S
Stree
Hello, browsed before and get good information and tips, and after this last weeks adeventures I thought it as good a time as any to join and ask a question ( or two) that hopefully can be clearly answered by the professionals on the forum.
Firstly a little background, not in the wet trades myself, mostly a chippy but bit of electricals, tiling etc and enough plumbing so that installation of kitchens, bathrooms etc. are never a problem.
Anyway, my elderly next door neighbour rang me last week and asked if I would look at her boiler, hardly anything on the rads and no hot water.
This boiler , a Halstead Eden CBX32 was installed July 2009. I saw that it had zero pressure and the reset LED was lit red,so I topped up to 1.5 bar and reset. Boiler fired for 30 seconds then turned off and the pressure slowly worked back to zero. Maybe air introduced I thought so a quick check for air in rads. No air. Anyway topped up about 5 times and each time back to zero, so gave in and called Halsteads to ask for advice.....Well those days are certainly gone, all they would tell me is to use a damp cloth to wipe the case..........So had to ask for local Halstead approved engineer.
I am fairly new to the area so do not yet have a CH engineer that I could swear by, so was hesitant to just find a yellow pages one.
Anyway, Halstead approved engineer visited, declared pressure vessel had died and PRV valve was leaking....Just happened to have these on the van, but not the washer to seal the PRV.
Whether this was an olive or O ring or Fibre washer I do not know but it cost another call out charge to come and fit it next day Seemed unfair.
Anyway, return visit, leak sealed, fired up and system no different No DHW and lukewarm/ cold rads. Engineer called gaffer who joined in and replaced another pressure valve? the pump head and the diverter motor.
Still no different. However, gaffer said to save money my mate and I could fit an auto bypass and run a cleaner through the system and he reckoned that would clear it because there "must be a blockage."
OK willing to believe that at the time, so drained the system to fit bypass, and noted the water was colour of very weak tea. hardly the black sludge we were expecting. Anyway put some OLD system cleaner through it over night, checked pressure, fired up and still burning just 30 seconds and off.Not locking out, just burner switching off. Tried DHW, the boiler almost jumped of the wall, violent banging, howling and pressure wentto zero then shot full way round off the scale! Shut it down Pressure at zero
Refilled, bled boiler through top vent, fired up and same again.
Boiler would run all day in it 30 sec every 4 mins mode but thats all.
Locked out all rads and opened each in turn. Equal lukewarm heat to each, proving flow.
Rang Gaffer engineer who promised he would come out and fit a hydrblock at total cost of one hours labour.
Got a call from his office this morning saying he meant he would do this after we had fitted the bypass valve AND done a double cleaning cycle.......Cleaner circulating for 4 weeks, then flush, then repeat
and after eight weeks we could let him know if there was still an issue. Meanwhile a lady by herself semi invalid in her mid eighties has just a 2 bar electric fire and a kettle for heating and hot water and we know what the temperatures have been like.
Now this engineer strongly advised me not attempt anything that involved getting to the innards of the boiler although happy for us to fit bypass, flush system etc, even though I stressed that I would only be looking at the water side, no gas.
Anyway, after his bill for £690:00 dropped on the customers mat and his advice re: double cleaning cycle we duly took the front off, lifted out the secondary heat exchanger, got rid of the accumulated sediment and scale that clogged the filter with a solid mass, and I mean solid, poke with screwdriver to loosen type solid. Not even 8 weeks would have shifted that.
Anyway, we cleaned it, replaced it, oh and unclipped the pipe from the primary heat exchanger because that was clogged solid too up to halfway so not as far as the main heat exchanger. Thats a fiddly clip at the top with the O ring !
filled, bled, fired up and have a beautifully behaved quick to heat and very quiet boiler, rads as hot as you wish and very quick DHW piping hot, and NO leaks.
Now, with the 2 GS reg engineers that installed the system, the 3 that followed shortly after that who between them replaced the mains in turbine, pcb and a heat sensor, in a vain attempt to get it to work, and this latest Halstead approved engineer and gaffer I have mentioned, we have a total of SEVEN Gas Safe engineers, none of whom was able to leave this system running. But all charged for time and parts, Now I doubt that some of these parts were needed and just stabs in the dark because they were unable to logically work out what the real issue was.
The lady customer has asked if she could get some recompense, I wish she could, but it has been suggested to me that if any engineer I have a complaint against finds out I have been in the boiler even just on the water side, then the boiler will be condemned and we will be liable to prosecution. Is this so?
