What makes vaillant so good ????

[loosenyourmoose]

Hi All,

I have asked the question, can someone give me an answer please ??? Many people are raving about them but are there or are there not just as good boilers from different manufacturers ???

Would appreciate some feedback !!!!

Regards.

 

[SimonJohns]

Good quality parts
Good build quality

Mechanically not much different from for e.g a ferroli BUT and a BIG BUT. The quality of the components is much higher and the build quality is alot better

 

[loosenyourmoose]

Thanks Simon.:8:

 

[GQuigley67]

open up a vaillant and it looks like a good piece of kit inside, as said before good build quality, stainless steal heat exchanger, looks much better than a worcester. Vaillants are also German engineered, they Germans have always been good at engineering

 

[Kev the gas]

I was called out to a tenanted property today to look @ water leak from new boiler, I quoted the job for a Worcester 30 SI, a Vailliant ecotec 831 was installed 6 months ago. The landlord asked for me to visit rather than the installer!

Internally the condense pipe had come loose halfway up inside the boiler and ejaculated itself all over the inside of the boiler, by the look of things it was happening from installation, due to the state of the floor, wall and internals of the boiler.

 

[GQuigley67]

i wouldnt worry too much about that happening

i went to a vaillant today and the installer has installed the prv pipework directly below the condensate trap and you can't remove it for cleaning. I wonder how many there is about that are like this ?? as I nearlly done it in my own home before I noticed.

 

[woodsy]

I would agree with most of the positive comments above and for me as a gas engineer, they look as if they have been designed by a engineer with all / most parts very accessible and not by some boffin who will never have to work on one outside a lab. Only downside very expensive and to a degree , only as good as the system they are installed to.

 

[Halesowen1]

Very reliable, easiest boiler to fit, easiest boiler to pipe, very easy to work on(repair), never had any issues upon firing up.
Only 2 minus are size, they are a little bigger than others though not heavier, they are bigger so it is easier to work on.
lastly the wireless programmer is hard for customers to use, the older model was fine but new one is daunting to say the least. But fit a honeywell if you want.

 

[gasmarc]

I dont rate them myself only repair or replace them

 

[Halesowen1]

What boiler would you say are better Gasmarc? just curious as I have fitted most boilers and all boiler manufacturers ( I think). Never came across a better boiler than the Ecotec's

 

[loosenyourmoose]

Thanks all for your comments. Appreciate it.

 

[Billy Bob Bob]

the innards inside a vailant are with out question high quality,the flues are poor quality though and the tech helpline is daylight robbery but i would say the innards of a duotec mk1 or heatmax are of equal quality and the flues are a lot better,the tech lines cheaper and service calls are probably a lot better and they are a lot easier to work on and service,thats why i fit baxi,but baxi i feel have dropped a major with the new ga boilers

 

[dancinplumba]

shame they put rubber pipe in the ecotec....just not quality...what were they thinking

 

[Halesowen1]

I have different tech lines, I am a Vaillant recommended installer and get local rate numbers.
I can see what you mean about the flues, but I dont think they are poor quality just because they make you put in self tappers to hold it all together, personally I can trust it more than any other manufacturers flue after screwing it together, I know it aint ever coming apart, could you say the same about others??
I personnaly dont think Baxi Heatmax are in the same league as Vaillant ecotec's, not for installing, nor for any repairs. Only my opinion.

 

[Halesowen1]

How many times have you had to replace this rubber pipe? I have never been to one.

 

[gasmanscotty]

prefer the greenstar si and cdi myself for installing but my company has also started fitting ecotec 831s which are also good...anything is better than the old vokera unicas that we used to fit.

 

[GQuigley67]

i hate fitting juniors, never fitted any other type of worcester

 

[dancinplumba]

How many times have you had to replace this rubber pipe? I have never been to one.

never, had a leaking one at clip, but still think its not quality

 

[Halesowen1]

But if it never leaks surely it is good quality, plus these flex pipes aid when changing parts.

 

[Billy Bob Bob]

I have different tech lines, I am a Vaillant recommended installer and get local rate numbers.
I can see what you mean about the flues, but I dont think they are poor quality just because they make you put in self tappers to hold it all together, personally I can trust it more than any other manufacturers flue after screwing it together, I know it aint ever coming apart, could you say the same about others??
I personnaly dont think Baxi Heatmax are in the same league as Vaillant ecotec's, not for installing, nor for any repairs. Only my opinion.

the problem with valiant flues is that they are as thick as a *** paper,and you can self tap any flue,in fact i think that should be in all mi,s

 

[Halesowen1]

Whenever I fit a WB it makes me cry, these guys are stuck in the ice age when it comes to boilers.
You end up making half the boiler on site, Juniors and Si are utter rubbish. Greenstar cdi are like fitting an old boiler from 80's.
Vaillant - 2 bolts for the boiler bracket, drop on boiler, fit brass connectors with built in filling loop(not that pathetic white key), tighten the supplied pipe bends, solder them up and off you toddle.

