New gas meter comes, old boiler fired.

Not my day today.

Siemens Chappie came around yesterday to replace our gas meter (they go out of calibration). Harmless action - we joyfully let him in, he fixes the new meter - cheerfully reignites the boiler, and refuses the coffee (says he is allergic to caffine).

Today we noticed a wiff of a leak.

So Transco guy comes within the hour of an emergency call, finds and fixes the leak. The leak is on our side of the meter, somehow made worse by the meter refitting but since he is such a nice chap he does the magic and the repair is free. Great. I offer him coffee. He declines (what's wrong with my coffee?), and asks directions to the boiler for reignition.

Ah... a problem. Not all the burners are lighting. Some of them are covered in soot, says he. This boiler is a disgrace, it should not be allowed to operate. Illegal. He'll have to cap it. We'll have no baths 'til it's fixed. Doom time. It's pub time in about an hour from now, and my wiff will be more of an issue down there than the smell of gas. Cold bath awaits electric kettle.... Arggghhhh! ;-(

The question. What's the chance a fifteen year old rarely serviced (probably never since new) will need replacement? The boiler is a Potterton Kingfisher II CF80. It's used all year for hot water and heating as necessary through a standard heating header loft tank / cylinder setup for a three bed house. Or will I get away by a Corgi engineer cleaning and renewing parts?

Thinking back, if I laced the Siemens guy's coffee with something (and made him drink it), the meter wouldn't have been compulsory changed and I wouldn't be in this mess. :-(

-- The Wiff guy (allegedly Adrian C)

Reply to
Adrian C
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Sounds like it's just in need of a service. No reason why a good de-coke won't restore it to health and happiness.

Reply to
Set Square

I once had a saga with BG/Transco about meter installations. They had suspended their meter from the gas installation pipes, although their service pipe was protected by a flexible connection. The dead-weight of the meter wouldn't have been a problem;however, the gas isolating valve was a plug-c*ck, which had probably never been serviced since it's installation pre-war (WW2). It was stiff, requiring a huge 2-handed heave to operate it. The steel gas pipe moved before the gas valve, cracking the pipe jointing compound on the elbow below the floor and starting a leak. Probably something similar happened with yours.;

The leak wouldn't have been a problem, it was less than 1% of the permissible leakage rate. However, I had summoned BG to a smell of gas in the meter cupboard & the fitter condemned my installation because he could smell gas. He couldn't detect a leak with a manometer. In fact the service pipe was leaking and BG knew the whole local distribution system was rotten, having sprayed it internally with a sealant.

BG said they would never install meters without supports & the householder must have removed the supports. When I moved house, I found the meter was suspended from the gas service pipe. The gas isolating valve was stiff and had probasbly never been serviced since etc....

The various gas ombudsmen/consumers councils/whatever are wholly useless.

They've installed new meters around here &, on a house I looked at, used the old 3" pitch/fibre sleeve through the cavity walls to run the new service pipes. The sleeve doesn't extend through the cavity and isn't sealed to the leaves. CORGI only deals with issues downstream of the primary meters.

The Kingfisher boiler will probably clean up & go another 30 years.

Reply to
Aidan

If it's just the result of total neglect and not corrosion then there is a good chance that a _VERY_ thorough clean up may get the boiler working safely again.

Once soot begins to build up it tend to get worse very rapidly and can soon block a heat exchanger after that there'd be trouble. This type of older style boiler really does need cleaning out each year, you've now found out why.

Reply to
Ed Sirett

Ed Sirett wrote: > If it's just the result of total neglect and not corrosion then there is a

Yikes. The Transco man did mention a bit of corrosion. The boiler is boxed in behind a difficult partition which I'll work at moving today. If I give the repairer easier access to the unit we might get better luck with the cleaning job. That is, if he is keen on helping us avoid the need to purchase a new boiler & installation.

Anyone recommend someone good on regular Corgi servicing around the Harrow/Stanmore area of NW London? Don't make me go to British Gas!!

Thanks :-)

-- Adrian C

Reply to
Adrian C

Our last Gas meter was a very small electronic affair, half the height of a house brick. It's 5 years after replacement is a huge thing, volume of three house bricks. And mechanical. Me thinks the last probably got changed because it had a battery life to worry about. New Meter is hanging on the pipes, no securement to the wall. I quizzed the Transco guy about it when he was fixing the leak - he didn't have an issue with it.

The steel gas pipe moved before the gas valve,

Yes, an elbow joint on our side below the meter was the leak. Tightened up now. :-)

Well, I certainly hope so!!!

-- Adrian C

Reply to
Adrian C

Yep, same here, (although the valve works ok so it's not too bad). When the meter was replaced a couple of years ago they just replaced as is, so the meter is still supported only by the supply pipe...

Lee

Reply to
Lee

It should simply need a good clean. It's quite DIY possible, but you'll likely need new gaskets and of course flue brushes and a decent industrial style vacuum. But if you don't feel competent, it shouldn't cost more than

100 quid or so.

They tend to go from working perfectly to totally sooted up very quickly - and I don't know what actually starts this cycle after many years of not being touched but working fine. But I'd say you've been very lucky if a CF type has lasted 15 years without a service, and I wouldn't recommend this as they can emit dangerous fumes into the room when things get blocked up.

Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

The Kingfishers have O rings between the heat exchanger sections, and these can need replacing after this sort of age. And if it's been leaking, it's possible the linings to the burner box are damaged too and need replacement.

They are pretty simple boilers to strip down totally, but I'm not sure what spares are still available.

Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

I have a CF60- of similar vintage and it started leaking recently and it was the gaskets that fit to each side of the heat exchanger .They are simply replaceable by removing the casing to get access ,then removing the plates on either side .The gaskets on mine were totally hard ..I scraped them off and cleaned up the surfaces and replaced them( also using Heat Resistand Silicone) after brushing out the boiler .I also replaced the ceramic rope thats seals the casing round the pilot light as it had got wet with the leak....£16 a metre tho'...ouch!!!.....spares are still readily available . Check the website at

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Stuart ...

Reply to
Stuart

Ah - mine has end and centre sections to the heat exchanger, so no end plates. Between each section, 4 'O' rings. It's over 25 years old, and an RS floor stander.

the seals.

Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

What a totally pointless response.

Reply to
Doctor Drivel

The mess was already there. Best ditch this cast iron lump and get a new good quality condensing boiler and reduce your gas bills by up to 40%. What are your requirements? Baths, showers, heating etc?

Reply to
Doctor Drivel

Whereas your response was full of erudition, as usual?

Reply to
Set Square

His requirements? Just a boiler service, time for you to show us "amateurs" how an expert like you would do it.

Any gas fired boiler, simple annual service, talk us through it.

Reply to
Matt

You are not him.

Reply to
Doctor Drivel

And your post id pointless too.

Reply to
Doctor Drivel

condensing boiler.

Reply to
Doctor Drivel

If it actually comes to *needing* replacement, then we will have to. If it seems the 40% saving on gas will neatly pay for the seem to be required breakdown cover and future ongoing repair/replacement costs of the new fangled wotsit, then frankly i'd much rather stick with the cast iron lump.

I'm am he. OK diMM, so what are the elements of work involved in a typical gas boiler service? What should I as a punch blind seeker of gas service in the yellow pages be asking of shady characters coming to see my Boiler? What should I see taking place for my £90/hour wallet tease?

-- Adrian C

Reply to
Adrian C

What afre these "future ongoing repair/replacement costs", you are on about?

What are you on about, idiot?

Reply to
Doctor Drivel

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