Swiftflow 100 Combi question

[lognak]

Hi,

We currently have a Swiftflow 100 Combi boiler. It's quite an old one with a constant pilot light.

1. The issue we have is that the shower and kitchen HW only comes on if the flow of water is on full. The shower for example does come on initially but goes cold after 3 minutes. I have to run the bath HW tap until it heats up again, then reduce the bath tap to a slower flow giving pressure back to the shower.
The shower flow and the reduced bath tap flow are enough to keep the boiler heating the water. If I turn the bath tap off the shower goes cold again after a few minutes.

Within a Swiftflow 100 is there a way to change when the boiler kicks in to start heating the water. It needs to come on with a lower flow of water rather than the full flow we have to do at the moment.
The bath tap and bathroom sink tap are the only ones giving enough flow to maintain constant HW.

We've had an engineer around who has said the boiler is probably dirty and due to it being so old, better to get a new one rather than spend a lot to repair it.

Any advice appreciated on this one!


2. We may need a new boiler. The engineer has said they have access to Baxi and another make (can't remember).
They mentioned they have a good warrantee and are easy to fix.
I'd rather have a boiler that's going to last without repair vs a boiler that goes wrong more often and is easy to fix.
Can anyone recommend a good robust Combi ?


3. I want to check the thermostat on the shower (runs off mains). The top dial is water flow. the bottom temperature.
If I take the plastic cover off the temperature dial there is a screw behind. Can I remove the screw to access the thermostat without needing to access anything first?
I just want to check it's clean and not stuck in anyway.


Many thanks,

 

[Agile]

The Swiftflow is quite old now but when working do work well.

The fault on yours seems to be the flow switch which is a little tricky to get to for replacement but something any engineer can do.

Your guy obviously wants a bigger job of replacing the boiler rather than a small repair ( even if he knows how to repair boilers which I suspect may not be the case from what he told you ).

The Intergas and Viessmann boilers are the thinking mans choice!

The Baxis are less well thought of but do have a long warranty of seven years. But you have to have them serviced annually.

Tony

 

[45yearsagasman]

Your boiler has a flow switch which is calibrated to close with a minimum flow rate (can't remember the figure). You could try and change the flow switch, but that may not be entirely satisfactory. Ensure your shower is flowing correctly by cleaning the head etc. It may also be a restriction in the heat exchanger, which can be descaled, but it may be time to invest in a new boiler.

 

[Dan Robinson]

3.6l/min is the minimum flow rate for these.

 

[Agile]

I am surprised its quoted as so high. Most boilers turn on at about 2.5 li/min

There are still a few that I look after and I have never noticed a particularly high turn on flow rate.

You can measure the flow rate from a hot tap which JUST turns on the boiler!

As suggested check the shower head and if clean then measure the hot water flow rate through it if the tap indicates the boiler flow rate is correct.

Tony