Absolutely wonderful (formerly absolutely useless) housing association

[swee'pea99]

It's my fervent hope that no CC mischief-maker has the evil idea of sending Onward Homes a link to this thread!

Well one would hope that if anyone did they would be thoroughly ashamed of themselves. Definitely if there was any kind of comeback against Accy, if I were him I'd write to

saying something like: "I'm a vulnerable person, living on my own, with no heating, on one of the coldest nights of the year, and find myself forced into attempting this, though it was the very last thing I would have wanted to do, to try and get the heat back on, because I'd been calling your emergency helpline for an hour without getting an answer, and I was freezing. And now your people are giving me grief over it. Is this how Onward Homes treats its tenants? I look forward to hearing your thoughts."

 

[Deleted member 26715]

My boiler is 15 years old. I'll be disappointed if I don't get another few years from it....

I just removed my fathers boiler after 35 years, still going strong, but as we're selling the bungalow it was a selling point to put a new one in.

 

[swee'pea99]

My boiler is 15 years old. I'll be disappointed if I don't get another few years from it....

Yeah, mine's about that. Bit more. 18 perhaps. Mind you, I have to say, we did have a stroke of luck. When it was about 10 years old it developed a serious fault, and as one of the options I looked into, Worcester Bosch looked like a good an option as any. They looked a bit on the pricey side, as you'd expect, but not stupidly so, so we called them in. They said the repair involved replacing something really major - the heat exchanger, maybe. Anyway, that would cost £155. For £180 we could buy a year's boiler cover, which would include the repair. Well, I'm no great believer in service plans, but a year's cover for £25 looked like a no-brainer, so we went for that.

Three months later, it broke down again. They came back, under the terms of the plan, and said that another very major bit had gone, so they'd replace that. Chatting to the bloke and he said boilers basically consist of two big bits. We'd had one replaced earlier, and he was now replacing the other. When he was finished, we'd effectively have a new boiler. Needless to say, we cancelled the cover at the end of the year. We didn't need it now we had a new boiler.

 

[newts]

I forgot to mention before. The plumber said he'd have to condemn the boiler mainly due to it having its cover taken off. He said it wouldn't fit back properly,which breaks the seal. He asked who did it. I told him it was my friend,egged on by some Cycle Chatters!

Whilst you shouldn't have removed the boiler cover, I think the plumber was billy bullSh***ing by saying that the cover wouldn't go back as the seal was broken & he had to condem it. The front cover plays no part in sealing off of any combustion gases. Did he explain why the system pressure had dropped to zero, the air pressure switch wouldn't have influenced this? Hopefully he isolated the electric/gas supply to the boiler & labelled the boiler as high risk before leaving?
The existing heating circuit should be cleaned & flushed before the new boiler is commisioned.

 

[Mr Celine]

Whilst you shouldn't have removed the boiler cover, I think the plumber was billy bullSh***ing by saying that the cover wouldn't go back as the seal was broken & he had to condem it. The front cover plays no part in sealing off of any combustion gases. Did he explain why the system pressure had dropped to zero, the air pressure switch wouldn't have influenced this? Hopefully he isolated the electric/gas supply to the boiler & labelled the boiler as high risk before leaving?
The existing heating circuit should be cleaned & flushed before the new boiler is commisioned.

The front cover may seal in combustion gases under fault conditions.
My house used to have a Potterton Netaheat, which was apparently known in the trade as the widowmaker. It was one of the first fan flued boilers and the design flaw was that the fan blew fresh air into the combustion chamber. If there were any leaks from the casing exhaust fumes could be blown into the room the boiler was in.
The now universal practice uses the fan to suck the exhaust out which is safer. The pressure switch confirms the fan and flue are working.

Accy, if you don't know what you're doing don't touch it. Numerous people gave you advice about the first step to safely investigate your issue. No one told you to remove the casing.

 

[newts]

The front cover may seal in combustion gases under fault conditions.
My house used to have a Potterton Netaheat, which was apparently known in the trade as the widowmaker. It was one of the first fan flued boilers and the design flaw was that the fan blew fresh air into the combustion chamber. If there were any leaks from the casing exhaust fumes could be blown into the room the boiler was in.
The now universal practice uses the fan to suck the exhaust out which is safer. The pressure switch confirms the fan and flue are working.

Accy, if you don't know what you're doing don't touch it. Numerous people gave you advice about the first step to safely investigate your issue. No one told you to remove the casing.

