£700 for repairs to Ariston mincrogenus boiler and still not fixed...

[treefan]

Hi
Im going crazy over my Ariston Mircogenus 24 boiler (6 years old).

Its not heating water properly and you only get some hot water to the nearest bathroom as the water pressure has to be lowered. The ensuite gets no hot water at all!

So far I (well, my plumber) has

1. Replaced PCB board (£250).
2. Replaced secondary water exchanger (£190)
3. Replaces hot water sensor (ditto)
4. Desludged system (£250)

Water is still not heating properly!
Im tearing my hair out....what else can I don to get this boiler working????

 

[Billy Bob Bob]

Hi
Im going crazy over my Ariston Mircogenus 24 boiler (6 years old).

Its not heating water properly and you only get some hot water to the nearest bathroom as the water pressure has to be lowered. The ensuite gets no hot water at all!

So far I (well, my plumber) has

1. Replaced PCB board (£250).
2. Replaced secondary water exchanger (£190)
3. Replaces hot water sensor (ditto)
4. Desludged system (£250)

Water is still not heating properly!
Im tearing my hair out....what else can I don to get this boiler working????

find a cheaper gas engineer unless your in london those prices are absurd

 

[theanalyst]

find a cheaper gas engineer unless your in london those prices are absurd

Get a new engineer who knows what they are doing.
Where do you live?

Option 2 is to get a new boiler fitted.

 

[vern]

Rip off the wall.....no way I would have thrown technicians kit at it!

 

[Dannypipe]

Rip off the wall.....no way I would have thrown technicians kit at it!

Not everyone has the money to replace their boiler every 6 years.

 

[vern]

Not everyone has the money to replace their boiler every 6 years.

What so throw away £700 plus I would hazard a guess a few days off work, seen it all before, crap boiler would have advised to replace with anything with a 5 or 7 year warranty or left with custard to get another engineer who "thinks" he can do a cheap repair........ hindsight is a wonderful thing, but a good substitute is real world experience

 

[Dannypipe]

Its had £700 thrown at it, and it's still not right. So they probably havent assessed the problem properly. £250 to desludge the system, isn't money spent on the appliance.

I repaired a boiler last week. £700 repair! I advised a change might be order of the day, but they didn't have a couple of grand to replace it. Like I said, not everyone does.

I agree with what you're saying in priciple, but like I say, not everyone can afford to heed your advise.

 

[villa_tom]

700 quid??? Was it this man.....

 

[treefan]

yep I feel like this...

and yes, a new boiler would have been the answer but I dont have the cash for this

 

[Billy Bob Bob]

post your location up in the need a plumber/gas engineer section there are loads of knowledgeable folk on here who can fix this for you

 

[buckley plumb]

sorry but would not have spent that much on a boiler that cost less than that new

 

[vern]

post your location up in the need a plumber/gas engineer section there are loads of knowledgeable folk on here who can fix this for you

As above get a better engineer to check, divertor valve is not passing or faulty dhw flow switch can't be much else?

 

[John_]

Just a thought could it possible be that the diverter valve is letting by? Thoughts anyone?

 

[Billy Bob Bob]

As above get a better engineer to check, divertor valve is not passing or faulty dhw flow switch can't be much else?

i bet if the plate heats been replaced and a powerflush done some rubbish has gone in the dv bottom safety spring and is holding it open

 

[mountainman]

I suppose the obvious question is with the CH off, does the heating circuit get hot on hot water only demand?

 

[vern]

i bet if the plate heats been replaced and a powerflush done some rubbish has gone in the dv bottom safety spring and is holding it open

Yep a good chance, I could, as we all could.....say how to test for this, but I think it's best the OP gets a recommended RGI in!

 

[vern]

I suppose the obvious question is with the CH off, does the heating circuit get hot on hot water only demand?

Doh.....must type faster!