 

[Halesowen1]

the problem with valiant flues is that they are as thick as a *** paper,and you can self tap any flue,in fact i think that should be in all mi,s

You can, but people dont unless they are told to. Vaillant make you and hence have a safer fluing system.

 

[dancinplumba]

as i said, had leak on clip, no rubber pipe, no clip, no leaky, not quality IMO good engineers shuold come up with sumat else ie flexi s/steel or copper ?????. oh and i like em recommend them. after intergas

 

[Billy Bob Bob]

Whenever I fit a WB it makes me cry, these guys are stuck in the ice age when it comes to boilers.
You end up making half the boiler on site, Juniors and Si are utter rubbish. Greenstar cdi are like fitting an old boiler from 80's.
Vaillant - 2 bolts for the boiler bracket, drop on boiler, fit brass connectors with built in filling loop(not that pathetic white key), tighten the supplied pipe bends, solder them up and off you toddle.

have to agree on the WB dont like them at all,all quality brass and copper on a heatmax,and a free proper filling loop

 

[Mbear]

Old vaillants are gash. New ones with rubber pipes that leak, brilliant build quality! Pull the other one.

The ecomax with its crap black foam that falls to bits.

Build quality, maybe some ppl should read the definition of quality

 

[Mbear]

have to agree on the WB dont like them at all,all quality brass and copper on a heatmax,and a free proper filling loop

Have to agree. I like 90% of baxis stuff

 

[Rickster123]

Vaillants are lovely to fit, look great, very quiet when running. As said before vaillant wireless unit is a nightmare, last one took me 30 mins to change to English! Don't really like the p.r.v connection. As gas man says the flue isn't great and their vertical flue slate is pony.
I'd still fit a vaillant over a Worcester any day.

 

[Halesowen1]

I can only say as I find them, never had a problem.
Fitted the ecomax's for a company on warmfront for about 3 years.
This is why I try and fit them on all private jobs now. I reckon I have fitted 30 over last 18-24 months and not been back to any problems with the boiler.
To be fair I have not gone back to any WB, but I have not fitted so many privately.
Fitted the Baxi duotec on a contract a few years back, what a load of rubbish they were. Off centre flue too, whats all that about, just a way of making fitters buy a 90 or pack of 45 degree flue elbows if you were doing a like for like swap.

 

[CES]

Personally I prefer Vaillant over any other but Im Vaillant Accredited so im probably biased. WB heat exchangers let them down IMHO. The one thing I will say about Vaillant is that their external controls options are crap! I fit Vaillants with honeywell controls whenever I spec for a customer.
As far as leaking rubber pipes, I've honestly never came across any so far. In my servicing side I come across more problems with Vokeras, Old Baxis (Solo's) and WB than I do Vaillants but thats probably more down to whats fitted in my area, rather than reliability. Each installer will have their own preference based on their own experiences.

 

[Mbear]

Personally I prefer Vaillant over any other but Im Vaillant Accredited so im probably biased. WB heat exchangers let them down IMHO. The one thing I will say about Vaillant is that their external controls options are crap! I fit Vaillants with honeywell controls whenever I spec for a customer.
As far as leaking rubber pipes, I've honestly never came across any so far. In my servicing side I come across more problems with Vokeras, Old Baxis (Solo's) and WB than I do Vaillants but thats probably more down to whats fitted in my area, rather than reliability. Each installer will have their own preference based on their own experiences.

Trust me they leak, and usually when u aren't there to see the leak. The cust will be adament that her boiler Is leaking, u have a look and it's all bone dry, it makes u look really daft. The mod kit is gd and should have been done b4 they left the factory.

I mostly repair heating, Vaillant are no better than most out there. Cheap and nasty at times

 

[CES]

Out of interest , what pipes are we talking about here, on which boilers? Just so I know what to look out for,as I've said I've fitted mainly Ecotec Pros' and Plus combi & system boilers, only problem Ive had is a leaking condensate trap on a Ecotec Plus 415 out of about 30 odd so far, but if they're problematic I want to know.

 

[Halesowen1]

They are on the combis, dont know about others. They are on the sides off the heat exchanger connections. Never seen one leak nor ever been told of one by any other fitters untill now.

They are not problomatic or we would have numerous posts on here asking for advice, there is not one.

 

[Mbear]

They are on the combis, dont know about others. They are on the sides off the heat exchanger connections. Never seen one leak nor ever been told of one by any other fitters untill now.

They are not problomatic or we would have numerous posts on here asking for advice, there is not one.

If the hoses are not problematic why is there a specific mod kit to fix the problem?

 

[Halesowen1]

Show me all the people with the problem, none of us but you have ever came across any.
I fitted these for 3 years, most weeks I fitted 2-5 of them. I reckon that is more than enough to base my experience on them and say no problems and very good boilers.

