Is this Possible?

[dinad]

Boiler [potterton suprima 50] started making a noise just like the fan bearings are gone on Thursday and then totally gave up it's struggle to live Friday afternoon [great timing but at least it's less cold than it was].

Therefore it was only today we could get a boiler guy and he diagnosed the noise as bearings gone on the fan.

Arranged on the phone to get one and pick it up. Before that he also squirted some silicon lubricant on the external fan blades and it seemed to make a very noisy attempt at turning for some time but was not on long enough for hot water [tank] or rads to get warm. Completion of Stage one was his return with a new fan assembly - so far so good and I thought we were home and dry so I went out leaving a housemate to supervise.

However 30mins later after fitting the new fan I heard on the phone that it was not working out quite so easy.
He said something like the circuit board was not giving enough current to the fan and it was therefore in need of a new circuit board. Since this boiler is 17yo, it's probably better to buy a new one. He offered to get a price on a new circuit board which was 2xx+vat and not possible today. They later forwarded a quote for a new worcester boiler as total 2000 plus vat == price that model can be had on internet plus 1300 [2000 = total for supply and fitting].

Now sorry for long story but I am just wondering if it's possible that the old fan is getting current from the circuit board to make its unhealthy death rattling noise BUT the new fan doesn't work because of no power from the circuit board?
There's an obvious slight logic breakdown that bothers me there.

In support of this actually being completely true:
After the fan has death rattled a bit, we get a red light flashing plus a green light on. My weekend internet searches has supplied me with the installation manual and this means
"Blocking - Mains Frequency
incorrect or Air Switch Fault
>1 min. or Reset button held
in to force a restart"

In support of something else going on:
I think I heard mention of a doubt about the new fan from him on the phone as well [not 100% sure].
Plus the new boiler install seems a little steep [understatement?].
But mostly it doesn't seem logical that old fan gets power to make a noise but new fan has no power.

But I remain thinking the explanation is not quite right so anyone have an opinion ?

Obviously if it's not true then we could get someone else to fit a new [working] fan
For todays fun and games we got a bill for 145 quid which is about 2 hours at their hourly rate. Obviously I could buy/fetch a new fan for the next guy so it would only be an hours work next time and whilst todays fan was 200 quid from ?plumbbase?, internet ads offer a non-potterten version for under 100.
But is it worth it or should I concentrate on finding someone competent but less costly to install a boiler?

We just want heat [and hot water].

 

[Dan Robinson]

price that model can be had on internet plus 1300

It matters not what something costs on the internet.

Plus the new boiler install seems a little steep

Why do you think that?

But mostly it doesn't seem logical that old fan gets power to make a noise but new fan has no power.

The boards on these boilers are terrible. Could be a dead board and an iffy fan

internet ads offer a non-potterten version for under 100

It matters not a schit what the internet ads say.

But is it worth it or should I concentrate on finding someone competent but less costly to install a boiler?

.

Maybe a better boiler repair man first. then someone with better taste than Wooshitter Botch.

BTW - do you think tesco sell their products at the same price they buy them at? or do you realise that prices have to reflect costs of business? Do you know what it costs to run a business?

 

[ianmcd]

@Dan Robinson you have the patience of a saint I was lost after the 100th paragraph

 

[Dan Robinson]

I skim read .

 

[FiremanT]

I was interested until:
They later forwarded a quote for a new worcester boiler as total 2000 plus vat == price that model can be had on internet plus 1300 [2000 = total for supply and fitting].


Read more: //www.diynot.com/diy/threads/is-this-possible.472925/#ixzz4SfWhKfkW

We just want heat [and hot water]
(but don't necessarily care whether the fitter can pay his bills, run his business, or feed his family)

 

[Agile]

Depending on the power of the Worcester boiler, most of those that I fit are 15 kW or 18 kW and cost less than £1000.

But I charge £740 to fit a heat only boiler in place of a heat only Suprima.

Your quote with vat is £2400.

But then I expect to repair an old Suprima and normally that is only one part, either a fan or a PCB.

Tony

 

[dinad]

Thanks for all replies.

Tony, have sent an email, am also in London.

 

[dinad]

On price, sorry if anyone is offended by my comment.

The reason I think 1300 ex VAT for an install/replace is a bit steep is that I've had 3 new boilers fitted [in Holland] in the last couple of years which took around 5 hours max each. The company doing this London job were asking 70 quid an hour which I commented to my housemate who arranged it seemed cheap. But 1300 ex VAT for 5 hours work would be 260 per hour.

Let me ask questions instead:
on price what is usual range / reasonable hourly rate for a gassafe engineer?
how long does a boiler replce-install usually take in the UK?
[Are the Dutch installers quicker than us Brits at fitting boilers? <<< that was a joke]

 

[dinad]

The main reason for the the post was whether it's likely that today's boiler repair man is correct.
Or it's worth trying again to fix the old Suprima with another boiler repair man. Seems like one vote for, one against so far

I'm pretty sure the fan is kaput but really don't know if it would still make all it's noise if the pcb is not supplying enough power as he said.

 

[FiremanT]

You are such a hero, Tony. does your £740 include VAT, fittings, parking (hehe) and chemicals? Are you going to stick it in the precise location forced upon you by the flue hole or will you make good if required?

OP: PLEASE PLEASE give Tony a go, he is, to be fair, in the top 100 RGI's, and is the master if remote quotation. We would love to hear the result.

 

[jeff the gasman]

Watch out for flattened gas pipes OP.

 

[Dan Robinson]

And an endless stream of odd text messages.

 

[snes]

OP, if you are Dutch, why aren't you insisting on an Intergas boiler if you choose to replace?

 

[ollski]

Expect he bought the wrong fan, couldn't take it back and tried to cover his costs....but I'm only guessing. There are several different but similar fans for suprimas. Either way oiling the fins on a fan will achieve nothing other than flinging oil everywhere.

 

[dinad]

Expect he bought the wrong fan, couldn't take it back and tried to cover his costs....but I'm only guessing. There are several different but similar fans for suprimas. Either way oiling the fins on a fan will achieve nothing other than flinging oil everywhere.

It's possible, I had already told him there were two fans as I had read the install instructions. He replied that he could use the boiler serial no to get the right one.

That would be a nice outcome for us since we can get a working boiler by "just" fitting a new fan.

Should it be possible for an engineer to test the pcb by using a voltage tester on the fan connectors? ... would be nice to know what's possible before committing to pay for no improvement at all a second time.

He did take the fan back happily - 144 was for 2 hours of his time.