To give you another example of cheap = future trouble...
Some years back, one of the large UK Builder's Merchants started selling a thing called an Icon Combi. It came in two sizes (24 and 28Kw) and if all you wanted was a combi to go in a small house or flat, it seemed fine and actually was not badly built. (Design for maintenance is another matter - see below!)
Back then, I got a call to one that was about six months old. It wouldn't light reliably and eventually I discovered that a 'loading resistor' embedded in the HT lead was fritzed. Now the real fun started. There was no 'HT Lead' listed on the parts list held by my parts dealer. Hepworth (now Vaillant Hepworth) were the 'spares handler' for the range but also had no clue. Eventually, after much head-banging against walls, I received, from Germany, via Hepworth, quite a large box. Inside was an HT lead - and also EVERY SINGLE OTHER WIRE and loom component for the boiler!!! It seemed that no-one had ever anticipated having to supply just an HT lead (after all, how can a bit of wire 'go wrong'?) and had not resourced any individual spares. Although Hepworth was able to supply what it had, it was not a Hepworth boiler and there was not much added-value in what it could do.
Now (2006) all the diverter valve diaphragms on these boilers are starting to perforate. Yes - you CAN get replacement diaphragms which are unfortunately unlike the common patterns in use and consequently expensive. But to fit the thing you have to remove half the diverter valve and the secondary heat exchanger from the boiler. And then you have to reassemble it with NO replacement washers or O rings supplied (ideally, you need one large non-standard rubber washer, a small one, a high-pressure fibre washer and a couple of O rings) and hope for no leaks. 1.5 - 2 hours work minimum, including draining the boiler, to fit a single ('disposable') component costing about £22. And then people here grizzle about heating repair charges!
Some years back, one of the large UK Builder's Merchants started selling a thing called an Icon Combi. It came in two sizes (24 and 28Kw) and if all you wanted was a combi to go in a small house or flat, it seemed fine and actually was not badly built. (Design for maintenance is another matter - see below!)
Back then, I got a call to one that was about six months old. It wouldn't light reliably and eventually I discovered that a 'loading resistor' embedded in the HT lead was fritzed. Now the real fun started. There was no 'HT Lead' listed on the parts list held by my parts dealer. Hepworth (now Vaillant Hepworth) were the 'spares handler' for the range but also had no clue. Eventually, after much head-banging against walls, I received, from Germany, via Hepworth, quite a large box. Inside was an HT lead - and also EVERY SINGLE OTHER WIRE and loom component for the boiler!!! It seemed that no-one had ever anticipated having to supply just an HT lead (after all, how can a bit of wire 'go wrong'?) and had not resourced any individual spares. Although Hepworth was able to supply what it had, it was not a Hepworth boiler and there was not much added-value in what it could do.
Now (2006) all the diverter valve diaphragms on these boilers are starting to perforate. Yes - you CAN get replacement diaphragms which are unfortunately unlike the common patterns in use and consequently expensive. But to fit the thing you have to remove half the diverter valve and the secondary heat exchanger from the boiler. And then you have to reassemble it with NO replacement washers or O rings supplied (ideally, you need one large non-standard rubber washer, a small one, a high-pressure fibre washer and a couple of O rings) and hope for no leaks. 1.5 - 2 hours work minimum, including draining the boiler, to fit a single ('disposable') component costing about £22. And then people here grizzle about heating repair charges!
