My Mother-in-Law recently got in touch to say she'd had her central heating replaced. The old system was gravity-fed consisting of an ageing beast of a boiler (at least 30 years old) and a dozen or so radiators (no TRVs) and rather poor control system. It worked but not particularly effectively/efficiently.
Anyway, the reason for her call was that she was having some problems with it=85
- The controller didn't seem to work
- The shower leaked
I called round (I say that, she's 150 miles away) to take a look. I first see a neatly-installed combi (Baxi Eco 30 I think) in the garage, then TRVs on all the radiators and finally a Honeywell wireless receiver on the wall. So far so good. She then handed me the programmer=85 made by Tower. It was then that I realised the programmer was heavily scratched - and that the receiver had a hole in the side where presumably it had been fitted in another installation. Okay, second hand, probably got it cheap (oh no - charged =A3100 for this setup apparently). But that wasn't the issue - the real problem that we had a mismatched pair here - there was no way the Tower programmer was going to work with the Honeywell receiver. It's no wonder she had problems with it, and indeed it would also explain why he failed to get it working too!
The next problem was a leaking shower. Up we went to find a Mira Event=85 *power* shower. This was now connected to the hot water supply from the combi=85 i.e. mains fed. I guessed that's it was leaking - it's obviously not designed to be fitted to a high pressure supply. More to the point, it shouldn't be fitted to the mains at all!
I'm trying to remain calm about how to sort this out - partly for her benefit as the last thing she needs right now is stress from all of this - and would appreciate any suggestions as to the best way forward. Unfortunately she's already paid in full (=A31900 I believe). The programmer issue is relatively straightforward - get him back out to fit a working pair (preferably new given the =A3100 bill item). It's the shower that's going to be the problem I think. I am assuming the only resolution is to replace the power shower with a standard mixer? Do you think he's liable for the cost (parts and labour)? He suggested the combi, he fitted it, he connected the power shower to the mains after all=85
It doesn't help that I'm so far away as I can only assist at arms length. Also, the MIL's brother has already been speaking to the plumber (it was apparently him who recommended him!) about the programmer and so I am fighting the temptation to get in stuck in myself as I'm sure if the plumber feels ganged up on we may never see him again.
Grateful for your thoughts=85
Mathew