Valiant boiler advice please

Hi Guys

Last night due to sleeping in a bedroom above the garage I was awoken by a clunking noise at 4am which i tracked down to the boiler in the garage below

On closer inspection I felt slight moisture, possible 1/2 drops of water on the bottom of the casing corner, as well as rust along the bottom

I have homeserve cover albeit with £95 excess. The lady on the phone was very kind told me rust was normal and got me to fill the pressure gauge to 1.5 bar which i did and keep an eye on things and was said the drops can just be condensation

It does seem plausible but it seems alot of rust and peeling for condensation. The boiler had its last homeserve inspection / service in March this year and they only thing flagged up was a powerflush needed which I had done . The boiler is 6 years old and ive included a picture of the issue below

My question is, is it worth paying the excess and getting someone out or am i being Paranoid?

 

Quality advice right there. Well worth that annual fee and excess.

 

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Sorry shouldn't laugh, but you have had your trousers pulled down.

 

That does look more like a leak to me but hard to tell from the pic. Mine had a very small drip. Small enough that I thought it might be condensation but a bit of investigation and it turned out to be an o-ring on the inlet pipe. Pretty easy fix. I was quite surprised how deteriorated the old one was.

 

They are named homeswerve for a reason and that women’s advice was shocking get another company in if I was you . Also was it them that advised the powerflush also I dread to think to be honest

 

you have been well and truly mugged , get that looked at and not by Homeswerve, it could be a condensation leak and if it is you will need a new boiler soon, absolutely shocking advice that the rust is normal

 

That advise is indeed poor advise but it is probably someone on a phone reading from a script. I'd say get an actual engineer out. You've taken the cover out knowing the excess was there so there's not really much you can do about having to pay it...

 

As above - that's far from normal and if it rots through the casing you'll need a new boiler. I suspect they haven't been maintaining your boiler correctly. Let this be a lesson - your much better off keeping your money in the bank and using it to pay a trusted local engineer as and when required than you are to throw it down a huge corporate drain. They don't sell these boiler insurance policies for your benefit - they do it to make money. Once they have you signed up, it's not in their interest to do any more than the bare minimum, which is usually just a flue gas analysis, often without even removing the boiler's cover

 

if it is the condensate pipe within the boiler thats split which is common on this boiler then the boiler is classed as dangerous

 

I spoke to Valliant homeowners technical helpline and they have advised to get homeserve in and reckon the boiler casing might be compromised after seeing the pictures. I will keep you all informed

 

It’s whats going on inside that you should be worried about

 

Ok engineer has been:

The boiler is BER and needs replacing because the casing is corroded through and has separated in places . The leask was done to a faulty air release vent that was slowly trickling out water
My policy does cover a replacement boiler, does anyone have any idea on what they use as replacement models?

 

Further update, I have received a call from Vaillant who are organising a heat survey to determine what new Vailant Boiler is to be fitted . Yes homeserve probably arnt the best but in this case they are replacing like for like boiler and has been done pretty quick, all for an £70 yearly premium and a £95 excess

 

And shouldn't have been needed if they'd done their job in the first place.

Mixed blessing really. Get the boiler, then sack them off.

 

Seen this many times with Vaillant ecotec, one of two things usually, a leaking diverter valve (internal seals)
Or internal flow or return pipe seals leaking, the connections being push and clip with an O ring seals.

 

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