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Central Heating

Worcester 24i junior producing very hot then cold water cycles

Anonymous user 28/02/2024 - 3.22 PM

please can somebody help with this.. Had this problem for a few weeks and so booked for a boiler service and find fault. I had already searched online and found this could either be the heat exchange plate or heat sensor? (only from what i had seen others helped with similar probs). On arrival at my property the engineer didn't really seem interested in my water problem, but started on the service to see if anything showed up. Ah, he says, your expansion vessel is leaking water so that's gone, this is what your problem will be and will bring your pressure back up (was down to zero). So I waited 2 weeks for him to return and replace vessel which took around 1.15hrs, but switching back the boiler, the fan made a loud whooshing noise and it switched itself back off. Tested this and said as it showed 240volts, it was broken...so fitted new fan. He also (on my request) changed the diverter valve as we still hadnt solved the water problem. So, new vessel, new fan, new electrodes and diverter...checks all the system and rads were fine...so pay him £300 and off he goes. Later that evening, I look forward to a nice warm shower, the first in many weeks....HA! freezing cold after 2 mins NOT HAPPY. I phoned Worcester Bosch and spoke to them and they were concerned about the engineer not knowing/wanting to check the exchange plate? sensor etc...(he got stroppy with me when I asked him to do this and said NO, call Bosch out for that) I then call the engineer again to which he said, there is nothing wrong with that boiler! Its the shower! I suppose I could come out and replace the sensor but which one is it as there are 3? Now, this is an accredited fitter for Bosch and I am absolutely dumfounded this is happening. Who do i best complain about him too please. Trading Standards? Bosch again? Gas Safety? I am retired and on disability, have a heart condition and 2nd stroke last year, I really can't deal with this stress. Thanks in advance. Update 2: Didn't explain myself too well re him being qualified for fault finding, he is adamant there is nothing wrong with the exchange plate which is why he says he will not touch it. Maybe it is because he isn't as qualified as advertised? The expiration of the 10 year boiler cover gives me huge grief because Bosch would have otherwise allowed me to pay monthly rather than having to find a large lump sum. They have also told me the heat exchange plate is not covered under the £262 one off charge, but all other parts are which seems very unfair considering this could be the problem. I will have to save up until such time when I can afford to call out another engineer, but will in the meantime try to seek some financial assistance from Age Uk or such like.

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2 Answers

Boiler Homecare

Rating: 5 out of 5

Honiton

There are Gas Safe engineers who's field of work may not extend to boiler breakdowns as this is a specialised item, even though you state he is 'accredited fitter for Bosch' this only means he is recognised by the manufacturer as an approved installer of there boilers only and not necessarily a breakdown engineer. Unfortunately he appears to have bitten off more then he can chew. The only course of action open to you now is find someone who indeed specialises in boiler diagnostics and repairs to correct the matter and then write a letter to the first engineer asking him for a full refund, if he ignores your correspondence I feel then the small claims court will be the next course of action, but make sure you obtain a full report from the following engineer of work under taken to finally resolve the boiler faults and ask him to identify what initial work carried out was unnecessary. But please allow the initial engineer the opportunity to recompense you for your monetary losses! ---------------------------------------------------------------- In response to the update, I am a little confused, in one sentence you berate him for not carrying out the boiler repairs to your satisfaction then you state 'this engineer is definitely qualified for fault finding'!!!! In my opinion based on the evidence provided by you, my first course of action would be to identify the cause of no hot water if there are no other apparent faults preventing me from doing this. Then address any other issues I may find, this normally is one of three causes: 1. Plate heat exchanger blocked with sludge/debris 2. Faulty temperature sensor 3. Faulty diverter valve You have hinted at item #1 above as probable cause through your own research for which I agree. You also mentioned about the primary heat exchanger being out of the 10 year warranty, this has nothing to do with your the lack of hot water in this instance. Simple way to establish this is run the boiler in heating mode only, do the radiators become warm, if the answer is yes then we can eliminate the primary heat exchanger. Returning to my original advice I am aware of your current circumstances but you need to move forward and bite the bullet for now, being without hot water is a major inconvenience, might I suggest you post the boiler repair on mybuilder.com at least you can select from the Gas Safe engineers who is the best candidate to put matters right or the other option is pay Worcester Bosch a one off fee and they will attend and make good reapirs irrespective of how many parts they need to replace to get your boiler working correctly again!

Answered28 August 2016

Anonymous user

Could you please explain how did you came to the conclusion that heat exchanger plate is faulty. Providing there is hot water to any other outlets, let's say kitchen sink or bathroom wash hand basin, then there's nothing wrong with the heat exchanger plate. It's a bit hard to believe that a Gas Engineer, Bosch accredited installer, will not test the boiler after carrying on the repairs, surely he would have spotted the issue with heat exchanger almost immediately.

Answered23 October 2020