boiler on the blink..or rather banging itself!!

[jaynana]

any boiler experts here? no heating since yesterday, caught this on video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MnkD9dYJVQY

starts up ok, makes a massive racket along with the flame going yellow, and then dies!!

EDIT: air fan is working fine. i have disconnected it and tested it, and it can be seen to function on teh video as well. water pump is also working fine.

ps
boiler insurance cover.. what is that? lol

[X5Sport]

Sparrow in the air intake?

[huck]

Get over to diynot.com, ask nicely, and you may get some joy.

Good luck!

P.S. Other marques?!!

[bigsanj]

I ain't no specialist but that sounds like the ignition. Mine did that, allot of clicking and banging. I just took out a British gas policy and called them in.

[jaynana]

air flow and air fan are clear. that's the easy part to test - so no sparrow soup in teh water..

i also thought it had to be the ignition side of things but seems not as per below..

this is in diynot

interesting suggestions/diagnosis really. never thought of that.

it seems to be an air block... although i still cannot imagine the magnitude of the banging due to an air block and resultant water boiling.

plan to drain teh system in teh weekend and fit a stop-cock where the air bleed valve is and force water backwards.. if the pipes aren't physically blocked that should clear out any air block.

this is an old fashioned gravity fed boiler and system. maybe its time to change to a combi.. so i'm also getting some quotes for a combi.. i might just go ahead with the change.. 

[Horizon]

I wouldn't risk DIYing on the gas boiler, if anything happens IE carbon monoxide poisoning, or an explosion. You wouldn't be able to live with yourself.
We had our old boiler ripped out and a 32 kw valiant combi put in. Much more efficient. 5 year warranty, better than paying BG for a maintenance plan, 5 years piece of mind, gas savings will pay for it in that time too

[snipez999]

Isn't a 5 year warranty only valid if you have the appliance professionally serviced every year (or 'regularly') though? 
The BG plan includes an annual service and all parts and labour for this are free, plus it extends to the whole system in the house.  I calculated that the piece of mind of having callout cover like this outweighed the 220 quid a year 'savings'.

[Horizon]

Sorry forgot to mention 2 years free servicing too. It's personnel choice, do you buy a new car and have the piece of mind of a dealership warranty. Or do you have an old banger with a bad Mpg figure, with a warranty direct cover.

I wouldn't have thought you would have an old boiler !!!!!  I have but the central heating is new. ( don't tell the wife I called her that )

[X5Sport]

Defo don't mess with the boiler unless you know what you're doing.  My folks one used to boil when the main water stat failed and the boiler overheat switch was the only thing that prevented a steam blast.

I have the BG Homecare 400 scheme and it has rebuilt our boiler three times and supplied numerous igniters, heater matrix spares, hot water tank, rad valves, new fridge/freezer, washing machine spares and money off a new gas hob etc under the policy and paid for itself more than once.  Having them available 24/7 and there the next day and fixing it the next is worth a lot IMHO.  Local plumbers charge as much as a BMW Dealer and use the same sharp intake of breath!!

Richard

[Chompers]

Agree with all above on the BG Homecare front. Just had an issue with no hot water. BG came out promptly and found the fault. Now in fairness we only have the 200 cover Boiler/CH Cover, the fault was the heat exchanger but the engineer found a very small leak on one of the pumps and said he would replace it as it would be covered. The time give to do the job also allowed for him to take the exchanger off and check it. As suspected it was clogged up on the storage side. A flush didn't help but he said he could pick up one within 1/2 hour and have use back up and running. Also did the boiler service as it was soon due.

All sorted no charge, cost to get plumber in + parts would have been well in excess of £600. Cover costs £16 a month. Job done.

[jaynana]

british gas visited today to give a quote. £3.1k for a full installation. i've said £2.9k and you'd have the deal right now. he went back scratching his head and trying to call his manager.

i have another quote from local plumbers for £2k.  another one expected tomorrow.

£16/month that's £960/5 years. you're paying more than the price of the whole boiler over 5 years.. which from british gas's point of view is 1/3rd the lifetime of the boiler!

so service better be good!

[Chompers]

Fair point, however with 2 young kids I, like most of you can't be with out heating / hot water. Also don't forget the £16 a month includes an annual boiler service. My guess is that would be circa £60 on its own. I've had the cover for 2.5 years now and this is the first claim ive made and was handled very well in IMHO.

[Black X5]

[quote="jaynana"]
british gas visited today to give a quote. £3.1k for a full installation. i've said £2.9k and you'd have the deal right now. he went back scratching his head and trying to call his manager.

i have another quote from local plumbers for £2k.  another one expected tomorrow.
[/quote]

Jay is that for a combi conversion? What boiler/ model etc? The 3k figure is very high indeed.

[jaynana]

Worcester bosch greenstar 30si independent price check incl flu and digital timer £1,159.
Or Valient 831 Ecoteck

3rd quote is in as well: £2.2k.

All prices include
- conversion from gravity fed boiler system to combi system, all the plumbing and
- discarding the tanks, etc,
- installation certificate,
- gas certificate,
- informing the council.

Price must be correct given the 3 indipendent quotes.. Debate is whether to get mine fixed which I'm sure I can with a bit of weekend diy, or to just go for a new..

Thx

[Black X5]

Both models are good choices. I'd personally have the Vaillant but they are both equally good.

Around 2k is about the figure you want to be looking at for a decent job.

You could of course repair yours- but will be putting off the inevitable especially as your current unit becomes more tired. Newer boiler will of course be more efficient but payback would be years rather than months. Good luck whichever way you decide to go!