Not the quickest boiler to service!

[MarkOil]

Came across one of these the other day, not the smallest of boilers, think it took nearly and hour to clean the secondary heat exchanger and turbulators!
Still beats Worcester hands down I reckon.

 

[Dotty]

I really, really really hate the baffles on them.

Worst designed poc I've ever seen on a boiler.

 

[lame plumber]

I hate all turbolators no matter what the make, especially if the break in half!

 

[Roger Welton]

With last employer used to go to a site with 2 of the 70kW vortexs in a boiler house, 52 turbulators each, was a good 1/2 day doing the pair of them.

 

[WHPES]

Theyre easy to service, just take a while, but no longer than comparable boilers. The baffles can be a bit of a tight fit sometimes though.

 

[Dotty]

Theyre easy to service, just take a while, but no longer than comparable boilers. The baffles can be a bit of a tight fit sometimes though.

Bit of a tight fit? That's an understatement!

 

[WHPES]

Nothing that a lump hammer, wrecking bar, blowtorch, angle grinder, ratchet jack and tame gorilla can't overcome.

 

[Best]

Careful look at the baffles to see where they are tight & with a small angle grinder take a slight shave off them & no bother for later.
I have just done a Vortex 50/90 in less than 2 hours & that included using a grinder. Easy boiler IMO as it only has one door to remove to get into primary & secondary exchangers. Turbolators are a bore to clean.

 

[julesverne]

to satisfy my curiosity whats a turbulator? and what does it do

 

[Dotty]

I must get the bone idle feckless ones that make the intervals between services as long as possible meaning the baffles have warped slightly and welded themselves in.

Even the tears of a frustrated boilerman fail to shift them.......

 

[Best]

to satisfy my curiosity whats a turbulator? and what does it do

I dunno, but I just called it that because others have! :smile:
They are basically stainless steel baffles for the secondary exchanger.

 

[julesverne]

my curiosity has been satified its a baffle. im baffled as to why it isnt called a baffle :44:

 

[Bunker]

to satisfy my curiosity whats a turbulator? and what does it do

It takes the flue gasses on a final trip round a secondary hex, cooled by the primary return. The Turbulators spin the flue gasses which allegedly allows more heat to exchange. Or summat like that.

 

[Bunker]

Oh, and thats why the Grant Condensors are called Vortex.

 

[Ray Stafford]

my curiosity has been satified its a baffle. im baffled as to why it isnt called a baffle :44:

I'm troubled why it isn't called a troublator.

 

[Best]

I must get the bone idle feckless ones that make the intervals between services as long as possible meaning the baffles have warped slightly and welded themselves in.

Even the tears of a frustrated boilerman fail to shift them.......

...secret is to try to only service the ones you have fitted & serviced regularly!
When you spend a lot of time grinding some of the baffles & making sure the boiler shell is cleaned back to metal & obviously burner set nicely, then a year later & that service should be very easy.

 

[Dotty]

to satisfy my curiosity whats a turbulator? and what does it do

This is one Jules.



Basically they go in the holes in the secondary heat exchanger to maximise the surface area heated up by the flue gasses.

 

[Bunker]

Anyway, you think Grant ones are bad...dont get me started about the Firebird ones

 

[lame plumber]

what they save by not servicing regularly, I find they spend in time spend getting the boiler back on line, so save over 2 years means costs them 3 or 4 x annual servicing cost, they soon learn.

 

[WHPES]

Anyway, you think Grant ones are bad...dont get me started about the Firebird ones

but everyone expects Firebird ones to be like that though

 

[Bunker]

but everyone expects Firebird ones to be like that though

Stick the Grant ones in a Firebird and you got the ideal boiler. ;-)

 

[CXR100]

is the firebird the one that always leaks? i remember doing them with my old boss as an apprenticce! he was for hours replacing seals ect inside them! each one was leaking somewhere!

 

[Bunker]

is the firebird the one that always leaks?!

They say they had a few problems about 10 years ago but Ive never see one leak. Had half a dozen Grants and many more Worcesters go tho (old ones).

 

[Killy Bing]

They say they had a few problems about 10 years ago but Ive never see one leak. Had half a dozen Grants and many more Worcesters go tho (old ones).

Worcesters with the silly condense connection ontop that always leaks ?

 

[WHPES]

Firebirds may have improved but there are plenty of the older ones around. Another annoying problem is the plastic outlet for the condensate which disintegrates after a couple of years leaving a nasty rusty sludgy mess all over the bottom of the boiler casing, and occasionally messes up the customer's laminate floor around the boiler.