I have a five year old Baxi Combi 105HE that's started to drip. I've
taken the front off and AFAICT the water is coming from the region of
the three-way valve and everything in the area of the heat exchanger is
bone dry. I used to use a really good heating engineer but I don't live
in their area any more so whoever I call will be a stranger and I'd like
to preempt the possibility of being taken advantage of.

So.... I presume that a faulty three-way valve on a five-year-old
combi is not a terminal condition and that anybody telling me to scrap
it should be shown the way to the door - right?

Could anybody give me a ballpark figure for how much it ought to cost?
I'm not trying to do this on the cheap - a tradesman has to make a
living - but I'd like some idea of what the parts and labour ought to
come to before I give anybody a call.

Thanks!

Nick

On 05/09/2018 13:15, Nick Odell wrote:
I have a five year old Baxi Combi 105HE that's started to drip. I've
taken the front off and AFAICT the water is coming from the region of
the three-way valve and everything in the area of the heat exchanger is
bone dry. I used to use a really good heating engineer but I don't live
in their area any more so whoever I call will be a stranger and I'd like
to preempt the possibility of being taken advantage of.

So....Â*Â* I presume that a faulty three-way valve on a five-year-old
combi is not a terminal condition and that anybody telling me to scrap
it should be shown the way to the door - right?

Could anybody give me a ballpark figure for how much it ought to cost?
I'm not trying to do this on the cheap - a tradesman has to make a
living - but I'd like some idea of what the parts and labour ought to
come to before I give anybody a call.

Does it look a bit like:

https://www.directheatingsupplies.co...ssembly-248062



--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

On 05/09/18 15:21, John Rumm wrote:
On 05/09/2018 13:15, Nick Odell wrote:
I have a five year old Baxi Combi 105HE that's started to drip. I've
taken the front off and AFAICT the water is coming from the region of
the three-way valve and everything in the area of the heat exchanger
is bone dry. I used to use a really good heating engineer but I don't
live in their area any more so whoever I call will be a stranger and
I'd like to preempt the possibility of being taken advantage of.

So....Â*Â* I presume that a faulty three-way valve on a five-year-old
combi is not a terminal condition and that anybody telling me to scrap
it should be shown the way to the door - right?

Could anybody give me a ballpark figure for how much it ought to cost?
I'm not trying to do this on the cheap - a tradesman has to make a
living - but I'd like some idea of what the parts and labour ought to
come to before I give anybody a call.

Does it look a bit like:

https://www.directheatingsupplies.co...ssembly-248062


A bit like... but it's actually part no. 248061 which I see is also
available from the same people and from others. Excellent, thanks! One
firm actually puts their hourly rate on their website so I think I can
work it out from there.

Thanks,

Nick

On 05/09/18 17:29, Nick Odell wrote:
On 05/09/18 15:21, John Rumm wrote:
On 05/09/2018 13:15, Nick Odell wrote:
I have a five year old Baxi Combi 105HE that's started to drip. I've
taken the front off and AFAICT the water is coming from the region of
the three-way valve and everything in the area of the heat exchanger
is bone dry. I used to use a really good heating engineer but I don't
live in their area any more so whoever I call will be a stranger and
I'd like to preempt the possibility of being taken advantage of.

So....Â*Â* I presume that a faulty three-way valve on a five-year-old
combi is not a terminal condition and that anybody telling me to
scrap it should be shown the way to the door - right?

Could anybody give me a ballpark figure for how much it ought to
cost? I'm not trying to do this on the cheap - a tradesman has to
make a living - but I'd like some idea of what the parts and labour
ought to come to before I give anybody a call.

Does it look a bit like:

https://www.directheatingsupplies.co...ssembly-248062


A bit like... but it's actually part no. 248061 which I see is also
available from the same people and from others. Excellent, thanks! One
firm actually puts their hourly rate on their website so I think I can
work it out from there.



Supplementary question, please:

What are the failure modes of the three-way valve? Does it wear out?
It's not simply diaphragm failure, is it?

Thanks

Nick

On 17/09/2018 10:40, Nick Odell wrote:
On 05/09/18 17:29, Nick Odell wrote:
On 05/09/18 15:21, John Rumm wrote:
On 05/09/2018 13:15, Nick Odell wrote:
I have a five year old Baxi Combi 105HE that's started to drip. I've
taken the front off and AFAICT the water is coming from the region
of the three-way valve and everything in the area of the heat
exchanger is bone dry. I used to use a really good heating engineer
but I don't live in their area any more so whoever I call will be a
stranger and I'd like to preempt the possibility of being taken
advantage of.

So....Â*Â* I presume that a faulty three-way valve on a five-year-old
combi is not a terminal condition and that anybody telling me to
scrap it should be shown the way to the door - right?

Could anybody give me a ballpark figure for how much it ought to
cost? I'm not trying to do this on the cheap - a tradesman has to
make a living - but I'd like some idea of what the parts and labour
ought to come to before I give anybody a call.

Does it look a bit like:

https://www.directheatingsupplies.co...ssembly-248062


A bit like... but it's actually part no. 248061 which I see is also
available from the same people and from others. Excellent, thanks! One
firm actually puts their hourly rate on their website so I think I can
work it out from there.



Supplementary question, please:

What are the failure modes of the three-way valve? Does it wear out?
It's not simply diaphragm failure, is it?

Failure mode for the valve I would expect it to either stick in one
state, or not fully locate in either state (i.e. allowing some flow to
both outputs at the same time).

Note that in many combi boilers there is a separate[1] diaphragm switch
to detect the pressure drop in the DHW side when a tap is turned on.
This in turn will signal the PCB to to enter DHW mode, and that would
activate the diversion valve to connect the primary flow through the DHW
plate heat exchanger. So failure of the switch could be mistaken for a
valve problem.

