Should I replace the boiler yet ?

[dave_le_tran]

I've had a chap come and inspect my Ideal Classic Combi 80 boiler. The noises it is making are apparently down to the heat exchanger being clogged with sludge and limescale as we are in a hard water area. Evertything else is working fine (pump, hot water etc).

He has recommended changing the boiler to a Potterton 24HE and is quoting what I think is a reasonable fee.

My question is - do I need to change the boiler ? Can I not just add descaler and chemical detergent and flush the entire system then add the necessary inhibitors. What is best ?

Any advise chaps ?

 

[corgiman]

the classic is not a combi

I would try putting in either sentinell x200 boiler descaler or fernox boiler silencer first before getting a new boiler

 

[cross thread]

your boiler is a combi .it used the classic with a add on combi conversion .i would recomend changing it

 

[corgiman]

well paint me pink and call me shirley I have never heard or seen that, what the heck is the conversion kit like

 

[ollski]

Seen it as a system boiler but have never seen it as a combi.

 

[namsag]

Came out about 12 years ago as a combi . Kit fitted on top like the sealed system kit but came with calorifier and few more stats etc. The braided hoses are very prone to blocking up. As for changing it, these where never a purpose designed combi so you would notice better water delivery with a proper combi . Go for the 28kw combi for the sake of £50 extra it will give you an extra approx 30% more hot water. If its potterton performa boiler these are a very reliable boiler and if it goes wrong cheap to fix

 

[DP]

Shirley Pink, are you saying you have not seen one of these beasties?

 

[ChrisR]

Here it is, on all its gory:

http://www.partsarena.net/gas/catalogs/

 

[Paul Barker]

We still have a few in estates around here, the combi kit is all housed on top, the donor boiler is still one of the better boilers to own, and if it can be resurrected it is worth hanging on to, but the combi part of it is usually in very poor condition, if more than a few parts need changing I probably wouldn't bother with what else is wrong.

The Potterton Performa 30HE would be worth the extra over the 24he. I could suggest loads of other boilers. I believe Baxipotterton are a bit sick of the popularity of the Main version of this boiler as it's probably a loss leader. Main is the cheapest brand name of the mark, but the exact same boiler, probably only a one year guarantee, but a boiler of this quality should run past the five year hurdle.

I'm not sure what the Main branded version is called, I don't actually fit the BP range of kit at the moment, but they might win me back if they are nice to me, it's geting cold and a nice warm coat goes a long way in goodwill.

 

[corgiman]

Shirley Pink, are you saying you have not seen one of these beasties?

I have never seen a combi one and cannot think for the life of me how the do it

I have like oll seen hundreds of the ****ty system kits but NEVER a combination boiler one

I r confused