Hot water from Valliant Boiler

[Margaret T]

Can the criss-cross pipes (originally two straws) be put back to normal? - yes they can, but it needs to be done correctly and checked for correct operation. As we have said, it’s fixable, but needs doing by someone who should know what they’re doing.

I had an ex BG service my boiler (before I could) and I wasn’t impressed with what he’d left - a boiler that was condensing into the casing and a high PPM reading in the flue analyser.

Source: below screenshot obtained from Vaillant website for the original installer
via: Find An Installer - Vaillant
Find your local Vaillant installer
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[Aire]

Source: below screenshot obtained from Vaillant website for the original installer
via: Find An Installer - Vaillant
Find your local Vaillant installer
Click here to find a local installer
"
View attachment 38592
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It does seem that alot of the public, most of which are of the older generation looks at British gas as the backbone of the UK. However most installers you speak to don't generally have good things to say about their installers or service engineers. Not saying they're all bad, but alot do appear to not actually know what they are doing.

 

[Burger]

I suppose it’s like any company, you get some who are good and some who are bad.

 

[Margaret T]

Morning, in March 2019 we had a shower pump installed by the person who installed our new boiler and radiators. With the note of having CH issue from January 2019, the month February HW onwards. Below within the description of work. Would this affect the pipework of the flow?

 

[Margaret T]

Margaret,

If we trawl back through this problem, from my perspective it comes back to two issues:

From the photographs you have provided, it looks as if the pipework installation is sending a flow to both the flow and return terminals of the indirect hot water tank.

It also appears that the two port valves and possibly the Hive controller have been installed in correctly.

Both of the above give a clear indication that the installer of the system was inept and probably not competent.

To correct this situation you require a reputable plumber, to survey the system and to give you a priced proposal to modify the current installation into a fully working S Plan system.

At that point you can then decide how to proceed to get you system operating properly and (just as importantly) how to recover the additional money you have already spent and will need to spend to rectify the problem.

If the sum is large enough, you should consider giving the original installer one opportunity to correct the installation, thereafter engage a competent plumber and recover your costs through the small claims court.

Which ever route you take, to recover your costs, you need to establish a clear base line ( in the form if a short, but detailed report) now of what is wrong with the installation and how much it will cost to correct. It is equally important to establish a base line to preserve the warranty that you believe you have for the Vailient Boiler. By allowing people (BG) to tinker will a newly installed boiler, you are putting that warranty at risk

It may be that you household insurance policy will provide legal cover to assist in your claim.

I feel sorry for you with British Gas and I think that you should challenge them on the basis that they fitted a part that was not needed. However, if you call people in on an adhoc basis you need to recognise that they are going to charge for their time.

When I first read you post, I interpreted it as a control issue - they are generally a simple fix ( either correcting the wiring or replacing a faulty part). Once you provided photographs of the pipework around the hot water cylinder, it became apparent that the pipework has been installed incorrectly - this is a more expensive fix. It is also harder to interpret system behaviour, when the pipework is fundamentally wrong. I am surprised that you have ever managed to get hot water with the cylinder piped in that way

At the end of the day a system like yours is a very common straight forward installation - it is not complex and is fixable, once the scope of work required to do so is established.

Hopefully the above will help you to establish a clear and successful way forward.

Morning Brambles, thank you for response. Regarding "I am surprised that you have ever managed to get hot water with the cylinder piped in that way"

Previously with the old boiler, everything was working fine with no issue what so ever.

We then had the new boiler installed in September 2018 and everything was working fine (left to run on the setup Hive schedule). It was only from January 2019 where the first issue started [CH stopped working - the installer told us it was an airlock - and he told us to turn the black switch in the aircupboard], followed by February 2019 - there was no HW and as per the information provided in the original post.

I'm annoyed by the fact the pipework in the kitchen changed, he didn't tell us he was doing so. He was in the airing cupboard for a while then went to the kitchen and changed the pipework straight to criss-cross. Then performed tests to get the HW to work on its own. He tried and looked at the pipework again in the airing cupboard and the lifted flooring touching the pipes determining the HW, and as he had another job to attend to 11:30 am; he told us to leave CH + HW on running (with the CH Drayton not attached to the pipework). He said he needed to go away and have a think and would return, so the last visit was 30/04/2019 and haven't heard since as of yet.

 

[Brambles]

Margaret,

The work with respect to the shower pump is on the tank side of the system. It will have no impact whatsoever on the flow of water from the boiler to the CH/HW system.

Not being pessimistic, but in view of your installers track record, It is probable that he / she has not installed the pump and associated electrics and pipework to a professional standard.

With respect to the way forward, I would refer you to my last post.

On a serious note, if it was my house, I would not let your installer tinker any further with the installation until he /she had explained to me what the problem was and how

 

[Brambles]

I should have added, that in my view it is unlikely that your new system has ever worked properly - the problem has just been masked by the central heating being in operation.

I don’t understand how even with the central heating on, flow was achieved through the HW tank - but then I have not seen the full layout if the pipework.

 

[Aire]

I really feel we are going round in circles here Margaret. The best thing you can do is get someone else to come check your system over. From the limited and slightly poor quality pictures, we can't see what's going on. There's definitely a few issues, which may simply be fixed by installing the zone valves the correct way round and checking the wiring, but we simply cannot give you a definitive answer on a forum.