central heating boiler service ??????

[beardsley]

Originally Posted by zoombini

Same thing when the diaphram went, Corgi chap wouldn't even consider replacing just the diaphram, wanted £150 to replace the whole valve assy.
Cost me £17.50, took 1/2 hour & has been fine for the past 5 years.

We have a sticking valve on our Baxi boiler at home. Had a Corgi guy out to it last year when it started to stick. He diagnosed the problem, but as it started working as soon as he turned the control knob off/on again, he said we would have to call back when it stuck again as he was not 100% sure it was the problem. Over £100 for the call out. I do not remember the exact figure, but he was talking about £200+ to replace the whole valve assembly as he said that the bit sticking (maybe the solenoid - cannot remember too clearly) was not availabale. It has stuck a few times since then, but a quick turn off/on of the gas control knob has freed it again.

Guess this is a fairly common problem. At the last house we had a simlar problem with the boiler there. The guy that came out was about to go on holiday and did not have time to get the parts in and fit them before that. As this was the middle of winter, the heating was completely broken and we had a few month old baby, he told me where to get the part and how to fit it.

The problem is, I cannot remeber where I got if from. I suspect that it was mail-order, but cannot even remember that for sure.

So, does anyone know where spares can be obtained? (I would really like to avoid having to buy a whole gas valve assembly for a few quid part.

[iadom]

Originally Posted by Mr_love_monkey

I find that shocking.... so do plumbers, etc, that have insurance, carry proof around with them, i.e. the way CORGI fitters have a card, that you ask for, do they have insurance proof that they can or have to carry with them?

I'm feeling less inclined to let anyone into my house to do any work....

As a self employed sole trader I have public liability insurance that covers me for up to £1 million of damage, the only time I am ever asked for proof of this is once a year by the local council who I do a small amount of work for.

[bopdude]

Originally Posted by SMHarman

I suppose because the plumber may not take into account all gas / ventilation considerations when hanging the boiler?

I don't think thats the case, in fact in my experiences, all the piping is done to the spot where the plumber / occupants have chosen to put the boiler, thenthe corgi guy mounts the boiler, the plumber does his bit and the corgi guy does his AFAIK that is

[zoombini]

The actual ventilation requirements are quit minimal for combi boilers & these are always given in the instructions.

It's not hard for a competent person to read them & install the boiler according to the instructions, with adequate space all around & external venting as detailed.
If the instructions gave insufficient info on how to fit them then the manufacturers would have all sorts of troubles.

I service my old boiler (oooeeerrr!) because I'm competent enough to do so, (although I don't touch the main gas supplies) so maybe I ought to apply to corgi for an application form
If I did anything that could possibly involve the gas supplies then I would get a local corgi chap in to check it out for me.

[goldoni]

Originally Posted by Mr_love_monkey

I find that shocking.... so do plumbers, etc, that have insurance, carry proof around with them, i.e. the way CORGI fitters have a card, that you ask for, do they have insurance proof that they can or have to carry with them?

I'm feeling less inclined to let anyone into my house to do any work....

All COGI registered fitters will have a card that has a photo along with his/hers registration details. This information can be checked on the CORGI web site. The card is also in brail so blind people can read the card. On the back of the card it reads:

The cardholder is deemed competent only in the categories of work identified by a tick.

Note the work competent not qualified.

Regarding the insurance in short NO, which I find quite shocking. I have 2m cover for any one incident. I only have a letter to confirm I hold public liability insurance.

Not wanting to worry you all but another big thing is unvented cylinders over 15l a lot of people have them fitted. Again you have to be registered to work on them. I get called to lots of jobs where so called plumbers have worked on them and have left the customer with a potential bomb. Believe it or not the last time was where a BG person had serviced a customers boiler and issued a certificate to say it was safe. I was called because the warning discharge pipe was dripping from the boiler. In short I turned it all off and advised the customer to phone BG service who sent out the same engineer who admitted he did not understand unvented systems.

[goldoni]

Originally Posted by beardsley

We have a sticking valve on our Baxi boiler at home. .

What Baxi do you have and have you got the book for your boiler??

[jonny1982]

Hello all. Im struggling with getting spare parts for my ariston boiler, its quite old which isnt helping. Any ideas? Thanks

Originally Posted by jonny1982

Hello all. Im struggling with getting spare parts for my ariston boiler, its quite old which isnt helping. Any ideas? Thanks

quite a - did you try google?

http://www.keeptheheaton.com/acatalo...on_Spares.html , was one result from my query on "ariston boiler"

http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=ari...L_enGB253GB253

for example.

- not a recommendation, of course, but I hope they can help

[cleshe]

Originally Posted by jonny1982

Hello all. Im struggling with getting spare parts for my ariston boiler, its quite old which isnt helping. Any ideas? Thanks

Try this firm . It/they sorted my problem after espares told me I had the wrong ID for my appliance. I hadn't, their records were wrong.

net
E-mail Address(es):
net@gas-spares.co.uk

The trouble is, many firms threw away their parts books when they were "updated" to computer. The computerised lists only go back a few years.If your appliance is older you're stuffed.As said this firm sorted my problem.

[jonny1982]

Thank you for that, I think i have found a local(ish) company that can help, I appreciate your advice about getting parts for old boilers. Cheers

[Vlad_Dracul]

Originally Posted by Mr_love_monkey

I thought the rule was that only people who are CORGI registered should be servicing your boiler, is that right?

Not quite. the law requires that those who work on gas installations and appliances be "competent". However,if they carry out that work in trade,i.e they charge for services,they must be CORGI registered.

In effect,you would only need to demonstrate competence if something went wrong and you were being prosecuted.

---------- Post added at 09:01 ---------- Previous post was at 08:57 ----------

Originally Posted by goldoni

I will let you into a little secret. As it stands at this moment in time, Joe public can go to Wicks or any of the sheds and buy a gas boiler, he can take it home and he can fit the said boiler providing he is competent to do so. The only person who can say he was not competent is a coroner. This is a fact

The British Gas employee (most are deemed to be competent) who comes and services/repairs your boiler is not able to work on your boiler privately and charge you money unless he/she is CORGI registered in his/her own name. This is a fact

Your next door neighbour who fitted his own boiler that has been working for years so you ask him to fit yours will only get taken to court if he charges you money and it can be proved he contravened gas safety regulations/ British standards. This would only take place if you reported him yourself to CORGI. This is a fact

Lets just say I lean that your neighbour who I know is not registered has fitted your boiler so I report him to CORGI guess what CORGI will do? They will send documentation so he can apply to be registered.

Lastly CORGI registered fitters or Registered Plumbers do not have to have insurance, so if they blow your house up and they live in rented accommodation you are stuffed. The insurance industry doesnââ‚ƚ¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢t help the situation by not issuing a certificate for public liability.

That all being said CORGI have made it a little safer than it was ten years ago.

After all those horses get out of the way, we'll have your barn door fixed in a jiffy.

I second and confirm Goldeni's statements...