Firstly a little background, not in the wet trades myself, mostly a chippy but bit of electricals, tiling etc and enough plumbing so that installation of kitchens, bathrooms etc. are never a problem.
Anyway, my elderly next door neighbour rang me last week and asked if I would look at her boiler, hardly anything on the rads and no hot water.
This boiler , a Halstead Eden CBX32 was installed July 2009. I saw that it had zero pressure and the reset LED was lit red,so I topped up to 1.5 bar and reset. Boiler fired for 30 seconds then turned off and the pressure slowly worked back to zero. Maybe air introduced I thought so a quick check for air in rads. No air. Anyway topped up about 5 times and each time back to zero, so gave in and called Halsteads to ask for advice.....Well those days are certainly gone, all they would tell me is to use a damp cloth to wipe the case..........So had to ask for local Halstead approved engineer.
I am fairly new to the area so do not yet have a CH engineer that I could swear by, so was hesitant to just find a yellow pages one.
Anyway, Halstead approved engineer visited, declared pressure vessel had died and PRV valve was leaking....Just happened to have these on the van, but not the washer to seal the PRV.
Whether this was an olive or O ring or Fibre washer I do not know but it cost another call out charge to come and fit it next day Seemed unfair.
Anyway, return visit, leak sealed, fired up and system no different No DHW and lukewarm/ cold rads. Engineer called gaffer who joined in and replaced another pressure valve? the pump head and the diverter motor.
Still no different. However, gaffer said to save money my mate and I could fit an auto bypass and run a cleaner through the system and he reckoned that would clear it because there "must be a blockage."
OK willing to believe that at the time, so drained the system to fit bypass, and noted the water was colour of very weak tea. hardly the black sludge we were expecting. Anyway put some OLD system cleaner through it over night, checked pressure, fired up and still burning just 30 seconds and off.Not locking out, just burner switching off. Tried DHW, the boiler almost jumped of the wall, violent banging, howling and pressure wentto zero then shot full way round off the scale! Shut it down Pressure at zero
Refilled, bled boiler through top vent, fired up and same again.
Boiler would run all day in it 30 sec every 4 mins mode but thats all.
Locked out all rads and opened each in turn. Equal lukewarm heat to each, proving flow.
Rang Gaffer engineer who promised he would come out and fit a hydrblock at total cost of one hours labour.
Got a call from his office this morning saying he meant he would do this after we had fitted the bypass valve AND done a double cleaning cycle.......Cleaner circulating for 4 weeks, then flush, then repeat
and after eight weeks we could let him know if there was still an issue. Meanwhile a lady by herself semi invalid in her mid eighties has just a 2 bar electric fire and a kettle for heating and hot water and we know what the temperatures have been like.
Now this engineer strongly advised me not attempt anything that involved getting to the innards of the boiler although happy for us to fit bypass, flush system etc, even though I stressed that I would only be looking at the water side, no gas.
Anyway, after his bill for £690:00 dropped on the customers mat and his advice re: double cleaning cycle we duly took the front off, lifted out the secondary heat exchanger, got rid of the accumulated sediment and scale that clogged the filter with a solid mass, and I mean solid, poke with screwdriver to loosen type solid. Not even 8 weeks would have shifted that.
Anyway, we cleaned it, replaced it, oh and unclipped the pipe from the primary heat exchanger because that was clogged solid too up to halfway so not as far as the main heat exchanger. Thats a fiddly clip at the top with the O ring !
filled, bled, fired up and have a beautifully behaved quick to heat and very quiet boiler, rads as hot as you wish and very quick DHW piping hot, and NO leaks.
Now, with the 2 GS reg engineers that installed the system, the 3 that followed shortly after that who between them replaced the mains in turbine, pcb and a heat sensor, in a vain attempt to get it to work, and this latest Halstead approved engineer and gaffer I have mentioned, we have a total of SEVEN Gas Safe engineers, none of whom was able to leave this system running. But all charged for time and parts, Now I doubt that some of these parts were needed and just stabs in the dark because they were unable to logically work out what the real issue was.
The lady customer has asked if she could get some recompense, I wish she could, but it has been suggested to me that if any engineer I have a complaint against finds out I have been in the boiler even just on the water side, then the boiler will be condemned and we will be liable to prosecution. Is this so?
