Boilers: are they deliberately designed to fail?

jam bo – Member
Worcester Bosch 24i RSF.
28i of that here. New pcb cost me £250 just before Christmas.

Refurbished 28 CDI RSF circuit board cost me £70 from http://www.cetltd.com/

The replacement board actually looked brand new, was much newer design (mostly chips rather than transistors etc) and in WB sealed packaging so would highly recommend them.

I’ve yet to see a “service engineer” do many of the items listed – all they generally do is clean a bit of soot from the burner and if very lucky check flue gases. A failed pressure vessel is very evident (so best not to touch it if working). The only way to test the pressure relief is to over pressurise everything, which often then makes them leak.

Ours installed in 1999 so not doing too bad. 1 gas valve, 1 refurb PCB and 1 pressure relief. No flushes, filter or inhibitor and old rads / pipework, but we are in a soft water area which helps a lot. Newer models do seem to have some components placed in better areas (noticeably pressure vessel and pump).

If the pressure vessel ever fails then I’ll just fit an external one in the cupboard underneath as it looks a nightmare to extract without disturbing loads of other parts (£30 rather than £100s).

The only way to test the pressure relief is to over pressurise everything, which often then makes them leak.

I’ve got a copy of the “Engineer’s Installation and Service Instructions” for the 24i (isn’t the internet great?) and it says you can just twist the knob to check it:

Don’t twist that knob!!!!, it won’t seat back properly and will leak, guess how I know?

That isn’t testing the ability of it to expel excessive pressure, nor is it testing what pressure it activates at.

That is just removing the standard 1 bar ish pressure from the system (like turning a tap). I guess if you live somewhere really limescaly it might de-gunk a seized one but does not prove anything else.

And it will sometimes then leak 🙂

Don’t twist that knob!!!!, it won’t seat back properly and will leak, guess how I know?

See? Even the recommended test procedures from the official manuals cause them to break!
Designed to fail I tell you. – it’s a conspiracy and no mistake.

(thanks for the warning)

In the last house we had a mate who worked for the boiler company – whenever we had a problem he’d come around and fix it (about once a year). I gave him some cash. We’d a spare as when the neighbours swapped, I kept the scrap. We sold the house in 2012 and the new owner signed up to some service-pack, first visit they said the boiler was ‘dead’ – cost them a new boiler…

The house was built in 1998, so managed 14 years. And most of our neighbours had already replaced theirs too.

I’ve got the same boiler as the OP and Ive brought it back from the brink many times over the last few years, mainly due to it scaling up on the hot water side of things, it gets so bad you only get a dribble of cold water coming from the hot taps. Always seems to happen in winter and as our shower runs from the boiler it’s a right Pita.

On the plus side I reckon I can strip it down descale it, and have it back up and running in around 4 hours flat now I’ve had that much practice! I’ve now fitted a scale inhibitor on the mains and things seem slightly better. We still get lime scale coming through the taps but it doesn’t seem to be sticking so much ( see this in the kettle also)

As for the problems with the automatic air vent I’ve changed mine twice now and it’s really simple job to do, last time I brought one I think it cost about £11.

Aye new air vent arrived today. Tenner from gasboilerparts.

Looks pretty easy to install, just screws on with some thread tape, but I assume it involves draining the system first, at least to below the level of the vent?

Worcester , Worcester , think yourselves lucky I have a **** Ferroli. 😥

the view of a guy who works on up to two dozen boilers a week..

servicing.. the firast question folks ask is how much? not what do i get for my money.. i ve been told by one customer this week that it shouldnt be more than 20 quid.. we charge 45 for a basic gas inspection and every thing that would be normally be included in a landlords gas safety check, flue gas analysis plus external and internal cleaning of the appliance.

a full service as specified by the manufacturer is charged by the hour plus parts. this might include stripping and cleaning burners replacing gaskets as specified by the manufacturer. (some burner gaskets alone can be 75 + vat!!)

so the quality and value of a ‘service’ is diverse

95% of clients choose the basic standard. this in my opinion establishes a base line and hilights potential issues that can be addressed immediately or saved for that rainy day.

most manufacturers believe ( quite rightly) that having there product stripped and reassembled in a kitchen/ loft/ utility room will probably have a negative effect on a complex and fragile piece of equipment that is potentially very dangerous and as such the flue gas analysis has become pivotal… after all what is the point of stripping and cleaning something that the flue gas analysis shows is working perfectly ( you would nt do a heart transplant on someone who was well.. just in case?)

dont blame someone else for your failure to install decent equipment in the first place, by speccing less than a complete system ( no filters etc) and then ignoring it for a year at a time then expecting 20 quid to cover it for another year..

after all most of us probably have one or more bikes tucked away that cost more than a boiler and they get loved and tinkered with most weekends and only get used once in a blue moon..

someone once said to me that boilers arnt sexy no one brags they ve got a new one but everyone moans when after 5 years they have to spend a couple of hundred quid on the thing that keeps them and thier family warm every day and provides hot water 24/7