Should exterior boiler flues be watertight?

[Pollyanna]

I had a new boiler fitted 2 months ago. It is an Ideal HE18 condensing boiler.

As I am on benefits I was able to get a Warm Front grant (the government organisation).

Last night, during heavy rain, I noticed my gutter was leaking slightly onto the exterior boiler flue. Then I noticed water leaking slightly from inside the boiler itself onto my kitchen worktop.

I have turned the boiler off.

I phoned Warm Front and they have told me that because water has leaked from the gutter onto the exterior flue, then it is my responsibility to pay for any repairs.

I don't know anything about boilers, but my question is: Aren't boiler flues supposed to be watertight no matter what drops on them - whether it's light rain or water from a leaky gutter?

If flues are are supposed to be watertight, then it seems to me that either the engineer has installed a faulty flue or the installer is incompetent.

I am furious with Warm Front and am awaiting their manager to phone me.

Any help/advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[seco services]

flues are not water tight like that your gutter pouring water on them.

why are you furious with warm front ? you already said your on benefits so you couldn't get a grant.
so why should they fix your boiler for free ?

 

[Pollyanna]

flues are not water tight like that your gutter pouring water on them.

why are you furious with warm front ? you already said your on benefits so you couldn't get a grant.
so why should they fix your boiler for free ?

Hi Seco Services

You have misread my post. I did get a grant from Warm Front which paid for the boiler and installation. It also includes 2 years insurance for breakdown and service.

I phoned an independent gas engineer and was told that flues should be watertight and not let in water, but you say they are not watertight, so now I'm rather confused.

I don't know whether the boiler is leaking due to a faulty flue or because there is a fault in the boiler itself. The flue could have been faulty when it was installed so why should I have to pay for repairs?

Warm Front have told me that they do not repair flues - only the boiler itself - which makes no sense to me as the flue is part of the boiler system, that's why I am angry (I am also unwell at the moment which isn't helping).

The manager of Warm Front did not phone back - I will have to phone again on Monday.

 

[seco services]

sorry misread that bit.

have you a pic of the flue coming out the wall.
as is it leaking water down the centre of the flue or the outer edge.

theirs a different to rain getting in or the gutter pouring on to it.

 

[gas4you]

Unless you can somehow see daylight around the exterior of your flue, I would, from sitting here, doubt at this point is is the rain water coming in.

The flue should have been sealed around its exterior.

I would want to inspect the interior of the boiler to ascertain exactly where this water is coming from.

If it is a faulty installation, then warmfront should attend to put it right, flue or boiler

 

[fatplumber]

If I fitted a boiler an water was running into it i would want to come and see if I had dropped a bollerck. If the gutter is at fault then get it fixed. I know that it is hard in your situatioin. If water is running out of the case then this is a potentially dangerous situation. It is in warm front's interest to take a look.

 

[namsag]

So what your saying is you have not maintained your guttering and it is now allowing water to pour where it should not ..... your flue..... which is not designed for this....
And you want to blame someone else.
Or am i missing something

 

[powell30]

Seen something very similar, water pouring over a guttering (well maintained just it was a flat roof with 2 more outlets from apex roof exiting onto it).....sheer weight of water and pipe size not correct meant an overflow......onto top of flue and then into it via the air intake section (outer flue).......boiler fan, gas valve and outer chamber full of water.

I seriously doubt you could blame warmfront for the situation unless the water has ingressed through an unsealed flue ie not pointed in.......

 

[bengasman]

Ideal are not the best boilers, and warmfront don't have a reputation for doing the best installs, and that is putting it mildly, but they are making huge profits on it.

How much is: "leaking a little bit"?
As this type of boiler has to have a bit of a slope towards the boiler, it should be able to absorb a little bit of water. It was absolutely chucking down here last night, and any wall that was against the direction of the wind would have had water flowing down.

If the flue was installed correctly, the leak coming from the gutter would have to be in exactly the right place, in an area of maybe 2 square inches, if that.
It is also well possible that they did not install the flue correctly.

You can gall the Gas Safe Register (what used to be corgi) on
0800 408 5500
and ask them to come and check. They are impartial, and free of charge, irrespective of what they find.

 

[simond]

Yeah, call Gas Safe. Just remind me who pays for that.

That's right, the taxpayer.

Taxpayer weighs out the OP again. She has let her gutter discharge loads of water into her new boiler and is now looking for someone to blame and cover the costs.

 

[bengasman]

I thought crapita was paid by us; let them do something for the money. And if enough complaints and exposure finally shut the money floodgates for warmfront, we will all be better off.

 

[kirkgas]

i know the gutter should be fixed, but if the water is running down the wall (as opposed to dripping onto the end of the flue) it might be hitting the flue and running on top of the flue into the house beacuse they havent weather sealed the wall so it should be fixed by installer

 

[AlanE]

Just re-read the original post again couple of times and maybe I am missing something BUT couple of points I can't get head around:

1. If the water is entering the property around the outside of flue then it hasn't been made good properly so it is Warm Front problem to correct.

2. If the water is entering the boiler via the flue then, assuming not literally gallons of water is entering via the flue, how come it is leaking from the boiler? After all it is an HE condensing boiler which has a drain pipe, in the form of a condensate drain so any water entering this way (unless it really is loads of water which is unlikley) should exit via this drain and certainly not leak internally. Again a Warm Front problem. Might be defective condensate pipe arrangement or the heat exchanger has disolved and blocked it already!

 

[Agile]

If the water was entering via the exhaust outlet then it would find its way to the condensate pipe.

Presumably its leaking into the air inlet part which will congregate inside trhe boiler casing.

It just might be leaking through the outside of the flue where the hole in the brickwork has not been sealed. That seems unlikely.

However, as the installer warmfrount should come and have a look. If they find that its nothing to do with the installation and as a result of a faulty gutter then that may become a chargeable call to the owner/occupier.

Tony

 

[mickyg]

no one knows where the water is going, coming from whatever so we can all have a guess at that. And yes if it is a poorly maintained gutter its the ops responsibility. However....i think there's one thing we can probably all agree on. If one of our customers phoned us up and said, "I've got water coming out of my boiler that you just installed." I think its safe to say we would at least go round fairly sharpish to have a look, which I think is the least warmfront can do. Whilst I share everyones sentiments about warmfront and some of those in society that use such a service, this is not the topic of the thread.
Op, as above I would insist on warmfront coming back to check the boiler. Don't mention rain, just say it was leaking, that way there's no room for debate. If the gutter is at fault get it sorted pronto.

Micky