S
Simon Reid
Hello all,
I hope I've come to the right place for some guidance and advice on some plumbing work done? If not a pointer to somewhere more suitable would be a great help; otherwise please read on;
Between October 2015 and January 2016 we paid for the services of a plumber to correct a number of issues with our combi-boiler and this is still on-going.
1. We were having problems when the heating was on, the hot water wasn't working and if we turned the hot water on, the heaters would heat up. So we hired a plumber. Whilst here he replaced the actuator to the diverter valve, though while carrying out this work, he managed to fuse the programmer accidentally, which he replaced with a wall mounted one. We received an invoice for £285 for this work.
2. Soon after this work was completed, oil was not feeding into the boiler following a lock-out from low fuel. He replaced a new pump for which we were invoiced £107.98. A number of days later he had to return to repair an oil leak from the pump causing serious fumes in the kitchen area.
3. At this time he had mentioned about the water drip from the filling loop which was causing a drop in pressure and advised us to fix this to prevent any further damage to the boiler. We asked him to carry out this work, requiring the system to be drained and replace the faulty filling loop, for which we were invoiced £119.39. He advised us to keep an eye on the pressure just in case.
Over this period, the bill came to £512.37 for various repairs to our boiler system.
Since this work has been carried out however we have continued to suffer from a series of problems with the boiler, much of which was meant to have been fixed.
4. While the heating is on, no hot water is available.
5. On occasion the heaters heat up when the hot water is on.
6. The water pressure has had to be 'topped up' at least once a month (more than on any occasion prior to his work being carried out).
7. Hot water does not flow fully, requiring us to temper the hot tap to ensure enough hot water flows for long enough to have a bath or shower. We cannot turn the taps on full, which should be normal practice for this boiler.
I emailed the boiler-man with the above information, but his response was as follows (edited):
1. Heating is on but no HW available - this does appear to be a stuck diverter valve and would require replacement ( The actuator should be ok though)
2. This relates to the same problem.
3. There are a number of reasons for pressure drops in a system. Initially the water leak from the filling loop appeared to be the root cause and, following the replacement of the filling loop, the pressure did not drop whilst I was in attendance. The advice to 'Keep an eye on the pressure' was, as explained at the time, in case there were secondary issues causing the pressure drop. This would now appear to be the case.
4. Experience points to this being caused by a blocked, or partially blocked, secondary heat exchanger. This part would require replacement and, I would recommend, the installation of a system filter to reduce the possibility of this happening in the future.
I realise that this is inconvenient for you however I feel that the boiler is beginning to show signs of wear and tear to the extent that problems like this will occur regularly unless the boiler and system are maintained in good health by having both serviced annually.
As you are previous customers I can offer to do this work at a reduced rate of £100 plus the cost of any parts required.
My question is, does this sound right and fair that we should continue to pay for work, parts and callout....anything?? We've paid a lot of money for work that is still incomplete. The boiler was last serviced in January 2015 requiring only a replacement nozzel(?).
Any advice or pointers as to where to go for further guidance and advice would be greatly appreciated.
Regards
Simon
I hope I've come to the right place for some guidance and advice on some plumbing work done? If not a pointer to somewhere more suitable would be a great help; otherwise please read on;
Between October 2015 and January 2016 we paid for the services of a plumber to correct a number of issues with our combi-boiler and this is still on-going.
1. We were having problems when the heating was on, the hot water wasn't working and if we turned the hot water on, the heaters would heat up. So we hired a plumber. Whilst here he replaced the actuator to the diverter valve, though while carrying out this work, he managed to fuse the programmer accidentally, which he replaced with a wall mounted one. We received an invoice for £285 for this work.
2. Soon after this work was completed, oil was not feeding into the boiler following a lock-out from low fuel. He replaced a new pump for which we were invoiced £107.98. A number of days later he had to return to repair an oil leak from the pump causing serious fumes in the kitchen area.
3. At this time he had mentioned about the water drip from the filling loop which was causing a drop in pressure and advised us to fix this to prevent any further damage to the boiler. We asked him to carry out this work, requiring the system to be drained and replace the faulty filling loop, for which we were invoiced £119.39. He advised us to keep an eye on the pressure just in case.
Over this period, the bill came to £512.37 for various repairs to our boiler system.
Since this work has been carried out however we have continued to suffer from a series of problems with the boiler, much of which was meant to have been fixed.
4. While the heating is on, no hot water is available.
5. On occasion the heaters heat up when the hot water is on.
6. The water pressure has had to be 'topped up' at least once a month (more than on any occasion prior to his work being carried out).
7. Hot water does not flow fully, requiring us to temper the hot tap to ensure enough hot water flows for long enough to have a bath or shower. We cannot turn the taps on full, which should be normal practice for this boiler.
I emailed the boiler-man with the above information, but his response was as follows (edited):
1. Heating is on but no HW available - this does appear to be a stuck diverter valve and would require replacement ( The actuator should be ok though)
2. This relates to the same problem.
3. There are a number of reasons for pressure drops in a system. Initially the water leak from the filling loop appeared to be the root cause and, following the replacement of the filling loop, the pressure did not drop whilst I was in attendance. The advice to 'Keep an eye on the pressure' was, as explained at the time, in case there were secondary issues causing the pressure drop. This would now appear to be the case.
4. Experience points to this being caused by a blocked, or partially blocked, secondary heat exchanger. This part would require replacement and, I would recommend, the installation of a system filter to reduce the possibility of this happening in the future.
I realise that this is inconvenient for you however I feel that the boiler is beginning to show signs of wear and tear to the extent that problems like this will occur regularly unless the boiler and system are maintained in good health by having both serviced annually.
As you are previous customers I can offer to do this work at a reduced rate of £100 plus the cost of any parts required.
My question is, does this sound right and fair that we should continue to pay for work, parts and callout....anything?? We've paid a lot of money for work that is still incomplete. The boiler was last serviced in January 2015 requiring only a replacement nozzel(?).
Any advice or pointers as to where to go for further guidance and advice would be greatly appreciated.
Regards
Simon
