Gas boiler recommedations

What exactly is wrong with boiler?

It is leaking/emitting a red/brown type liquid, which has been diagnosed as a faulty (leaking?) heat exchanger. Still works ok as far as I can tell, although there was a large spike in our last gas bill (although we're not alone there as far as I can tell!), and apparently it could go at any minute.
 


Sounds fairly terminal alright. Besure that quotes include power flush and system is treated after new installation.
 
Yep, anyone who has quoted so far has mentioned the above.

Thanks again for your input.
 
Hi CCOVICH - just wondering if you got the new boiler installed and if so could you provide some details regarding supplier, quotes you got and if you were happy with the supplier. I found out yesterday that I have to have a boiler replaced and I want to try organise it very soon.

Thanks
Roy
 
Not as yet 'Roy' still checking out 1 or 2 things-have received a lot of helpful advice from AAM members however.

The cost looks like coming in at north of €2,000 to get it done for our house.

I will update further when we have made a decision and everything is installed.
 
Davy, I would like to add the sad thing about this is, we are only going to start getting the heatexchanger problems with high-eff boilers in the next few years, and as the pathways in those heatexchangers are so narrow it's going to be hell! (plus the heatexchanges of most are twice the price of standard ones!)
 
yeah, repair is a lot more expensive on these models and any savings on fuel may be wiped out.
It really annoys me that installers don't flush and treat systems properly. do things right and lessen the chance of future problems.
 
The heat exchangers on some of the
HE condensing boilers such as Glowworm and Worcester have quite large waterways and are made of cast alluminium , they are much better than fin-type which look like car rads and would block up easily, a good bolier should give a good guarantee on heat exchanger( I have no connection to either of the above manufacturers)
 
I have no issue with manufacturers warranty, but the will void warranty if system is not flushed or treated! small or large waterways, they will sludge up and block
 
Lets not forget, leaking auto air releases,low water pressure switches, pump proving switches, blocked filters, blocked bypass, stuck pumps, diverta valves that don't divert, o-rings that leak due to brittleness, expansion vessels that split, miss reading thermistors...... non of these are covered under warranty and thats before worrying about the size of the heat exchanger, so if a installer wants to fit a boiler without flushing properly and adding a inhibitor then show him the door and help him out with a good kick up the This post will be deleted if not edited to remove bad language:mad: and those who may need a boiler fitted for cheap money without flushing, be warned it's cheap money now and will be again when you have to replace it because of it's shortened working life, as some poor fella i saw this week had to do after just 3 months and had to pay again as the installer had disappeared.
My recommendations would be Worcester Bosch, Viessmann, Vaillant and for cheap money anything the local merchant has and carries parts for( most modern boilers are easy fixable with parts), Gary.
 
Could someone please advise me? I purchased my house just over 3 yrs ago, new build. Since then i have had to have one of the tanks in the attic replaced, cracked, also one of the 'boxes' in the hot press. I have 1 rad that leaked but doesnt any more. It is supposed to be a sealed system but have had to frequently manually fill the system. Most recently last week. Now my boiler won't come on at all. It has intermittantly come on and not heated the rads just the water hence having to fill the system. Am I flogging a dead horse here? Should I bit the bullet and replace the boiler and have the whole system flushed? Am sick of calling plumbers/gas board workers and just want to be able to use my heating etc. I have had my boiler serviced every year since purchase. It is a Vokera boiler. What kind of money am I looking at for a proper resolution? Feel sick that I may have to hand out thousands for something I expected to get 10 yrs free of major maintenance when I bought the house.

Thanks in advance for any help/info.
 
Got a new boiler in last year total cost was 1900E in Dublin South
 
Flakey, the first place to start is the pressure loss from the heating system, check the boiler and the discharge pipe that goes outside, look for any water, if you want, tape a water bottle over the discharge pipe outside to confirm it's not letting by, once you have confirmed it's not the boiler then that leaves the pipework and rads, it will be the amount of time the system pressure takes to drop that will indicate how bad the leak is, if you can't see any damp patches or drips around any rad valves then you will have to get someone in to help identify where the leak is ie.. thermal camera or pressure testing individual circuits, a good plumber can help you here, unfortunately you must deal with the pressure loss first, once that is dealt with then you can decide what kind of flushing is needed by asking the plumber what the water is like and if he feels it needs a big flush or little flush before any inhibitor is added, it's not till you get to this point that you are giving the boiler a Chance to work properly, there may not be to much wrong with the boiler if it's firing to generate heat for the hot water cylinder, it may just be a external control fault, like the boxes(zone valve) in your hot press, hope this helps, Gary.
 
Thanks Gary. Have ruled out some things you mentioned. Plumber has been dealing with numerous episodes of same problem throughout the estate. Appears many short cuts taken by installers and we are paying the price. Infuriating. Will have to locate the leak, no water coming outside so problem not there. Thanks again.