 

[Halesowen1]

If the hoses are not problematic why is there a specific mod kit to fix the problem?

The mod kit is for old model, they would have sorted any problem if it was a common fault.

 

[Mbear]

Show me all the people with the problem, none of us but you have ever came across any.
I fitted these for 3 years, most weeks I fitted 2-5 of them. I reckon that is more than enough to base my experience on them and say no problems and very good boilers.

I averagely repair 35 boilers a wk, I'd say I come accross more faults than u do. Trust me, there's a telescopic mod kit (2 copper pipes and a few orings) to replace the rubber hose and connecting copper pipes.

 

[Halesowen1]

I would say I have fitted more than you have, and I fit them for myself. If anybody has a problem it is me who they ring.
Never had a call = Very good boiler.
We all have our opinions and only you seem to have seen these problems on her, not one other person.
I dont doubt there is a mod kit, but I doubt how many are used.

 

[Mbear]

I would say I have fitted more than you have, and I fit them for myself. If anybody has a problem it is me who they ring.
Never had a call = Very good boiler.
We all have our opinions and only you seem to have seen these problems on her, not one other person.
I dont doubt there is a mod kit, but I doubt how many are used.

U most certainly do fit more boilers than I do going by your no.s.
Stop taking this like Im verbally berating ur mother or nan. It's a boiler haha.

Point is, rubber hose equals cheap and nasty, vokera have dabbled in this area recently on the newer lineas/mynutes etc, I've came accross leaking rubber hoses on these aswell. I wouldnt go on about it if I didn't come accross this on a Vaillant, it just got up my nose about its great build quality when clearly its not the case (in my experience).

 

[Halesowen1]

Well done.

 

[Mbear]

Well done.

I don't need a pat on the back

 

[Dannypipe]

Well that decended into a row pretty quickly. I personally don't think Vailants are head and shoulders above some of the other good manufacturers. Everyone wanted WB for the past few years. They were living off their old reputation for quality and their current boilers aren't well made. Plastic fantastic. If plastic will do in place of metal, what ever it may be they fit it, and save themselves a couple of pence.

 

[Halesowen1]

Why does rubber hose equal cheap and nasty??
Ever looked under the bonnet on a Ferrari, you know then cheap and nasty cars with them rubber hoses.

 

[Halesowen1]

Well that decended into a row pretty quickly. I personally don't think Vailants are head and shoulders above some of the other good manufacturers. Everyone wanted WB for the past few years. They were living off their old reputation for quality and their current boilers aren't well made. Plastic fantastic. If plastic will do in place of metal, what ever it may be they fit it, and save themselves a couple of pence.

I think most people agree WB are not that good, but this post will tell us all that most think Vaillant are either good or very good, exept for the one who seems to have found every bad one.

 

[Mbear]

Why does rubber hose equal cheap and nasty??
Ever looked under the bonnet on a Ferrari, you know then cheap and nasty cars with them rubber hoses.

Oh dear

 

[Dannypipe]

Agree to disagree fellas. Its a matter of opinion. There isn't actually a 'right' answer on this one.

 

[Mbear]

I think most people agree WB are not that good, but this post will tell us all that most think Vaillant are either good or very good, exept for the one who seems to have found every bad one.

And then I had an ecotec last wk. knackered pump. Went back with new pump. Old
pump was a wilo, new modified pump is grundfos. Cheers Vaillant, instead of an easy pump head swap, I had to strip the full right hand manifold out and replace full body etc, all the while gingerly moving the rubber hoses out of the way. Sure as muck, bottom of hose leaked after refill. Mod kit reqd.

 

[Dannypipe]

LOL - Well in fairness. Mbear paints a pretty lousy picture of the Vailant brand, and it's quite hard to argue with him on a lot of issues.

Things like that with the pump drive me mental!!!

 

[Halesowen1]

No your right there is not a right answer, Majority is with Vaillant rather than against so I feel most engineers are getting the same feedback as me.
You sure you aint a WB salesman in disguise mbear??
Goodnight.

 

[Dannypipe]

You sure you aint a WB salesman in disguise mbear??
Goodnight.

Ha!! Did some one mention Inter Gas, the boiler with X moving parts and millions of Heat exchangers without one failing and all that other marketing stuff?

What are they actually like? Never worked on one or fitted one.

 

[Mbear]

No your right there is not a right answer, Majority is with Vaillant rather than against so I feel most engineers are getting the same feedback as me.
You sure you aint a WB salesman in disguise mbear??
Goodnight.

No mate lol. It's because I spend 90% of my working life repairing all sorts of different boilers. The other 10% is boiler/rad/cylinder replacement. With most of my time spent repairing I find the obscure and common alike, if I reccomend a boiler I recommend as below

1, long term reliability (ie not an ideal)
2, build quality (baxi)
3, ease of fix should repairs come about
4, price
5, installation ease