Worrying banging noise

[wsbtroyno21]

Thanks for all that guys.

One more question though....do you think it is ok to keep using the central heating or should I not use it all until it is checked out ?

 

[masona]

Without anyone looking at it,better be safe than sorry.....

 

[breezer]

my tuppence worth.

We had this person out, that person out (the origonal installer has sadly passed away, but we did like him, but being dead is a bit of an inconvieniance, smells a bit too) it wasn't costing a BIG fortune, but it was annoying not been able to know they would come when asked and FIX IT, or kept waiting becasue the wrong part arrived.

In the end we gave up and got in BG, they charged xx (forgot how much) we then took out their 3star service, being a contracted customer means we get peace of mind and service is usuallly next day and so are replacement parts (pity they dont arrive at the same time )

I know its great to support the little man, but if you want to go that route, ask questions before you invite them round, like are you familiar with xx boiler, find out something about your boiler (see its manual) and ask does my boiler have a ********* (that you found in the manual) yes i know its devious but it shows if they know what they are talking about. also plumbers are NOT heating engineers, like saying i am an electrician
so i can fix a tv, its electric, but thats where the similarity ends.

as for asking the man in his van, i am not too sure on that one, put it this way,

bloke in van gets asked do you fix xyz boiler. ask devious question, then what is he going to charge, does he have spare part? (probably not, but to be fair you cant expect him to have all parts) ask how long to get say a thermocouple (or any other common part the guys here can suggest)

does the bloke in the van have the right attitude? do you feel "comfortable" talking to him?

I am in no way suggesting the small man in van is no good, you just have to find the right one for you.

 

[wsbtroyno21]

At the habit of repeating myself ...THANKS !!!!!

This is the first time I have used this forum and I am amazed by the response.

I will buy a couple of fan heaters and use them until I can get someone to look at my boiler.

Have a good weekend everyone

 

[breezer]

yoo too, but let us know the outcome as your feedback may be helpfull to others.

 

[masona]

Breezer,do BG come out anytime of the day , 24/7 , or monday to friday daytime only etc ?

 

[ChrisR]

Hi. I am corgi reg and fix boilers! Back boilers are all much the same, simple things. the fault you're describing may well mean the boiler wasn't serviced properly, and that's all it needs. Do do it right you have to do some serious dismantling which can be a bit of a pain especially on old boilers, so it often isn't done thoroughly. The burner bars - tubes with slots where the flames come out - have to be removed and hoovered.

It's quite likely your current prob is due to the pilot being too small so the gas collects a bit before it ignites. The problem is called "explosive ignition".
Don't ask for estimates on the phone to fix a problem the guy can't see. You'll be given a price for a service, and say an hourly rate if more work needs to be done. Make sure you say it's a back boiler - costs more than a normal boiler to service cos there's a fire to do as well. Probably £50 - £100 depending where you are. There's a small chance you might need a new gas valve so you could ask how much to change one of those - probably of the order of £150 parts and labour unless it's an unusual one.

Don't be surprised if whoever comes has trouble finding how the fire front comes off - there are dozens of different types!

 

[ollski]

masona BG will come out as soon as possible but most engineers work 8 - 5, though there is obviously 24/7 emergency cover and a couple of guys per patch covering a later shift and weekend. Your services are booked in advance though to suit. Standard spares on the van, specials are 90% next day.

 

[wsbtroyno21]

Thanks Chris.

At least now I have a rough idea of what of the problem might be and how much it might cost me. Might not be as bad as I thought.

Got the new fan heaters going full blast now to heat the place up and hopefully I will get someone out to have a look at the boiler next week.

You don't happen to be in the Glasgow area do you Chris ??? lol

Just joking but thanks for your help

 

[oilman]

Breezer wrote;

does the bloke in the van have the right attitude? do you feel "comfortable" talking to him?

I am in no way suggesting the small man in van is no good, ...........

That's the first negative post of yours I've seen, (and I've got an attitude )

Man in van has to earn living, generally they will be ok, this applies to the whole country and everyone in it. Most people are timid enough to do a fair job if not a good one, as they need another job from somewhere. There are, of course some hard nosed merchants, but they are a minority IMO (or operate from 0800 numbers) or the whole place would go to the dogs.

I hope BG are different from other national operations, but some of the worst cases of servicing I see is from another national. I'm not sure what it is they do, but I can see what they haven't done. Five years worth of ash in the boiler is pretty obvious, and though people don't like the bill to start with, when I ring a few days later most of them have noticed a difference in performance.

Television doesn't help here, boring *arts like me don't make good entertainment. It's almost got to the perverse state that people want to be ripped off just so they've got something to talk about at parties. I don't have that problem,.....I don't get invited.

For those with oil boilers (which are obviously more reliable than gas, since there's nowhere near the amount of posts there is about gas boilers even given the numbers of each) you can look on the OFTEC website, and the bad operators that have been struck off, are still on the database, ...with a note saying they've been struck off.

 

[breezer]

the reason i mentioned about do you feel "comfortable" about the man in his van was because we had one Mrs breezer didn't like, sexual inuendos etc.

 

[oilman]

Can't say I blame you, I'd treat those the same way I do unsolicited advertising phone calls, "good bye" regardless of whether he's finished. Did the trading standards people get to know?

I get to meet quite a few guys with vans, and most of them are fine, it's very few who fall in to the unacceptable category.

 

[ChrisR]

wsbtroy - I can recomend Rannoch Services, speak to Danny. See your yellow pages. rannochservices at ntlworld.com but use an @ . He's Glasgow but I guess it's a big place....

 

[wsbtroyno21]

Thanks for that Chris. Couldn't find him in Yellow pages but I sent him an email.

I will let you know how I get on.

Cheers

Troy

 

[Plumber Will]

Go to www.corgi-gas.co.uk click on consumer services and then find an installer. Sounds like its the gas valve!