Rusty flue replacement?

[Gazzab86]

Hi, I have just noticed a damp patch around where my boiler flue exits through to outside wall along with a rusty colour around the collar of the flue bend. I’ve checked the external wall & there’s no water coming in from outside but the flue terminal also has a rusty colour. My regular boiler is a Greenstar RI 24 & was installed ( & I didn’t realise this until last night after looking through some paperwork when we bought the house) in 2005 . I have lived here for a couple of years & always thought the boiler didn’t look very old, being a regular boiler rather than a combi it doesn’t have many controls to suggest it’s an older type. Only an on/off knob & a temp knob, which I believe is almost identical to the current model.
So my boiler is tucked away in a kitchen cupboard & hardly sees the light of day , maybe that’s why it doesn’t show much ageing. I think once the boiler must have had the flue going horizontally straight out the wall but when the conservatory was installed they have had to alter the flue position, can tell this from the different shad of bricks used the block up the old flue, which you can see in the pic.

the flue goes vertically from the boiler, two offset bends to take it closer to the external wall then elbowed horizontally out. Which looks rather strange having the flue coming up a meter through the bedroom floor then out the wall. It was a wardrobe built around it when we moved in, but unsightly but in back bedroom so haven’t been too bothered about it.

Basically now this leak/rust has been discovered the obvious thought would be rather than spend out replacing flue & getting to reason why rusty in the first place why not just update to a combi and be done given that the boiler is now 17 years old. And that definitely is somthing I want to do, maybe in a few months time when I can get some cash together following Christmas & paying to have my DPF cleaned on my van (which was £330 ) not to bore you with that. My question is can I buy a couple of meters of flue kit ,a couple of offset bends, elbow, clamps etc to fit into this old boiler just to sort it for now until I can get a combi done. I know it’s silly spending out if I am considering changing it but just to buy myself some time to get it done.
I’ll include pictures & would very much appreciate your help. Also it hasn’t been serviced for a few years, which I’m quite embarrassed about when it came to mind following this rust issue. The boiler hasn’t had a days trouble it’s tucked away in a cupboard, out of sight out of mind , no excuse I know & I’m not proud of it but it just hasn’t come to mind, stupid of me, if anyone asked me how often a boiler should be serviced I’d answer every year. So no excuse really. Help /advice very welcome, thank you.

 

[Chuck]

You need to book a service and discuss the flue issues, etc. with the person you book. I would strongly advise you not to "buy a couple of meters of flue kit, a couple of offset bends, elbow, clamps etc to fit into this old boiler just to sort it for now" because flues are safety-critical components that need to be installed and tested by a competent (i.e. Gas Safe registered) person.

 

[snowhead]

When the boiler is on does condensation only blow out of the centre longer smaller tube or does it also come out the wider tube where the staining is on the plastic terminal end, as I suspect either the flue may have failed and is causing the flue to rust or otherwise it's water dripping off the gutter and getting inside the flue and causing the rust

And no you can't replace it yourself as it needs testing after fitting by a Gassafe registered engineer.

 

[ShaunCorbs]

Common issue on the older Worcester flues the seals go and let condense pass / drip

 

[Gazzab86]

You need to book a service and discuss the flue issues, etc. with the person you book. I would strongly advise you not to "buy a couple of meters of flue kit, a couple of offset bends, elbow, clamps etc to fit into this old boiler just to sort it for now" because flues are safety-critical components that need to be installed and tested by a competent (i.e. Gas Safe registered) person.

Thank you for responding Chuck, I have booked in for a service now, what I didn’t want was to book it in, have an engineer come out & turn it off sayings it’s unsafe, so I’ve discussed the issue in detail & going to renew the flue & then do a service. He said the Greenstar Ri ‘s are a pretty reliable boiler that he wouldn’t rush to replace if it’s running ok. He said it sounds like there isn’t the correct angle (rising slightly)going out the wall thus vapour isn’t running back down to the boiler it’s collecting, which makes sense as it’s dripping onto the conservatory lead which makes sense what he says about the wrong angle.
I’m with you 100% on it’s a safety critical component, when I said get the bits & sort it for now I didn’t mean carry out the work myself, just ment to buy parts required , get them fitted just to overcome my problem for now , until boiler swap later on in the year.
Thanks again