Heating ok but no hot water

[newbie1]

1/ring engineer
2/ask price
3/ask what checks he will do
they should include what i said
4/dont like price tell himto bog off
its about finding someone reasonable
i am waiting to take my exams but work with my son as he is gas safe and thats the sort of job he would do for 70.00 so there are gsr out there

 

[donmaico]

Geez the thread was meant to be about my reservations regarding a scheme , for which i got flac Then i make an opinion regarding a 70 quid service charge which i thought steep and the flac comes from all corners ,lol.As a client I am entitled to an opinion even tho I now understand better what is involved for the average C.H.E.
I have always adopted a carefree let them get on with it attitude and never grumbled about payments or been late with them.I dont do things on the cheap, trying to cut corners, in fact the only thing i havent had done is the magne whats it anti oxide treatment(forget the name)Having said that i know some engineers want an arm and a leg for their work (£200 ph)so i try to avoid them.They probably have greater overheads but then have the major contracts pretty much sewn up so not so bothered about individual clients .They happily dole out quotes ( complete systems)which are typically 1 -2 k higher than the sole traders.

hey don, chill out baby!

There is clearly an issue outside of the boiler if you're ploughing through h/exch like that.

In fact.... you mentioned a water conditioner..... a magnetic cartridge thingy will not prevent molecules of lime being released at the temperatures you get inside a boiler. It will retard the process for a short time, but the standing water inside the boiler almost immediately loses the influence of the cartridge. Basic physics.

And IMHO, 70 quid to service a boiler is nothing. Insure the van, calibrate (and buy) the analyser, pay the accountant, pay public liability, buy work clothing, complete risk assesments, advertise, get trained, accredited.....

Anyway thats beside the point. Please dont keep swapping the same part, if you dont identify the CAUSE.

It's naive to think that heat exchangers just fail....and fail.....and fail. Dont sign away your next h/exch and a pile of money!

My wife has a credit card. The statement comes, and it's been hammered. Cause, effect. It isnt a fault with the credit card.

Stay calm, and have a look at it. Hope you get sorted.

thank you.I t seems the fault may well bne with the diverter and not heat exchanger/It had small lumps of lime attached to it

 

[payney1974]

This might be a silly question but why are you so convinced its the h/exchanger if your c/heating works ok?
Do you mean the plate h/e??

 

[dontknowitall]

Reading the above I'm glad I don't do gas and stick to oil!!!

It's Christmas everyone - glad tidings and great joy.

We're not all rogues!

 

[Bernie2]

The problem is "What is fair and what isn't?"

What do we base prices on?

My guess is nothing, we get what we can get or what we think the customer can afford.

I mean if your customer was on the national minimum wage, how much would you charge?

If he was a banker earning over a million how much would you charge?

If you go to work your employer decides how much he wants to pay you.

The cost of training is the same throughout the gas industry so a self employed person can't really claim that as an excuse for high prices.

An employed person on £14 ph turns out the same work.

There are also some funny arrangements for an employee to pay back their training costs i.e. Usually if they leave or get sacked within twelve months of training they pay it all back, after two years they pay half, after that its free until the next training session in a few years time.

They are usually expected to do about ten services or more a day depending on type.

It goes on and on.

The thing is the market seems to be moving toward fixed prices, as they say "some you win, some you loose" prices.

It's interesting, but most people moan if they look at what they get an hour and if what is being charged per hour is way above that.

 

[donmaico]

This might be a silly question but why are you so convinced its the h/exchanger if your c/heating works ok?
Do you mean the plate h/e??

i never said i was convinced it was the heat exch, more a case of fearing the engineer would say it was, because that part is in fact an exclusion(due to what they call aggressive water) from their repair/insurance policy.As it happens he was unsure at first but then thought it might be the diverter and something called a coil switch.Anyway he said he had to order the party so i am waiting for the repair to be carried out

 

[RoryD]

Not really sure what your symptoms are. But if H/Exchangers are corroding then clearly it should have been flushed before the new install. if you used a local plumber then it puts into perspective grahameps view of using such traders. All manufacturers recommend flushing a system of sludge prior to install. Why on earth do people neglect to do this? it is the right thing to do and it will maximise profits at the same time. So many problems emanate from sludge

 

[donmaico]

Not really sure what your symptoms are. But if H/Exchangers are corroding then clearly it should have been flushed before the new install. if you used a local plumber then it puts into perspective grahameps view of using such traders. All manufacturers recommend flushing a system of sludge prior to install. Why on earth do people neglect to do this? it is the right thing to do and it will maximise profits at the same time. So many problems emanate from sludge

i know it was flushed and i know an additive was put in there for i bought it myself.Whether it was done correctly i am not sure as i didnt stand over him watching when the fitter first installed it
I didnt see any corrosion myself but there were some white deposits on the diverter

 

[tackleburger]

If your water works with the heating on then it is the flow switch very common on these boilers the switch costs 30 quid. The amount of heat exchagers you have had sound symptomatic of poor diagnosis.

 

[donmaico]

If your water works with the heating on then it is the flow switch very common on these boilers the switch costs 30 quid. The amount of heat exchagers you have had sound symptomatic of poor diagnosis.

flow switch is what the fitter mentioned as well as diverter yes( not coil switch).Thanks

 

[donmaico]

well thats done then! Turned out to be the flow switch after all.
H. E. didnt rate Apollo boilers much , reckoned Valiants to be about the best

 

[donmaico]

Had further problems with a leak .Homeserver refuse to cover it stating the water had too much sludge in it and was quoted £50 per rad to clear(10 rads = £500) the system.Eventually got in touch with a local plumber who added some Sentinel x400 , the system was left running for three weeks then he returend to empty it and added another chemical x100 sentinel inhibitor.All for about £120 which struck me as reasonable
Alpha engineer came and repaired the leak although there is still a slight one so i must get him back
I am wondering now whether to have a;ll existing stainless steel pipework replaced and a magnaclean fitted
I'll not use Homeserve again that is for certain.They are way too slow in responding and the engineering company they use dont seem to buy from local sources meaning further delays.