Boiler service and repair question

Grawns

I have 2 boilers and one is giving trouble and the other needs servicing. I got a quote from Bord Gais but I didn't like the €25 for every 15 minutes over the standard allotted time for the repair. It's too open ended and the boiler is only 8 years old. I looked on the RGI site and have found a company near me which will do the job cheaper. Am I taking a risk? Have had cowboys in for a job before and am still fuming.

Cheers guys

DoneDL

Just post the make of the boilers and your area. You could also contact the manufacturer for recommended service engineers.

Grawns

DoneDL wrote: »

Just post the make of the boilers and your area. You could also contact the manufacturer for recommended service engineers.

Thanks it's D7 and they are both pottertons, 1 suprima (dodgy) and 1 profile

DGOBS

The suprima will most likely need a new pcb (about €250 for the part) 20 mins to change max

If you need any help finding someone in your area pm me, I don't go to d7 but know a few who do

Grawns

Thanks for that. I have been reading up on the suprima as we had a problem with it before when it was pretty new. Pump I believe. They do not have a good reputation on-line. I'm going to phone around a get a load of quotes but if you can pm me the engineers you recommend I would really appreciate it.

GASMANN

DGOBS wrote: »

The suprima will most likely need a new pcb (about €250 for the part) 20 mins to change max


based on what, o.p is worried about geting an independent rgi out, and you have it diagnosed as a pcb because its "giving trouble", just because its a suprima doesnt mean a board problem.

Joey the lips

most popular fault on a supremia is the PCB and the poster was making a conservative guess i am sure.

However only an RGII gas installer can confirm and replace this.

DoneDL

Joey the lips wrote: »

most popular fault on a supremia is the PCB and the poster was making a conservative guess i am sure.

However only an RGII gas installer can confirm and replace this.

+1, Bit of soldering might be in order.

GASMANN

Joey the lips wrote: »

most popular fault on a supremia is the PCB and the poster was making a conservative guess i am sure.

However only an RGII gas installer can confirm and replace this
[/

i know that suprima pcbs give trouble joey , my point is you cant just fire out a stock answer to every problem based on a boilers reputation. i attend a lot of calls after initial installers have jumped in with pcb's, then fans then gas valves and then run away and tell THEIR cust to ring me, because they "are just plumbers not boiler plumbers" . im not having a pop at anybody here, i just find it frustrating when people dont think before shouting their answer. when your working at anything especially in this case boilers every case has to be taken on its merits, viewed and then diagnosed. nothing looks worse to a customer than 3-4 visits to heatmerchants later the installer is still scratching their head or ringing around all their contacts looking for help.
how many times have you gone to a "broken boiler" and it turns out to be a room stat, water pressure, pump, mini valve etc. based on the info given by the o.p it could just as easy be any of the above as it is a pcb.

rant over.

Tony aka DGOBS has earned his knowledge and he is not new to the gas game.

DGOBS

Potterton suprima major problem is the PCB! and we all know its due to drying solder, I would never recommend a 'bit of solder' as a repair for any appliance pcb, neither I nor the manufacturer would stand over it EVER, and in the event of damage to persons of property after such a repair where the boiler causes lets say a fire, such a bodge may be called into question. (and yes it is a bodge)

Of course as one poster points out, it could be any number of other things (one of the most expensive of which is the PCB) thermisters, hi limit stats, fans, aps, pumps etc can fail......an onsite visit will determine...but in all likelihood you will find you need a new pcb!

The defining characteristic of the pcb solder drying out is usually an intermittent unexplained lockout that requires a reset, with diminishing periods of uninterrupted correct operation. (For those who seem too quick to judge, convict and hang, when all that is being offered is considered advice based on the information at hand)

DoneDL

I had this discussion at potterton when doing a training course. My opinion was that if there was a loose wire that caused the fault then you would just refix it, so if the fault was a dry joint then what was the difference in repairing it. There was no major uproar and the best reply from the technical guy was " as long as the repair was to a professional standard". There were companies in London that refurbished PCB`s and it was found to be an acceptable practise. It was also common practise with Brtish Gas engineers.

DoneDL

DoneDL wrote: »

I had this discussion at potterton when doing a training course. My opinion was that if there was a loose wire that caused the fault then you would just refix it, so if the fault was a dry joint then what was the difference in repairing it. There was no major uproar and the best reply from the technical guy was " as long as the repair was to a professional standard". There were companies in London that refurbished PCB`s and it was found to be an acceptable practise. It was also
common practise with Brtish Gas engineers.

When i was with British Gas they had a practice of using recon PCBs which was stopped because they couldn't prove the integrity of the boards, also as manufactures engineer I wouldn't except a onsite repair/recon because you can't prove they did or didn't have a negative impact on a boiler if god forbid there's death or injury.

DGOBS

DoneDL, in all fairness I would never rely on what some told me was ok, no matter who it was, a written statement from the manufacturer is the only thing I would rely on (even then with a raised eyebrow)

Replacing with new manufacturers part is always the only way to go

Nothing else can be regarded as SAFE and where possible I would always err on the side of caution and would hope my customers would wish for that attitude from me, if not, to be honest I would rather not enjoy their custom.

BTW Gary, found an entire estate yesterday with unvented cylinders without expansion!!!! All along the rear of the estate you can see the slime down the Walls where they are blowing off, one I was called to the releif pipe had block with scale it had been going on that long, and the rundown overflowed!

Grawns

DGOBS wrote: »

The defining characteristic of the pcb solder drying out is usually an intermittent unexplained lockout that requires a reset, with diminishing periods of uninterrupted correct operation.

That's it exactly the problem I'm having! I'm going to hate paying €250 plus labour for something so shoddy.

DGOBS

I know, happened to so many even the BBC watchdog did a program on it in the UK a good few years back, and the price of the particular PCB & harness is extortion, some may offer to 'repair it' or reconditioned ones maybe found on the likes of well know Internet bidding sites, but IMHO a new pcb is the only way to go

BTW the new PCB is of a different design and construction and doesn't give near as much trouble.

JohnnieK

DGOBS wrote: »

BTW Gary, found an entire estate yesterday with unvented cylinders without expansion!!!! All along the rear of the estate you can see the slime down the Walls where they are blowing off, one I was called to the releif pipe had block with scale it had been going on that long, and the rundown overflowed!

I recently came across some joker who turned an open vented 30 x 18 cylinder into an unvented cylinder by putting an expansion vessel on the open vent and mains pressurizing it. The cylinder was like a balloon and the home owners were very lucky it didn't blow.

And it annoys me when you here people calling us rip-off merchants, and cowboys and so on, and then you see the likes of that.

I was actually shocked when I seen it, I've heard stories in the past but I thought they were wives tales.