On Mon, 19 Jan 2009 23:07:42 +0000, newshound wrote:

Combination of Sod's law, clustering of random events, problems of
combis once they get past five years IMHO.

In the past month mine has:

blocked a DHW HX (fixed)
failed the ignition circuit on the main board (fixed) split a DHW flow
sensor diaphragm (fixed)

and in the course of all that, the auto air vent decided not to seat, so
it was dribbling water. Took out the valve and cleaned off the scale
mechanically; now it doesn't leak, or vent either. Waiting for a new
one.....

Oh, it's a Wickes / Halstead. But the preceeding Vaillant behaved much
the same after eight years.

Makes you think about signing up for BG service.....

The new HX and the failed auto vent point to problems with the heating
circuit. Possibly a failed expansion vessel then frequent tops up then
corrosion then a new HX?

Properly maintained a Vaillant should go 20 years except for the VUW 2xx
(Turbo Max non plus [1]) which are only a bit better than a 'typical' low
end combi.

ALL combis have pressure vessels and this is one component is the /root/
cause of a sizeable proportion of all combi problems.


[1] black fascia, turquoise knobs , ladder of LEDs.
--
Ed Sirett - Property maintainer and registered gas fitter.
The FAQ for uk.diy is at http://www.diyfaq.org.uk
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