Remeha combi boiler worth saving or not?

[traienuts]

Hi, this is my second thread about the same boiler on this forum, which I believe says a lot already.
But still looking for some advice.
Roughly 10 years old Remeha combi boiler, we moved in 2 years ago and have so far replaced PRV, pressure gauge, expansion vessel and the last one was a hydraulic block and actuator which was leaking. Total cost for these over time, if I remember correctly, was around £600. And I also had a system powerflush done and a Magnaclean installed (roughly £500) when I had the new PRV installed.
Ok, now I have noticed for a while that the pressure is dropping yet again and upon checking for more leaks, I have found what you can see in the pictures. I think it's the pump itself now?
Boiler still working though, so far.
Now, should I spend more money on fixing this boiler or just bin it and grab a new one?
Which again leads me to my next question, is there a reliable brand that doesn't cost a fortune, but it's built to last for a while, doesn't give you too many headaches and in case something goes wrong, is easy to repair?
I have been recommended Ideal logic 30kw so far (£1700 installed, 10 years warranty) and Worcester Bosch by 2 different installers. Did not get the price for the WB yet, however was wondering what are people's views on these newer, modern combi boilers? I have heard good things about Viessmann too.
Thank you and apologies for the long message.

 

[ianmcd]

very unlikely to need a pump, just looks like a washer has perished , shouldnt be too expensive to repair

 

[muggles]

Agree with the above, it looks like you just need a couple of new washers. BTW you shouldn't be removing the casing unless you're Gas Safe Registered...

As for reliable brands if you did want a new one, you can't go wrong with Intergas

 

[traienuts]

Thanks for your answers, will see what the engineer says tomorrow, hopefully it's just that, one or two washers.
I didn't even check Intergas, will have a look at them too. So Intergas, viessmann and Ideal, am I ok considering just these? Maybe ideal Vogue or Max?

As for removing the casing, there are many things that we shouldn't be doing, but we still are. It's not like I'm opening the combustion chamber or the gas meter to have a look inside. Too many of these strict rules can do more harm than good, society needs to chill.

 

[Gasguru]

Nanny state is often necessary to protect the stupid. You are coming across as an ignorant householder that knows nothing about gas and boilers, it's not for you to determine whether society should just chill. Rules are there for good reason. How do you know if the combustion seals are fully intact? The front casing is an integral part of the boilers safety system...many boilers have had failed combustion seals/condensate pipework etc and the customers safety has been ensured by the outer casing being fitted correctly.

By all means look at Viessman, overpriced and extortionate spares if the warranty isn't honoured.

I suggest you take a look under the boiler where the condensate pipe emerges...it's very common for the casing to corrode through. Any perforation and the boilers scrap. Make sure that area is thoroughly checked tomorrow.

 

[gasbanni]

I always rated these boilers others hated them. The leak may not be the boiler ! You could get the boiler swapped and still have pressure loss so be careful !!!!

 

[traienuts]

Well, there's definitely a leak of some sort, as seen in the pictures. I did call the engineer with my mind set for a proper discussion about replacing the boiler, however after he looked at it, we agreed that he'll replace the washers first and we'll test the boiler again after that. That will be on Monday, due to availability on both sides and not being an emergency. Suppose we could separate the boiler from the rest of the system for 24 hours and get a better idea of where the leak is coming from once current problem is resolved. (Is that a good way of testing if pressure loss is caused by the boiler or somewhere else?)
I suppose everyone has their own favourite brand and no boiler will be bulletproof, I do not believe there is such a thing as the best boiler. A model of Viessmann that suits my needs is the same price, even cheaper actually than the Ideal Vogue for instance. Now parts wise, I don't know how they compare.
Also, I do believe in order to benefit from the manufacturer's longest warranty, every boiler needs to be installed by one of their approved installers. So a different brand would come with a different person. Current heat engineer is Ideal approved.
Hopefully he manages to fix the boiler for now, which would give me a bit more time to research the market and perhaps get a better understanding of this wonderful world of boilers.
Thing that kinda puts me off with Ideal Vogue is the fact they went for a few plastic bits inside for Gen 2, whereas the previous version was all copper and brass, from my understanding.

@Gasguru , I didn't want to sound rude and maybe it all came out wrong, but I do get your point.
Hmm, there is indeed a little bit of rust where the condensation pipe comes out of the boiler, however I'm not sure if this is recent or it happened when the boiler was leaking the last time. Will try to take a picture tomorrow.
I wrote too much again.

 

[Gasguru]

Your Remeha is suffering due to the chemicals in the water...perhaps it was overdosed on cleaner or not flushed through. That has softened the seals as evident by the gunk.
A design fault on the Remehas results in condensate wicking up and corroding the exit hole through the casing...some boilers are fine and some are completely rotten. AFAIR the condensate pipework arrangement governs just how much of an issue it can become.