[1] Not sure if there are any where the valve and switch are in some way
combined.


--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

On 17/09/18 11:44, John Rumm wrote:
On 17/09/2018 10:40, Nick Odell wrote:
On 05/09/18 17:29, Nick Odell wrote:
On 05/09/18 15:21, John Rumm wrote:
On 05/09/2018 13:15, Nick Odell wrote:
I have a five year old Baxi Combi 105HE that's started to drip.
I've taken the front off and AFAICT the water is coming from the
region of the three-way valve and everything in the area of the
heat exchanger is bone dry. I used to use a really good heating
engineer but I don't live in their area any more so whoever I call
will be a stranger and I'd like to preempt the possibility of being
taken advantage of.

So....Â*Â* I presume that a faulty three-way valve on a five-year-old
combi is not a terminal condition and that anybody telling me to
scrap it should be shown the way to the door - right?

Could anybody give me a ballpark figure for how much it ought to
cost? I'm not trying to do this on the cheap - a tradesman has to
make a living - but I'd like some idea of what the parts and labour
ought to come to before I give anybody a call.

Does it look a bit like:

https://www.directheatingsupplies.co...ssembly-248062



A bit like... but it's actually part no. 248061 which I see is also
available from the same people and from others. Excellent, thanks!
One firm actually puts their hourly rate on their website so I think
I can work it out from there.



Supplementary question, please:

What are the failure modes of the three-way valve? Does it wear out?
It's not simply diaphragm failure, is it?

Failure mode for the valve I would expect it to either stick in one
state, or not fully locate in either state (i.e. allowing some flow to
both outputs at the same time).

Note that in many combi boilers there is a separate[1] diaphragm switch
to detect the pressure drop in the DHW side when a tap is turned on.
This in turn will signal the PCB to to enter DHW mode, and that would
activate the diversion valve to connect the primary flow through the DHW
plate heat exchanger. So failure of the switch could be mistaken for a
valve problem.

[1] Not sure if there are any where the valve and switch are in some way
combined.


Thanks for that. The boiler is and always has been behaving normally -
as far as I can tell - with the exception of the water drip which I
believe is coming from from the diaphragm. I know bits wear out and I
probably wouldn't have minded being charged a fair price for the whole
unit where maybe just a diaphragm change would do for now but the parts
& labour all-in price offered for changing the valve £460+vat) seems to
be taking the **** and I'm asking for a breakdown of costs before I go
any further.

Nick

On Mon, 17 Sep 2018 12:16:06 +0100, Nick Odell
wrote:

On 17/09/18 11:44, John Rumm wrote:
On 17/09/2018 10:40, Nick Odell wrote:
On 05/09/18 17:29, Nick Odell wrote:
On 05/09/18 15:21, John Rumm wrote:
On 05/09/2018 13:15, Nick Odell wrote:
I have a five year old Baxi Combi 105HE that's started to drip.
I've taken the front off and AFAICT the water is coming from the
region of the three-way valve and everything in the area of the
heat exchanger is bone dry. I used to use a really good heating
engineer but I don't live in their area any more so whoever I call
will be a stranger and I'd like to preempt the possibility of being
taken advantage of.

So....Â*Â* I presume that a faulty three-way valve on a five-year-old
combi is not a terminal condition and that anybody telling me to
scrap it should be shown the way to the door - right?

Could anybody give me a ballpark figure for how much it ought to
cost? I'm not trying to do this on the cheap - a tradesman has to
make a living - but I'd like some idea of what the parts and labour
ought to come to before I give anybody a call.

Does it look a bit like:

https://www.directheatingsupplies.co...ssembly-248062



A bit like... but it's actually part no. 248061 which I see is also
available from the same people and from others. Excellent, thanks!
One firm actually puts their hourly rate on their website so I think
I can work it out from there.



Supplementary question, please:

What are the failure modes of the three-way valve? Does it wear out?
It's not simply diaphragm failure, is it?

Failure mode for the valve I would expect it to either stick in one
state, or not fully locate in either state (i.e. allowing some flow to
both outputs at the same time).

Note that in many combi boilers there is a separate[1] diaphragm switch
to detect the pressure drop in the DHW side when a tap is turned on.
This in turn will signal the PCB to to enter DHW mode, and that would
activate the diversion valve to connect the primary flow through the DHW
plate heat exchanger. So failure of the switch could be mistaken for a
valve problem.

[1] Not sure if there are any where the valve and switch are in some way
combined.


Thanks for that. The boiler is and always has been behaving normally -
as far as I can tell - with the exception of the water drip which I
believe is coming from from the diaphragm. I know bits wear out and I
probably wouldn't have minded being charged a fair price for the whole
unit where maybe just a diaphragm change would do for now but the parts
& labour all-in price offered for changing the valve £460+vat) seems to
be taking the **** and I'm asking for a breakdown of costs before I go
any further.


A couple of summers ago the radiator nearest the boiler was getting
warm when the hot water was on. My regular boiler service guy came
out and replaced the diverter valve £150+VAT + fitting £240 - he's not
VAT registered.

All well and good except:

1) He used the pressure relief valve (on a 10yr old boiler) to drain
the system with the obvious result that it slowly dropped pressure

and

2) He hadn't got the microswitch lever quite right with the result
that about once a day when the boiler turned off it wouldn't start,
coming up with a fault instead which took 30mins to clear.

Both problems have since been fixed but I guess are symptomatic of
what can go wrong when repairing an older system. I've forsaken this
year's annual service. Next boiler fault = new boiler.

--
AnthonyL