that turned it off are going to fit the new one.