 

[tamz]

Hi
Ariston Mircogenus 24 boiler

you only get some hot water to the nearest bathroom

Regardless of what may or may not be wrong with the boiler, you can't make a silk purse from a sows ear!

 

[buckley plumb]

have you got a mixer shower or tap turn off cold to boiler and open a hot tap there should be no flow if you have flow then a mixer is passing worth a check

 

[vern]

have you got a mixer shower or tap turn off cold to boiler and open a hot tap there should be no flow if you have flow then a mixer is passing worth a check

That's awesome advice, once had this on my sisters WB, they had unknown to me hot and cold outside taps both joined by a y piece to wash the dog, trigger off on hose, both taps left open you can guess the rest, cold diluting the hot! Nrv's now fitted

 

[Billy Bob Bob]

have you got a mixer shower or tap turn off cold to boiler and open a hot tap there should be no flow if you have flow then a mixer is passing worth a check

your obviously listening and getting good at this game buckley,your turning into a outstanding engineer

 

[buckley plumb]

That's awesome advice, once had this on my sisters WB, they had unknown to me hot and cold outside taps both joined by a y piece to wash the dog, trigger off on hose, both taps left open you can guess the rest, cold diluting the hot! Nrv's now fitted

caught me out last wk fitted a gloworm betacom a 4 months ago and hw got worse over time spent ages checking boiler the burner would modulate up and down but only 29 degree water . called glow worm out who found problem and made me feel like a fool :-(

 

[tamz]

your obviously listening and getting good at this game buckley,your turning into a outstanding engineer

Its called experience. Most learning comes from the university of life whatever your profession or interests .

 

[Billy Bob Bob]

Its called experience. Most learning comes from the university of life whatever your profession or interests .

yep totally agree

 

[vern]

caught me out last wk fitted a gloworm betacom a 4 months ago and hw got worse over time spent ages checking boiler the burner would modulate up and down but only 29 degree water . called glow worm out who found problem and made me feel like a fool :-(

Lol pal, you mean Gloworm turned off the cold mains boiler isolation valve, to change some bits and got wet through!

 

[buckley plumb]

your obviously listening and getting good at this game buckley,your turning into a outstanding engineer

not that good mate that baxi 105 e i pm you on got the better of me thought i fixed it but 2 days on and gone again . dont like things beating me and feel like a failure when cant sort some things but hey i am not a manufacturer and dont carry a van of bits to try if all else fails .

 

[buckley plumb]

Lol pal, you mean Gloworm turned off the cold mains boiler isolation valve, to change some bits and got wet through!

no mate first thing he did was isolate cold to check for mixer passing said he had 6 like this in past 3 months .

 

[buckley plumb]

yep totally agree

learning every day - still shy on worcester boilers they are a nightmare to work on.

 

[Billy Bob Bob]

learning every day - still shy on worcester boilers they are a nightmare to work on.

cant agree enough right heaps designed by numpties IMHO

 

[vern]

no mate first thing he did was isolate cold to check for mixer passing said he had 6 like this in past 3 months .

Getting more common with cheap showers and brassware no doubt!

 

[buckley plumb]

Getting more common with cheap showers and brassware no doubt!

definatley - had a megaflow that kept loosing its air bubble and dripping on exp relif valve. only found after changing the exp relif and pres reducer and still did the same .

 

[vern]

definatley - had a megaflow that kept loosing its air bubble and dripping on exp relif valve. only found after changing the exp relif and pres reducer and still did the same .

Yep had this also, too many outlets it could have been, so put a 3 bar PRV above mains stopcock so all outlets and showers where balanced, on the megaflo you can do this on install as long as you record where the PRV is fitted etc, if a complete new build obviously everything would go via the PRV's balanced port.

