ravenheat poor boiler instal

[buckley plumb]

went to this today found the following

flue falling wrong way and not 300mm from vented eaves
gas undersized
in hw mode heat passing to htg so plate or diverter shot
pipework done in pushfit to boiler
blow off in plastic fittings

customer bought house 4 month ago and all the solicitor and estate agents were worried about were the fensa certs for the windows come on a window cant kill surely a gas cert and electric cert is mor inportant

 

[lame plumber]

it's the buyers responsibility to get a survey, that will always advice them to get and electrician/plumber to check and test appliances and systems for correct function. If faults are found, then they can get a price reduction etc, to late to complain now! Prehaps a new boilers called for, you should be happy with that!

 

[buckley plumb]

just realised the ravenheats are not zero rated boilers

 

[stevetheplumber]

think its unfair to label this thread with the ravenheat tag as a bad instal is a bad instal no matter which boiler is fitted they might not be the best boiler in the world but they are extremely cheap so its a case of you pays yer money and takes your choice

 

[dancinplumba]

i agree steve

 

[TBServices]

I can't understand why ravenheats are so bad really, they're dead simple, easy to work on and there's no nasty plastic bits. In fact, that new preheat gizmo for their new boilers (in GS mag) looks like a great piece of kit! If only it was reliable!

 

[Plumb Ugly]

I think this one of the main reason boiler brands like Ravenheat get a bad name they are nearly always installed very badly by diy dave or his mate! Don't mind the boilers myself a bit crude maybe but there's worse for more money.

 

[buckley plumb]

i agree the boiler seems good value for money just the install is terrible . not sure about the heat exch but it seems similar to the biasi riva which is a 15mm bore one which is good for old systems where clogging could be a problem

 

[stevetheplumber]

I think plumb ugly has hit the nail on the head cheap boilers usually dont get installed well ive fitted a few ravenheats with no problems

 

[buckley plumb]

I think plumb ugly has hit the nail on the head cheap boilers usually dont get installed well ive fitted a few ravenheats with no problems

fitted a few biasi boilers and had very little trouble with them - just the stupid 30 day clock you can only force boiler into constantly on for 30 days

 

[arran197]

TBH, I think what most of you have said is correct, Ravenheats are fitted by idiots who haven't got a clue, or by people who don't care. I fix them on a regular basis and have found most of the faults on them are due to them being made poorly and not particularly well designed. Having said that, all the ones I repair are now circa 8 years old. Some of them look brand new and some look like they've been dragged through the scrap yard on a length of rope behind a Hi-Lux.

Going back to the original post, depending on what model it is, the CSI 85T and AT have a 15mm connection to the gas valve, but if there is a long run of 15mm, 22mm should have been used. The CSI os effectively a SE boiler with a secondary heat exchanger which creates condensation and reduces the flue gas temp. So there's no sucking on the gas, it comes out as if it were a normal SE boiler. A thing to watch on them is if the min and max burner pressures are correct, you will get very high CO if it hasn't been set up correctly on the modureg. Plastic is usually used for a prv pipe if there is a chance of it being stolen.

If it's got the large diaphragm style gianoni diverter valve, then that'll be the part to replace for the DHW issue.