What's the uk.diy recommendation for combi boilers these days? Replacing
a stupid French thing (Britony SE) that keeps randomly locking out on
PCB errors. I replaced the PCB and it did about 8 months and started
again. Ran a soldering iron over it (I suspect bloody lead-free joints)
and got another month.

It is going to be replaced with maximum prejudice :-)

So, who's good and any good priced suppliers?

--
Scott

Where are we going and why am I in this handbasket?

Bosch Worcester boilers are the ones I have been pleased with. The last one I bought I got through Plumb Centre and got the same price offered to the trade, but that was quite some years ago.

Richard

On Wednesday, 7 October 2015 19:05:12 UTC+1, Scott M wrote:
What's the uk.diy recommendation for combi boilers these days? Replacing
a stupid French thing (Britony SE) that keeps randomly locking out on
PCB errors. I replaced the PCB and it did about 8 months and started
again. Ran a soldering iron over it (I suspect bloody lead-free joints)
and got another month.

It is going to be replaced with maximum prejudice :-)

So, who's good and any good priced suppliers?

ebay, look for 99 or 100% rating


NT

On 07/10/2015 19:05, Scott M wrote:
What's the uk.diy recommendation for combi boilers these days?

Don't. Have a hot water tank. Then at least when it dies you can still
have a bath (immersion heater)

Andy

On 07/10/2015 21:53, Vir Campestris wrote:
On 07/10/2015 19:05, Scott M wrote:
What's the uk.diy recommendation for combi boilers these days?

Don't. Have a hot water tank. Then at least when it dies you can still
have a bath (immersion heater)

Andy

This is what I did after two unreliable and inadequate combis (although
to be fair I do know one house where the combi works fine).

General advice in this NG is Worcester Bosch or Vaillant.

On Wednesday, 7 October 2015 22:16:06 UTC+1, newshound wrote:
On 07/10/2015 21:53, Vir Campestris wrote:
On 07/10/2015 19:05, Scott M wrote:

What's the uk.diy recommendation for combi boilers these days?

Don't. Have a hot water tank. Then at least when it dies you can still
have a bath (immersion heater)

This is what I did after two unreliable and inadequate combis (although
to be fair I do know one house where the combi works fine).

General advice in this NG is Worcester Bosch or Vaillant.

AIUI, and some have far more experience than I, WB has had a long run of unreliable machines. The upside appears to be the stream of WB spares on ebay.


NT

On 07/10/2015 22:46, wrote:
On Wednesday, 7 October 2015 22:16:06 UTC+1, newshound wrote:
On 07/10/2015 21:53, Vir Campestris wrote:
On 07/10/2015 19:05, Scott M wrote:

What's the uk.diy recommendation for combi boilers these days?

Don't. Have a hot water tank. Then at least when it dies you can still
have a bath (immersion heater)

This is what I did after two unreliable and inadequate combis (although
to be fair I do know one house where the combi works fine).

General advice in this NG is Worcester Bosch or Vaillant.

AIUI, and some have far more experience than I, WB has had a long run of unreliable machines. The upside appears to be the stream of WB spares on ebay.


NT


Which? magazine says the same, I meant to say that. I have a Vaillant.

On 07/10/2015 22:49, newshound wrote:
On 07/10/2015 22:46, wrote:
On Wednesday, 7 October 2015 22:16:06 UTC+1, newshound wrote:
On 07/10/2015 21:53, Vir Campestris wrote:
On 07/10/2015 19:05, Scott M wrote:

What's the uk.diy recommendation for combi boilers these days?

Don't. Have a hot water tank. Then at least when it dies you can still
have a bath (immersion heater)

This is what I did after two unreliable and inadequate combis (although
to be fair I do know one house where the combi works fine).

General advice in this NG is Worcester Bosch or Vaillant.

AIUI, and some have far more experience than I, WB has had a long run
of unreliable machines. The upside appears to be the stream of WB
spares on ebay.


NT


Which? magazine says the same, I meant to say that. I have a Vaillant.

Which Oct 2015
http://magazine.which.co.uk/editions...ands_table.pdf

Allan wrote:
On 07/10/2015 22:49, newshound wrote:
On 07/10/2015 22:46, wrote:

General advice in this NG is Worcester Bosch or Vaillant.

AIUI, and some have far more experience than I, WB has had a long run
of unreliable machines. The upside appears to be the stream of WB
spares on ebay.

Which? magazine says the same, I meant to say that. I have a Vaillant.

Which Oct 2015
http://magazine.which.co.uk/editions/e[snip]

That's a good find. Thanks all for the info guys; probably Vaillant then
as the 28kW ones seem to come in cheaper. The EcoTec Pro 28 seems to be
the one generally available, though I'm surprised at the £900 price tag
- I must be out of touch! Although I've never had to look at combis
before, only system boilers.

