ideal icos repair or replace-any advice?

[twiz]

Hi,
Firstly let me say hello as newbie and didn't know this site existed!!

We have an ideal icos system boiler which for 6 years has been trouble free-I know I've been lucky judging by their reputation!! The reason this boiler was fitted was due to size issues needing to fit into a kitchen cupboard measuring 300mm deep,500mm wide and 900mm high,height not the main issue as there is room to manouvre up there.

Problem I now have is it developed a leak at new years and the display died then the whole thing switched off,having paid brit gas for central heating cover for past 4 years I thought I'd be well sorted.
The first engineer diagnosed a leaking air valve which he replaced but couldn't start boiler due to water ingress into circuit boards and user control panel and wiring harness.He ordered up bits which then were fitted by second engineer as first engineer went sick! who said leak is from heat exchanger and boiler written off.Brit gas can replace for 4k,choice!!

I have inspected this leak myself and it appears to come from right hand side of h/ex around orange gasket and I would say 99% sure is condensate as water press does not drop.
Anyway,as I can find no-one willing to attempt repair I am having to bite the bullet and go for replacement,sad to say the least as that is hols money we had saved up!

My question is on the manufacturer of replacement.The original installer will now only fit vaillant due to bad experiences with other boilers and them having stainless steel h/exchangers but size is still an issue.Friend of my brother in law who is a gas installer has come round and measured up and after ringing few suppliers with dimensions is being told either an Ideal logic(!),glowworm flexi com 30sxc or broag remeha.

This is a 5 bed semi-(originally 3 bed) with loft conversion of 2 bedrooms and shower room,original bathroom with shower tower,system has a stanton unvented cylinder fitted and the icos boiler is an 80,000 btu output.I would like to avoid the new ideal as my confidence in that brand is shot but have never heard of remeha and glow worm sounds a cheapo option.Vailant would involve lots of kitchen chopping about which we dont really want to do and nowhere else really suitable to mount boiler.

Any advice would be really appreciated from you guys "in the know".

Many thanks.

 

[Agile]

The ideal Logic does seem to be reliable so far.

The Intergas is only 240mm deep!

If its a condensate leak then your boiler can be repaired if you can find a suitable engineer AND for economic reasons, if BG have left the new PCBs fitted.

We are not very keen on the Icos because they are so unreliable and we are blamed the next time they fail regardless of the cause.

Tony

 

[twiz]

Thank you for advice.

Yes,bg left all the circuits and in fact left it working even though I have switched it off so as not to cause any more damage to the electrics.The leak was intermittent and dripped twice in 10 mins when the bg man put it all together and fired it up,he seemed in a major hurry to get away which I have found with all their guys,even at annual "service" the look in the cupboard and slag off the boiler then go routine with no actual work done.

I am a vehicle tech and wish I could get away with openning a bonnet and just looking in and call it a service and book 3 hours.not impressed!

Where can I locate a GOOD boiler repairer in herts/north west london area?

Would rather repair but resigning myself to replacing as need peace of mind and reliabilty.

 

[Agile]

Take and post a picture of the leaking part here.

Then say where you are located and see if anyone on this forum will offer to deal with it. Many engineers, as I said, dont like working on them because of their unreliability.

You could also try to pester BG as if the HE is not leaking then it should be quite repairable. ( It also is if it was the HE ).

Put your email and telephone number in your profile!

Tony

 

[twiz]

Tony,thanks for the e-mail and phone number tip!!!

I will try and take photo however always seem to struggle with uploading photo's which is why my facebook pic ended up as one of our english bull terrier dog,kids think I am a plank!!

I have banged my head against a wall with BG,they really are not as good as I had thought.

My ideal scenario,failing a repair would be to have a boiler installed and mainained by the same chap for servicing etc...and save my money into a seperate account for unexpected repairs etc instead of paying BG 30 notes a month and being fobbed off and constantly harrassed to buy some other service or other.

There must be someone out there that is trustworthy and reliable,being in the motor trade,we get knocked all the time for headscratching and supposedly making up work yada yada yada but on the whole most of the garages I deal with are all good guys and I'm sure the same exists in the central heating world.

What is the new ideal logic like for servicing,access to components within boiler and spares availabity like?

Cheers.

 

[gas4you]

Your cheapest and best option is to get a refund of your BG insurance premium as they refuse to fix it and then book Ideal on a fixed price repair. I think this is about £250 now and they also offer to warrant the boiler for 12 months for an extra £50.

So for £300 you will get the boiler fixed and a 12 month warranty.

Forget BG and their £4k rubbish.

 

[twiz]

Thanks for that.

I have already come to the conclusion of forgetting BG and their rubbish,a load of chancing,blagging salesmen I'm afraid to say.

Will ideal do job on a fixed price does anybody know?

I thought with a modern boiler and my "total piece of mind" cover I would have many trouble free years, how very wrong!!!!

 

[Wangerman]

If you do have to junk the boiler out of the three I would choose the logic +

Not a fan of Broag's anymore have had lots of problems with their Quinta's at work and it has knocked my faith a little. We have a couple of Avanta's too which throw up random fault codes but a reset always cures it

The Logic + is a compact unit which will fit inside your cupboard although Ideal's reputation isn't the best and I can understand if you don't want to go down that route again

Honestly don't know much about the glowworm

I hope it doesn't come to this though good luck

 

[shambolic]

Hold on a minute BG should replace the heat exchanger if you are on contract not try to sell yu a new one. Get them to fix it as thats what you pay for then change it in the summer to a logic+ which is also small and able to fit in a cupboard

 

[gas4you]

The logic + looks a good boiler, but I still think, personally, it is too early to trust these and Ideal.

I may be proved wrong, but I dare not risk fitting the logic + yet

 

[Agile]

I have fitted one and was pleased with the result and its easy to fit compared with a Vaillant for example.

The pumpy bits are a bit squashed and the pressure gauge difficult to see but they seem to be reliable so far!

But the Intergas is also a serious contender if a thin boiler is wanted.

Tony

 

[twiz]

Trust me,I have spoken to BG fitters manager who confirms that h/ex or anything else requiring major strip is not their re-mit because it is uneconomical due to time taken and possible other faults that may manifest themselves whist apart.He will gladly give me an 800 notes allowance off one of their 4k boilers and a powerflush for 800 rags with a guarantee that if it needs doing again within 5 years it's free!!! And they say us in the motor trade are shysters!!!!

It is a shame,as I had total confidence in the icos boiler which has been quiet,economical and for 6 yrs trouble free but then again I suppose someone,somewhere brought a rover 214/45/mg zr and was happy with it and the half million other poor souls parting with a grand a time for head gasket replacements were far from happy.

Going to ring ideal tomorrow to look into this fixed price repair.

What is the logic like to service and maintain?

Wish I had become plumber/heating engineer instead of ****ty car technician as always been fascinated by it all.

cheers.