I'm not sure how the front fascia panel would prevent the escape of combustion gases from the inner combustion chamber on accy's boiler? Room air can freely enter/escape from the top/bottom of the boiler housing, then pass along the gap between the back of the front fascia panel & the front of the combustion cover. I'd not heard the Netaheat boiler called a widowmaker before.

 

[swee'pea99]

I'm not sure how the front fascia panel would prevent the escape of combustion gases from the inner combustion chamber on accy's boiler? Room air can freely enter/escape from the top/bottom of the boiler housing, then pass along the gap between the back of the front fascia panel & the front of the combustion cover. I'd not heard the Netaheat boiler called a widowmaker before.

I'm with you. It sounds like cobblers to me. I have a same-generation WB boiler - the 24i's bigger brother, the 28i - and there's no way removing that panel compromises safety in any way. The whole 'condemning it' thing smells to me like a guy whose easy money comes from fitting new boilers.

 

[Mr Celine]

I'd not heard the Netaheat boiler called a widowmaker before.

https://netaheat-repairs.co.uk/netaheat-electronic.html

He doesn't call it the widowmaker but does state -

The Netaheat Electronic is an easy boiler to diagnose and repair. It became the template for virtually all other wall-hung gas designed in the 1990s. The fanned flue, the combined gas valve, the integrated electronic control board using the air pressure switch and flame rectification for combustion supervision were all features copied by virtually every gas boiler manufacturer across the world. The only thing remaining wrong with the Netaheat was the positive case pressure design, which had lead to a number of deaths following incorrect re-fitting of the case after servicing or repair. This was corrected in the next incarnation of the Netaheat, the Netaheat Profile.

 

[newts]

I'm with you. It sounds like cobblers to me. I have a same-generation WB boiler - the 24i's bigger brother, the 28i - and there's no way removing that panel compromises safety in any way. The whole 'condemning it' thing smells to me like a guy whose easy money comes from fitting new boilers.

I'm pleased that Accy is getting a new high efficiency boiler fitted. What frustrates me is the HA has failed to reassure him in the past that the boiler is perfectly good & safe when he raised concerns. I doubt they have ever serviced the boiler properly, just basic soundness & emission tests as required for a landlords certificate .
The air pressure switch for this boiler is about £20
It is very common to condem a boiler that is repairable in favour of a new boiler, often down to incentive schemes for purchase of boilers/engineer bonuses. Various forums i have perused over the years have similar stories of a boiler fault miraculously becomes a 'new boiler required without reasonable explanation as to why. BG used to use the excuse 'parts are no longer available' to then sell an over priced boiler.

 

[jowwy]

as someone who works within the housing sector - replacement on boilers is 15yrs, also the association should have left you with an alternate source of heating, if the boiler was unfixable at the time the plumber/gas engineer came to see it........they also would in some cases, but not in all, recompense you on the cost associated with powering the heating source, in the case electricity

if you have an electric shower, then you have means of washing........

 

[Drago]

The engineers report claims there was a tweed clotch cap caught in a vital part of the boilers inner workings.

 

[Accy cyclist]

I'm pleased that Accy is getting a new high efficiency boiler fitted.

I phoned them up yesterday,asking when they were coming to fit the new boiler. The HA said the gas engineer is coming in the morning to fix the existing one,not to fit a new one. It looks like my bills will be above average for the foreseeable future!

 

[Accy cyclist]

if you have an electric shower, then you have means of washing........

I don't but my next door neighbour does. She let me use her's last night. I must say,although it has many temperature settings,the water force is very low compared to my non electric shower which is like a jet wash. I've had an electric shower in a previous flat and that was the same.

 

[Accy cyclist]

Whilst you shouldn't have removed the boiler cover, I think the plumber was billy bullSh***ing by saying that the cover wouldn't go back as the seal was broken & he had to condem it

I've just remembered. He dropped one of the screws on the floor. We both searched,but couldn't find it as it probably went under the fridge or in the rubbish bin. Only 3 fitted screws probably qualified it as having a broken seal.🤔

 

[bikingdad90]

I phoned them up yesterday,asking when they were coming to fit the new boiler. The HA said the gas engineer is coming in the morning to fix the existing one,not to fit a new one. It looks like my bills will be above average for the foreseeable future!

How can it be repaired when the plumber has condemned it?