What is a Boiler 'Service' ?

The gasket holds the 2 parts of the heat ex together.

Half a days work..... 2 hours once you have done one.

Its amazing how many leaky back boilers Ive repaired as most gas engineers quote for a new heat ex, and when I get called in, its a 4 quid part.

The 30 year old Baxi's heat ex's are tough but its a 'niche' to get into... especially when its all iron off the boikler.

Dave



Sorry thought you meant on the combustion side. No nearest I've got to this is replacing gasket rings between section of cast BOA oil boiler - never again.
 
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Soggy,,, man after my own heart about 15 years ago baxi torqued the bolts too tight and it all but cut through the gaskets started showing when boiler was about 14 month old. We where doing 2 a day as local authority had been changing hundreds of them the year before... Peice of cake as bonus time was about 6 hours so made a few bob..
 
Thanks everyone :) Much appreciated.

I'll certainly never cut corners on getting a cheap job done, not since I've seen the effort put in by the guys who have been out and done work for me in the past. First guy saved my butt when I nicked a microbore pipe with a screw (someone had replaced the chipboard floor and not marked it up, and I never checked what was underneath first) - that was 2 days before my lad was due to be born, rushing to get his bedroom finished in time.

With a 2 year old in the house, we have always had the detectors installed, smoke alarms, etc, and not taken chances with anything.

Next year we intend to get that boiler replaced, and get a more modern fire installed... but thats a whole new topic.
 
Little to do with service in this case or safety checks. Flue was open, space around the boiler showed no debris, fully warmed up and plenty air.
Severe spillage no matter what I did. If anyone knows of remedies, please share either here or on the corgi only side.
 
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What sort of boiler and what sort of open flue,back boiler with copex , open flued into blocks then rite vent then ridge tile etc etc ???
 
I have my old, 17 year old, Potterton Profile serviced every year as part of my "House" policy with BG. They take about 30-45 mins..various checks, gas pressure etc and exhaust testing. I get a full report.

Each guys that comes is informative and tells me what he is doing and why...if asked. Every year each guys tells me that they don't make well built reliable boilers like these anymore. ...and it gets a pass...had it done a couple of months ago and all is well. I know the rep BG has for the deep intake of breath and a "you need a new boiler guv" approach but I've never had it.
 
Bahama, with 1940’s style chimney, connected with metal pipe, properly sealed, looked like a decent bit of installation work
 
corgiman";p="775081 said:
then that needs without fail servicing every year

about 40mins to an hour to do properly

If you service a 552 in 40 mins. in my opinion you must be some kind of super efficient man machine or cutting corners. Even a spottless BBU will take longer than that to strip down, service, test etc.
 
You can do it in an hour if you got all the handy tools and do them often enough. This is of course provided that you are not the first in 11 years and the whole thing is rusted together.
Not that I could do it that fast I haste to say.
 
I am not going to get into an argument with you sven but during the summer I service at least 10 Bbu's a week, they are spottless and I undertake all the checks.

and have been for nigh on twenty years

I allowed an hour for a less experianced chap

:)
 
Point taken mate.
Just out of interest, do you charge more for a BBU that takes 1 hour as opposed to a wall hung that takes the same time ?
I only ask as my boss always justifies a higher charge for BBUs as they are "2" appliances.
 
it was found that taking bits off to brush then clean causes more problems than just examining it, testing the flue gases for good burning, and correcting any defects that are found.

Every time you touch parts or take then apart there is a risk you will make something go wrong :(

Army lorries are particularly prone to faults caused by over-maintenance. The soldiers keep tightening things up until they break.

Be aware that John is NOT a CORGI registered engineer and as far as I know not even involved in the heating industry.

I dont disagree with anything that he has said though.

Tony
 
Regret I am in the other camp to JohnD. If a boiler is not serviced regularly, parts will get gunged up, heat exchanger will pick up dust particles and become less efficient, burners will not be as efficient and screws and bolts sieze up over time so will not undo when need arises. While a service may not stop a boiler from breaking down, it will certainly ensure the appliance will operate as the makers intended. Follow the maker's instructions for starters.
 
Bengas . i take it you mean Bermuda back boiler as bahama is a fan flued wall hung..

Back boiler failing spillage .. First thing would be to check it is not over gassed and if need be remove the restrictor ring from the flue hood ,check that it is standard and intact flue terminal. Things to suspect is incomplete copex possible topped and tailed or new boiler been fitted and copex not renewed and pulled down to fit and came off terminal. Pinholed/ split copex.

Way of testing copex is intact is block it at the bottom so no smoke can enter and as it is usually possible to get a bomb up the side of copex and chimney as annulus is usually not completly sealed if smoke then comes out the terminal you know copex is not intact.

Lagertop, Anyone sevicing 552 regular should be able to do it in 40 mins with all checks done very easily.

Chris try doing 40/45 a week for months at a time we had approx 6000 on contract love doing bbu as there is something to clean and do and not going through the motions as you tend to do with balanced flue.
 
Thanks for that mate, useful info and will definitely try next time. You are right, I did mean a bermuda. I often talk bol lox, occupational hazard I’ve been told.
Can’t try on this one as the owner did not want to try and get it repaired despite the fact that I told him I could probably do it.
 

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