new heating system needed

[gazza2010]

i have a powermax 155x,9 years old and the hot water as more or less failed.
i am in norfolk and its a real struggle to find a fitter for powermax.
it seems i need a blender valve and heat exchanger costing around £300 plus vat then add the labour.
it has not been serviced for around 6 years,as the only person that worked on them moved abroad.
so im guessing its timefor a new system.
we have one bathroom and one ensuite.
its a 4 bedroom house.
the radiator pipework is all small bore plastic,id say about a 10 to 12 mm bore.
the boiler is situated upstairs in a bedroom airing cupboard.
what options do i have?
what is a good boiler for me?
where should i buy it?
roughly how much is reasonable for fitting?
im a floor and wall tiler so i meet a lot of plumbers,but most are not heating engineers just bathroom plumbers really.

i have a chap coming to look tomorrow to have a look at the powermax,he is not gas registered but says he can work on the water side of the boiler,this would be fine but the price of the parts puts me of this route.
can i have some advice please lads.
and if you know anyone in the mid norfolk area,recomendations would be helpful.
thanks gaz..........

 

[Billy Bob Bob]

if its not been serviced for six years the turberlaters will have collapsed=right off

 

[gazza2010]

if its not been serviced for six years the turberlaters will have collapsed=right off

the heating works just fine and the water was until about 6 months back when i had to start running the bath slower.
ive no idea what turbulators are!!!
gaz......

 

[Billy Bob Bob]

turberlaters are a vital part of a power max combustion chamber they must be renewed every 2 years,fail to do it and it knackers the boiler bet its hell of a mess inside, you say no one will work on it baxi will [heat team] as they bought range power max

 

[gazza2010]

im assuming that my boiler isnt g rated so to qualify for the scrappage scheme,i cant find it on any list.
what i really need is some advice on a reasonable boiler.
i dont know if it matters that it has to go upstairs,or if the pipe bore size makes any difference.
ive been trying to read up on boilers online but its a minefield really.
so give me a hand here lads please!!!!!!!!
gaz...

 

[Blackcatgas]

I fitted loads of those powermaxs on new building sites back in the late 90s, a perfect replacement for your power max would be a Viessmann 222F floor mounted storage combi ,which like your powermax is a cylinder and boiler combined and will slip in to the space curently ocupied by your powermax, they do however wiegh 18 st so you would need 2 of you to get it upstairs and theyre not going tobe as cheap as a combi boiler, they will however give you 20 litres of hot water a minute, add the weather compensation kit too this will save you na few extra £ a year on your heating bills.

 

[gazza2010]

I fitted loads of those powermaxs on new building sites back in the late 90s, a perfect replacement for your power max would be a Viessmann 222F floor mounted storage combi ,which like your powermax is a cylinder and boiler combined and will slip in to the space curently ocupied by your powermax, they do however wiegh 18 st so you would need 2 of you to get it upstairs and theyre not going tobe as cheap as a combi boiler, they will however give you 20 litres of hot water a minute, add the weather compensation kit too this will save you na few extra £ a year on your heating bills.

thanks blackcat,
would i not be buying another boiler that no one wants to work on?
im just about to look this one up,to be honest i really dont want to spend any more than £1000 on the boiler.
i would rather buy something thats servicable by plenty of heating engineers.
gaz..........

 

[stevetheplumber]

thanks blackcat,
would i not be buying another boiler that no one wants to work on?
im just about to look this one up,to be honest i really dont want to spend any more than £1000 on the boiler.
i would rather buy something thats servicable by plenty of heating engineers.
gaz..........

then look at vaillants or rehema

 

[Blackcatgas]

thanks blackcat,
would i not be buying another boiler that no one wants to work on?
im just about to look this one up,to be honest i really dont want to spend any more than £1000 on the boiler.
i would rather buy something thats servicable by plenty of heating engineers.
gaz..........

Yeah fair play to you Gazza, a plumber whos not seen one of these before might be a bit scared,like alot of things (the powermax) it might turn into a bit of a big white elephant, its just that this would give you the same performance as the powermax (when it was new). If you just want to bang a combi in the same space then £1000 will get you a nice one, just dont expect the flow rate to be as good as the powermax once was

 

[gazza2010]

then look at vaillants or rehema

thanks steve,
any particular models you would recommend.
gaz.........

Yeah fair play to you Gazza, a plumber whos not seen one of these before might be a bit scared,like alot of things (the powermax) it might turn into a bit of a big white elephant, its just that this would give you the same performance as the powermax (when it was new). If you just want to bang a combi in the same space then £1000 will get you a nice one, just dont expect the flow rate to be as good as the powermax once was

thanks blackcat,
ive got a chap coming next week to descale the heat exchanger and the blender valve,well see if that cures it,even if its just for now.
i priced the exchanger and the valve and there £300 for the pair that plus the labour and then getting someone (if i can find someone) to service it is just going to far,as it probably is on it way out anyway.
i got a reply on another forum saying go to baxi they will service and fixit for £300 with vat,but that sounds wrong to me do you have any knowledge of this.
gaz.........