 

[buckley plumb]

Yep had this also, too many outlets it could have been, so put a 3 bar PRV above mains stopcock so all outlets and showers where balanced, on the megaflo you can do this on install as long as you record where the PRV is fitted etc, if a complete new build obviously everything would go via the PRV's balanced port.

they used to come with a seperate press reducer and cold exp relif but now seem to be combined

 

[vern]

they used to come with a seperate press reducer and cold exp relif but now seem to be combined

Correct pal, no doubt due to cost! Although the new combined valve is supposed to flow 20% more with the same pressure!

 

[Dannypipe]

Although the new combined valve is supposed to flow 20% more with the same pressure!

Really!? I wonder if that's true?

 

[vern]

Really!? I wonder if that's true?

Depends if you believe in Santa Claus?
The wording on their site has been updated to" new water inlet controls increase flow rates by up 20%"
Maybe they got challenged over their claims? It now appears further down their marketing bullet points too

 

[treefan]

I live in SE London area.
The hot water to taps is always better. Maybe something to do with the shower valves ?
Ariston have advised to check the water volume passing through but dont know how to do that.
thanks

 

[Billy Bob Bob]

I live in SE London area.
The hot water to taps is always better. Maybe something to do with the shower valves ?
Ariston have advised to check the water volume passing through but dont know how to do that.
thanks

its going to be sludge in the dv causing your issue did your plumber remove this and clean it?

 

[treefan]

its going to be sludge in the dv causing your issue did your plumber remove this and clean it?

I have no ideas; I dont think so as he didnt mention it.
Is it something I can try myself?

 

[Masood]

Paul, I'm trying to reply to your latest message but your inbox is full. Please call or text me, or send me a PM when you've deleted some messages, so I can reply!

 

[treefan]

**** Update to this thread ******

Got someone from this forum to do work on this boiler.
His effort and commitment can't be faulted dealing with my crap heating system and I appreciate he helped me out valiently at short notice.

Work Done:
1. diverter cleaned; water system drained for this;
2. heat sensor swapped out (sorry, forget exact name).

after this hot water stopped completely / heating was erractic (PANIC STATIONS).
Looked like pilot light sensor firing up but not staying on.

Next Day

1. electrics fully checked (passed)
2. New (2nd ) PCB fitted.
This restored heating and hot water but still have to halve cold water pressure to get hot water and then temp only goes to low 40s.

So have heating and limited hot water still.

Bill now over £1000;
Plumber has reccommended a proper service and also suggested enlarging the gas supply rate as it seems to be operating lower than optiumum.
Also maybe replace both shower valves as they could be contributuinbg to poor hot water flow.

So the saga continues and im finding nearest cliff to jump off.

 

[vern]

**** Update to this thread ******

Got someone from this forum to do work on this boiler.
His effort and commitment can't be faulted dealing with my crap heating system and I appreciate he helped me out valiently at short notice.

Work Done:
1. diverter cleaned; water system drained for this;
2. heat sensor swapped out (sorry, forget exact name).

after this hot water stopped completely / heating was erractic (PANIC STATIONS).
Looked like pilot light sensor firing up but not staying on.

Next Day

1. electrics fully checked (passed)
2. New (2nd ) PCB fitted.
This restored heating and hot water but still have to halve cold water pressure to get hot water and then temp only goes to low 40s.

So have heating and limited hot water still.

Bill now over £1000;
Plumber has reccommended a proper service and also suggested enlarging the gas supply rate as it seems to be operating lower than optiumum.
Also maybe replace both shower valves as they could be contributuinbg to poor hot water flow.

So the saga continues and im finding nearest cliff to jump off.

Sorry but I have no sympathy....the answers are in this thread! Turn off the cold water isolation valve to the boiler will take less than 20 secs.........then open any hot tap, IF water continues to run after a short while you have a shower or mixer tap passing........if not you have elimated everything but the boiler and gas supply!

You could have got WB 25 Si combi with a magnaclean fitted with a 7 year parts and labour warranty from a Worcester accredited installer for around £1600.00 you will be there soon, as said from my 1st humble post "r.i.p. it from wall, its too late now you've spunked all the cash you never had!