Cheers all, ta.

--
Scott

Where are we going and why am I in this handbasket?

newshound wrote:
On 07/10/2015 21:53, Vir Campestris wrote:

Don't. Have a hot water tank. Then at least when it dies you can still
have a bath (immersion heater)

This is what I did after two unreliable and inadequate combis (although
to be fair I do know one house where the combi works fine).

If it were for me, I'd have a tank. I hate the morse message of hot
water you get unless you run the tap for minutes at a time every time.

To be fair to the existing god-awful-pile-of-French-crap (and its twin
sister that I also look after) they seem to have done 10 years fairly
uneventfully. In the five years I've fettled them they've had 3 relays
replaced on the PCBs and the temp control variable resistors of one of
them replaced. So a tenner of bits instead of about £400 of PCBs.

--
Scott

Where are we going and why am I in this handbasket?

On 08/10/15 09:55, Allan wrote:
General advice in this NG is Worcester Bosch or Vaillant.

AIUI, and some have far more experience than I, WB has had a long run
of unreliable machines. The upside appears to be the stream of WB
spares on ebay.


NT


Which? magazine says the same, I meant to say that. I have a Vaillant.

Which Oct 2015
http://magazine.which.co.uk/editions...ands_table.pdf


I had my W-B repaired last month. It was installed ten years ago. For
the first repair two years ago the charge from W-B, parts included, was
around £250, this time it was £350.
The man from W-B also said that they have consciously designed some
parts so that it is difficult for independent repairers to work on them.

--
DJC
(–€Ì¿Ä¹Ì¯–€Ì¿ Ì¿)

On 09/10/2015 00:22, DJC wrote:
On 08/10/15 09:55, Allan wrote:
General advice in this NG is Worcester Bosch or Vaillant.

AIUI, and some have far more experience than I, WB has had a long run
of unreliable machines. The upside appears to be the stream of WB
spares on ebay.


NT


Which? magazine says the same, I meant to say that. I have a Vaillant.

Which Oct 2015
http://magazine.which.co.uk/editions...ands_table.pdf



I had my W-B repaired last month. It was installed ten years ago. For
the first repair two years ago the charge from W-B, parts included, was
around £250, this time it was £350.
The man from W-B also said that they have consciously designed some
parts so that it is difficult for independent repairers to work on them.


I called them out a few weeks ago, but then I knew I needed a new heat
exchanger, so the money wasn't hard to justify. Insurance co deemed it
beyond economic repair, and I could see why. Took him at least an hour
to get the old one out. I could see easier ways of doing it, but thought
I'd better keep my mouth shut.
On the whole though, a very efficient organisation. Parts get delivered
to the engineer's van by overnight courier, so they're always ready to
go at 8AM. Can be the best option if you need the job done in a single
visit because, unlike BG, they carry a Tranny load of parts.

---
This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software.
https://www.avast.com/antivirus

In article ,
DJC wrote:
I had my W-B repaired last month. It was installed ten years ago. For
the first repair two years ago the charge from W-B, parts included, was
around £250, this time it was £350.
The man from W-B also said that they have consciously designed some
parts so that it is difficult for independent repairers to work on them.

I have a Viessmann, self installed. Since I was fitting it myself, could
search for the very best price, and got one mail order for over 200 quid
less than my local dealer. Bringing the price close to a 'lesser' make
supplied by the firm fitting it. But it's a system boiler, not combie.

There is an online supplier that seems to list every single part as a
spare. Not that I've needed them.

--
*Never underestimate the power of very stupid people in large groups *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On 09/10/15 08:52, stuart noble wrote:
On 09/10/2015 00:22, DJC wrote:

I had my W-B repaired last month. It was installed ten years ago. For
the first repair two years ago the charge from W-B, parts included, was
around £250, this time it was £350.
The man from W-B also said that they have consciously designed some
parts so that it is difficult for independent repairers to work on them.


I called them out a few weeks ago, but then I knew I needed a new heat
exchanger, so the money wasn't hard to justify. Insurance co deemed it
beyond economic repair, and I could see why. Took him at least an hour
to get the old one out. I could see easier ways of doing it, but thought
I'd better keep my mouth shut.
On the whole though, a very efficient organisation. Parts get delivered
to the engineer's van by overnight courier, so they're always ready to
go at 8AM. Can be the best option if you need the job done in a single
visit because, unlike BG, they carry a Tranny load of parts.

I'd agree with that. With W-B you no what it will cost upfront unless it
is beyond economic repair. They have the parts on the van so there is
one visit and it's done. Many years ago when I needed a repair on the
previous old cast iron lump I had to pay for the time it took to travel
across London to get the parts and then come back and fit them.


--
DJC
(–€Ì¿Ä¹Ì¯–€Ì¿ Ì¿)