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Condensing Boiler Fault
- Thread starter frank rabbets
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silvercruiser
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the hot flue gases pass through a second heat exchanger so using the latent heat but by doing so you are cooling the waste fumes etc and you end up with the condensate.(a very rough explanation 
)
Joe
)Joe
Which makes it much more efficient, my boiler is in the room where I have the computer, there is a radiator there too, with my old boiler the radiator could be turned off because there was enough heat given off by the boiler to keep me warm, with the new condensing boiler I have to have the radiator turned on to keep warm.silvercruiser said:the hot flue gases pass through a second heat exchanger so using the latent heat but by doing so you are cooling the waste fumes etc and you end up with the condensate.(a very rough explanation
An interesting article in todays Daily Mail;
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/ ... eres-.html
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/ ... eres-.html
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A country is too micro-managed when politicians decide which boiler I should use. 
Pathetic.
If Toyota (even Land Rover) sold cars which had a life expectancy of 3-6 years the OFT and consumer groups would be on them like a ton of bricks, regardless of how "green" they were
/rant
Pathetic.If Toyota (even Land Rover) sold cars which had a life expectancy of 3-6 years the OFT and consumer groups would be on them like a ton of bricks, regardless of how "green" they were
/rant
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You can still buy non condensing boilers 
The government don't give a toss about the cost to the population, same goes for cars IMO, yes you will save a few quid at the pumps, but you run a huge risk of paying out a lot more in servicing costs with cars that are not very old.
The government don't give a toss about the cost to the population, same goes for cars IMO, yes you will save a few quid at the pumps, but you run a huge risk of paying out a lot more in servicing costs with cars that are not very old.
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Hi
I fitted my central heating and boiler 4.5 years ago. I fitted a Worcester Bosch boiler with 2 years guarantee. After 2.5 years the clock went wrong and cut out the boiler. Worcester came out and mended it free even though I had fitted it myself, it was out of guarantee and I had not had it serviced by them [in fact not at all!]. The clock was the only part designed in Britain!
For what it's worth I've just spoken to their technical Dept and they say it should last 10/20 years. They have to supply parts for 15 years after production ceases. Since 2005 the law states as per Building Regs that all new boilers or replacements must be condensing boilers. There are exceptions but these are rare. If an "illegal" boiler is fitted I guess everything would be OK until you had to sell the house. I expect these old style boilers are not as well made as the old/old type ones.
Frank
I fitted my central heating and boiler 4.5 years ago. I fitted a Worcester Bosch boiler with 2 years guarantee. After 2.5 years the clock went wrong and cut out the boiler. Worcester came out and mended it free even though I had fitted it myself, it was out of guarantee and I had not had it serviced by them [in fact not at all!]. The clock was the only part designed in Britain!
For what it's worth I've just spoken to their technical Dept and they say it should last 10/20 years. They have to supply parts for 15 years after production ceases. Since 2005 the law states as per Building Regs that all new boilers or replacements must be condensing boilers. There are exceptions but these are rare. If an "illegal" boiler is fitted I guess everything would be OK until you had to sell the house. I expect these old style boilers are not as well made as the old/old type ones.
Frank
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Interesting article, and it echoes my earlier post - stick with your old boiler!
yes you can still get non condensing boilers, but these require an exemption certificate based on a points system and VERY few properties actually qualify to have these older type boilers fitted.
I fit about 60 - 80 boilers a year and can honestly say that only less than a handful have been non condensing since the condensing law was introduced, and these were due to a special type of flue system (Seduct) that was required.
The non reliability of condensing boilers very soon knocks a big hole in the savings on fuel costs, and as for emmissions, dont for get that thousands of people like myself are driving around spewing diesel fumes into the atmosphere repairing these things, also, the spare parts have to be manufacturered, and the old ones thrown away, again increasing CO2 emmissions.
The long & short of it is that , despite what the politicians say, condensing boilers will cost you more money in real running costs over say a 15 year period, and taking into account the high maintenance required, more CO2 will be given off!
The 'green' argument is a load of b******s!
Again as I said before, if your old boiler is ok, stick with it!
yes you can still get non condensing boilers, but these require an exemption certificate based on a points system and VERY few properties actually qualify to have these older type boilers fitted.
I fit about 60 - 80 boilers a year and can honestly say that only less than a handful have been non condensing since the condensing law was introduced, and these were due to a special type of flue system (Seduct) that was required.
The non reliability of condensing boilers very soon knocks a big hole in the savings on fuel costs, and as for emmissions, dont for get that thousands of people like myself are driving around spewing diesel fumes into the atmosphere repairing these things, also, the spare parts have to be manufacturered, and the old ones thrown away, again increasing CO2 emmissions.
The long & short of it is that , despite what the politicians say, condensing boilers will cost you more money in real running costs over say a 15 year period, and taking into account the high maintenance required, more CO2 will be given off!
