Nightmare boiler!

Eri

Joined
11 Feb 2023
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Hi everyone,

I’m hoping someone can point me in the right direction. I’m reluctant to get the engineer out (again) if I don’t have to. Not only due to cost but also wait time.

We have a Worcester boiler. We moved in almost two years ago and have had the boiler serviced once. I think it’s about 5-7 years old.

So our issues started over Christmas. The hot water would only stay hot for around two minutes at a time before going freezing cold.
I did a bit of research and saw that if you had low pressure it could cause these issues. I followed a video and let more water into the system to put the pressure back to 1.5. This didn’t help the situation.

We had to wait about two weeks (due to Xmas) to get someone out to have a look. He said that the heat exchanger was covered in scale and we needed a new one. Further wait time and £430 later we have a new heat exchanger. I was there when he fitted it. He tested the tap, instant hot water.
When he left I ran a bath for my son, which admittedly took very long to heat up. I initially put it down to the fact that he’d been messing around with the boiler - the bath water did come with some initial sputtering. But once the water was hot it stayed hot and allowed me to run a bath and do dishes.
Since then it has been taking the water around 10 minutes to heat in the morning and it seems to only heat up once I’ve turned the heat on and fired up the radiators.
My partner just went to have a shower- late morning, radiators are cooling as the house is warm and the water hasn’t got hot at all.

I’ve had a look at the boiler, pressure is fine, the lcd numbers are at 60 but the green flame light is off.
I restarted the boiler and the flame light came on for about 10 minutes and went off again. I ran the hot water, it stayed hot for around 30 seconds and the numbers dropped from 60 to 25. I ran back to turn the water off and by the time I got back to the boiler I could hear that it had fired up, the green flame was lit and the numbers were rising. About 30 seconds after turning the water off the flame light goes out and all noises inside the boiler stop.

There is also a persistent drip from somewhere underneath the boiler. It’s not significant but it is something that would have been noticed by the guy who came to look at it.

I would be really grateful if someone could tell me whether I *need* to get someone out again or if this is something we can fix without having to wait another week while washing with boiled water.

Thank you!
 
Thanks both. It wasn’t Worcester who did the work. I can get them back out but honestly, the thought of being without hot water for possibly another week is so frustrating.

I was *really* hoping it was something I could sort out myself.
 
Sounds like it may have been misdiagnosed. Not something you can sort yourself. Where is the drip coming from? When cold, run the hot water and feel the larger pipe on the left as you look at the boiler - does it get hot?
 
Nope, unfortunately not, the only actions you could perform won't sort your problem.

The HEX may have been scaled up but it doesn't sound like it's the only issue especially if you have to have the heating on for it to deliver the HW. I'm afraid you are going to have to get them back out and see what they say. Don't accept any stories about it's a 'different issue' or what they did doesn't have anything to do with it, it's pretty obvious that the repair obviously hasn't sorted out whatever the fundamental problem is.
 

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