"YAPH" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 19 Dec 2009 16:49:50 +0000, ARWadsworth wrote:

So it is not just me that is suffering then?

No, from what I hear it's little old ladies too.

Maybe you can tell us more ;-)


--
John Stumbles -- http://yaph.co.uk

Well in the end I received lots of calls about boilers not working.

The odd thing was there were 3 boilers all in the S64 postcode area and
fitted 18 months apart that had stopped working withing 3 hours of each
other. I did go and get the 90 year ladies boiler working. Standing on a
ladder when it is minus 4 with a strong wind is no fun. At least her 25
stone next door neighbour did come out to foot the ladders for me. Fag in
one hand, can of beer in the other but at least he did offer.

The problem was snow and the fall pipe. The fallpipe had filled up with a
load of slushy snow and I guess that this slowed the condensate flow where
it entered the fallpipe and allowed it to freeze. I removed the bottom of
the fallpipe cleared the
slush and used a hairdryer and hot towels to melt the ice which had formed
in the condensate.

Other calls were

Water dripping through the ceiling. This was not a work job but at a
neighbours house. The boiler is a Ferroli and the condensate pipe had
frozen. It seems that Ferrolis do not turn off when the condensate is full
and instead drip water all over. That should not happen. I will have to get
a manual for that boiler and check it out.


Another boiler in a loft not working. Well that was easy enough. The owners
had come back off holiday and put the suitcases in the loft on top of the
condensate pipe and bowed the pipe so that it held water. It was not frozen.

Two others were in airing cupboards. That was a bucket job. The owners can
empty the bucket and reconnect the condensate pipe when it is warmer. That
was a tip I got from a very good heating engineer.

The final one that I could be bothered to deal with was easy. The boiler was
in the airing cupboard and the owner had turned the fused spur off when
putting the vacuum cleaner in the cupboard. Sorted that one over the phone.

Adam