Remember most "approved" installers are only approved if the installer can shift a certain no. of boilers per year...it has nothing to do with the quality of installation...it's for you to ensure your quote is sufficiently detailed to ensure quality.
Initial price is only one factor...eg. consider what happens if the boiler fails over the Christmas break, does the manufacturer have sufficient field engineers to attend in a timely manor, do they sub-out the warranty work, are they onerous with the warranty claim (your current system water would almost certainly void the policy), are parts readily available should the fault not be covered under warranty etc.

Plastic or brass...there's very little difference anymore...both have suffered from poor design and quality. The majority of boiler manufacturers are now buying in 90% of the components and just assembling them. So the pumps, gas valves, burners, heat exchangers, fans, hydraulics, flues, sometimes pcbs are common to many other manufacturers models.

 

[traienuts]

Thank you, @Gasguru , for taking time to explain all these.
I have only inherited the boiler 2 years ago when heating wasn't required anymore and the boiler had a fresh service certificate, so I just assumed everything is fine. However when the cold weather arrived and I turned the boiler on, it broke down for the first time. It turned out it was just sludge from the radiators that was blocking the plate heat exchanger of the boiler. That's when I had the powerflush done and now that you mention it, not sure if that was done properly. The guy also replaced the PRV and cleaned the plate heat exchanger, put some inhibitor in the system when he was finished and that worked fine for about 8 months when I first started noticing the pressure loss, but there were no leaks at that point. So I had the expansion vessel replaced, as the symptoms were pointing in that direction. The pressure gauge too, as this was also blocked with some debris. At this point, inhibitor was added again after the system was drained.
Again, all fine for another 6 months when the first leak was discovered and it was coming from the actuator or the hydraulic block which were both replaced. System was drained and inhibitor added again.This leak started the same as the current one, with the green gunk around said parts. That was fixed and again, all good for another 4 months when I started noticing the pressure loss again, but it was really slow, I topped up the boiler twice in about 3 months until now. It was only a 0.2-0.3 drop from its set value of 1.2-1.3;
And now this, which made me think I almost changed the whole boiler, except for the pump, combustion chamber and plate heat exchanger.
I never thought the problem could be the chemicals in the water, but it makes sense.
Good point about choosing the right boiler/installer, but how does one know what they can expect in the future? What would need changing about my water system? You mean new rads?
Oh, the condensation pipe was indeed leaking for a while, as it's connected to my kitchen drainage pipe and that was also blocked a while ago, obviously the condensation water didn't have where to go, it would either stop the boiler or leak. Even now I've noticed a few drops, even though it seems properly fixed and no blockage on the main pipe.
I wrote a novel again...

 

[traienuts]

I know I shouldn't even be here anymore posting questions about this boiler, but budget is a bit tight at the moment so I'm just trying to save this one for a few more months until summer when I should replace it.
Ok, previous problem posted at the beginning of this thread was resolved by changing the washers.
Now this has developed a second leak on the hot water outlet, just dripping from the nut.
I had a gas engineer come over but they couldn't undo the nut to replace the washer and left. They suggested I should just replace the boiler, which I know, as the state of the boiler is bad with traces of corrosion, but as I said above... Still working on that one.
Any other suggestions I might try?
I'll have someone over for a second opinion, but would WD40 help a bit with undoing the nut or maybe there's other tricks? Thing is now it's actually dripping as he tried to unscrew it.

 

[ianmcd]

cant see why he couldnt undo it, you need an engineer that actually wants to do the job and not just flog you a boiler

 

[traienuts]

I believe I'll need to dig a little deeper inside my pockets and get the boiler replaced asap, as I'm realising I don't want to spend anymore money on this one.
From what information I could gather from other gas engineers, forums, reviews (obviously opinions are all different), help me out here if I got this right.
Worcester Bosch - many people hate them, difficult to service, plenty of issues, however some will love them.
Viessmann - over complicated German engineering, expensive parts, but good boilers if they don't break?
Ideal - cheap build, easy to service and install, decent spare parts prices, but not great quality?
Baxi - easy to service and install, better quality than Ideal (had a not so good experience with their customer service)
Vaillant - average price, more or less the same as Baxi, don't know much about them, haven't received any recommendations for them.
Intergas - less known than the others, just a few parts inside, different approach, however they have an aluminium heat exchanger...

Obviously I'm talking about their top of the range for each boiler, not the cheapest ones.
I use Tado as a smart thermostat, not sure how compatible it is with any of these makes, I believe Worcester is the one that's least compatible?

Personally, the latest Bosch greenstar 8000 attracts me in a strange way, but it's still new on the market and you wouldn't know how they behave in time.
In terms of plastic vs brass and copper inside them, they can all leak at some point.

I know this has probably been discussed many times around here, but any feedback would be much appreciated.
Oh, and what's people's take on Boxt? Too many good reviews, plus too good to be true?