The 'green' argument is a load of b******s!
Again as I said before, if your old boiler is ok, stick with it!
silvercruiser
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Andy said:
I second that
Joe
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Andy; How reliable are these Bosch CDi boilers and how long do they last. From a man who really knows. Also do they need servicing ; the man who came to service ours only cleaned out the dust so I never bothered again.
Frank
Frank
I've had a Bosch condensing boiler for 6 years and apart from it freezing twice this year and once last year the only thing that went wrong was the fan, I don't know what the fan is for, the engineer changed it when it started making a lot of noise.frank rabbets said:
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Frank,
If he only cleaned out some dust, then he didnt do a proper job!
He should have at the very minimum, checked the emmissions & adjusted them as required, cleaned out the condense trap etc etc, it will tell you in the manual all the service points!
it seems that some boilers require more adjustments than others each year, certainly if its fairly new it should be serviced (and most importantly, the paperwork filled in - we always leave a print out of the flue gas analysis), or the manufacturers wont honour any warranty (on some of the better boilers the warranty is 5 years...........if serviced annually by a registered engineer).
Having said that though & I shouldnt admit it, I havnt even taken the casing off mine in the last 6 years, and if it packed up tomorrow, I would probably just change it completely.....unless I had some good second hand spares kicking about!!
Very basically, the fan draws in fresh air for combustion, mixes it with the correct amount of gas, and then expells the products of combustion, (called a premix burner) and yes I have had to replace several fans on the worcester condensing boilers, some have actually broken up inside.
Dont confuse this info with the older type of non condensing (fanned flue or otherwise) boiler with an aerated burner.
The modern boilers are very finely tuned & rely on all sorts of electronics to deliver the required efficiencies, and as we all know, the more complicated things are, the less reliable & more expensive to fix / diagnose problems!!!
If he only cleaned out some dust, then he didnt do a proper job!
He should have at the very minimum, checked the emmissions & adjusted them as required, cleaned out the condense trap etc etc, it will tell you in the manual all the service points!
it seems that some boilers require more adjustments than others each year, certainly if its fairly new it should be serviced (and most importantly, the paperwork filled in - we always leave a print out of the flue gas analysis), or the manufacturers wont honour any warranty (on some of the better boilers the warranty is 5 years...........if serviced annually by a registered engineer).
Having said that though & I shouldnt admit it, I havnt even taken the casing off mine in the last 6 years, and if it packed up tomorrow, I would probably just change it completely.....unless I had some good second hand spares kicking about!!
Very basically, the fan draws in fresh air for combustion, mixes it with the correct amount of gas, and then expells the products of combustion, (called a premix burner) and yes I have had to replace several fans on the worcester condensing boilers, some have actually broken up inside.
Dont confuse this info with the older type of non condensing (fanned flue or otherwise) boiler with an aerated burner.
The modern boilers are very finely tuned & rely on all sorts of electronics to deliver the required efficiencies, and as we all know, the more complicated things are, the less reliable & more expensive to fix / diagnose problems!!!
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Thanks Andy
Who do you think makes the most reliable condensing boiler?
Frank
Who do you think makes the most reliable condensing boiler?
Frank
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mmmmmmmmmmm. thats a bit of a tricky one!!!
Put it this way we have fitted quite a few Broag Remeha Avanta boilers over the last 3 or 4 years or so, and had no problems....yet!
Go on, I know you have probably never heard of them, but they have been established in Holland for yonks, where they have had condensers for a long time, the build quality is good, spares are compatible accross the range, very easy to strip down, & the technical department is answered straight away by a human!! (I have waited over 1/2 hr listening to music on the worcester, & glowworm helplines before now)
Now they are in the UK, they are becoming a very popular manufacturer & give a 5 yr guarantee, its just the name that lets them down
Most boilers have thier strong & weak points, but if you ask me, reliability is my number 1 concern, probably the worcesters are the next most popular that we fit & maitain, but I have had more probs with them than the Remehas.
In this area British Gas fit worcesters, but I suspect that that is price driven & no other reason!
Put it this way we have fitted quite a few Broag Remeha Avanta boilers over the last 3 or 4 years or so, and had no problems....yet!
Go on, I know you have probably never heard of them, but they have been established in Holland for yonks, where they have had condensers for a long time, the build quality is good, spares are compatible accross the range, very easy to strip down, & the technical department is answered straight away by a human!! (I have waited over 1/2 hr listening to music on the worcester, & glowworm helplines before now)
Now they are in the UK, they are becoming a very popular manufacturer & give a 5 yr guarantee, its just the name that lets them down
Most boilers have thier strong & weak points, but if you ask me, reliability is my number 1 concern, probably the worcesters are the next most popular that we fit & maitain, but I have had more probs with them than the Remehas.
In this area British Gas fit worcesters, but I suspect that that is price driven & no other reason!
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