Flue Longevity

[thescullster]

Hi all

General question to the floor I guess...

How long would you expect boiler flue components to last?

This is one item that, in the normal course of events, I would expect to be fit-and-forget for the life of the boiler.

The boiler in question is a Worcester Bosch Greenstar 24Ri installed in

2006. To remove the pluming from the location of kitchen windows and patio door, I had a flue extension kit fitted within the kitchen roof space. Not sure whether the terminal fitted to extension kits is any different from boilers which simply have a top elbow and vent directly out through the wall above!? As you might expect, neither the boiler nor the flue were cheap. The install was carried out by a local reputable plumbing outfit (not that that has any real bearing).

The problem is with the plastic liner of the flue, specifically the inner part which projects furthest and is fitted with a bird mesh cover.

Basically, this part is literally disintegrating. The birds mesh cover fits into the end of the flue and applies a small amount of pressure outwards. Bits of the flue that have broken away are seen to have age hardened and now have an appearance and brittleness which closesly resembles thin Kendal Mint cake. To my knowledge, the flue end has not been bashed - this is highly unlikely, as there has been no significant external work done on the house since the boiler was fitted, and the failure started on top of the flue which is about 2.5m in the air.

Does a failure of this kind fall into the "not fit for purpose" category i. e. it should last the life of the install?

I am now faced with the parts and labour costs of replacing this (I don't do boiler work) - or should Bosch cover these?

Comments appreciated.

Phil

[Tim Lamb]

In message , thescullster writes

Umm.. The flue extension in my wife's rented out flat failed the annual gas boiler check. At a guess this might be 10 years after original installation.

[Peter Parry]

Whether it should last longer or not doesn't really matter. The Limitations Act of 1980 places a limit of 6 years from purchase on bringing any case under the Sale of Goods Act.

[Andrew Gabriel]

Are these all proper flue parts, or is it made up from standard plumbing pipework. If it's the latter (and assuming that's allowed by the boiler manufacturer), it must be muPVC, not plain PVC or ABS. The disintegration you describe sounds like ABS in sunlight.

[thescullster]

All parts look like pukka flue components, with the concentric inner condensing tube/vapour outlet and outer vapour inlet enclosure. So it's not the two-separate-pipes type arrangement which would lend itself to bodgy plumbing extensions.

Phil

[gremlin_95]

I would suggest you give Worcester Bosch a call just to see what they have to say. Their customer service is pretty good.

[Brian Gaff]

You might mention it to the people who supplied it and see if they might go some way toward the replacement costs, but other than that, I'd imagine this is just luck and maybe a bad bit of the plastic created at that time. I know what is meant by the cake comparison, I've seen exactly the same on those plastic globe lights. It looks fine until you try to remove it then it crumble to fairly large bits of dust. Brian