Potterton Suprima Boiler - Avoid or not ?

[Jim]

As per a previous post I'm currently getting quotes for a new boiler and HW cylcinder.

One of the plumbers has quoted for a Potterton Suprima 50kbth boiler but a quick search on previous posts throws up a load of bad press about these boilers specifically about a the PCB and a lockout problem. Is this still an issue or have Potterton 'addressed' the problem.

Anybody got anything good to say about these boilers ?

Cheers

Jim ps Other plumber has gone for a WB Greenstar system boiler with pressurised HW - so apples and pears so far on the quotes !

[Doctor Drivel]

AVOID!!!! Do you need a cylinder. High flow combis are around.

No, only cowboys who fit them have.

[John Stumbles]

Unless I've missed something[1] the Suprima is a standard efficiency boiler so your circumstances would have to justify an exception from the requirement to fit a high-efficiency (condensing) boiler under current energy-efficiency regulations (Part L)

I personally would go for a W-B or a Vaillant or a few others.

[1] I haven't been following Potterton's current offerings too closely, largely due to the Suprima fiasco. I think they have some genuinely new boilers as well as some bodged cast-iron with a secondary heat exchanger types (neither of which is relevant to electronics reliability). ISTR they were offering something like a 3 or 5 year warranty on some of them - maybe to offset reservations amongst installers brought about by their previous reputation. Put it this way: if I install a 'Crockoshite' boiler with a 1 year warranty and it packs up after 1 year and 1 day I'm going to have an unhappy customer on my hands. If it breaks down just outside a 3 or 5 year warranty period there's more of a chance the customer will curse the manufacturer rather than me.

[Jim]

You probably know more about them than me, however they do come under the 'Potterton Condensing' section on the discountedheating

[R.P.McMurphy]

Avoid the Suprima! Had a quote of £1600 to fit one of these, i asked how long it would take to swap the old with the new one, and was told a days work. Looked on web, found the problems with Suprimas, bought a Worcester

12ri instead, got a plumber mate to fit it for £200...total cost £800! Now i have a better boiler and have £800 still in my bank account!

Steve

[Richard]

Have a P Suprima 80 :-(

Total pile of steaming .....

PCB lock-up fault struck about 18 months ago. Rang Potterton to discuss the well documented problems and was met by blank incredulity that there could be any faults with such a wonderful etc. Re-soldered all the PCB connections which cured the fault.

About 8 months ago the heat exchanger started leaking. Obtained replacement after a great deal of trouble from Plumb Center.

About 1 month after that the lockout problem struck again, but premanently. Obtained p-ex PCB (and a lot of helpful advice) from CET (thanks be to God).

Touch wood it's been OK since then.

So, you takes yer choice!

Whilst I was getting the heat exchanger bits my local Plumb Center told me that Potterton had supplied new PCBs for all their in-stock Suprimas. about a year ago. Ponder on that thought. There are, IIRC from my conversation with CET, two versions of the control PCB

HTH

Richard

[Jim]

Thanks for the info Richard,

Based on the feedback here, I'm definitely going to avoid the Potterton. I'll be giving the job to the other plumber, although his quote is a £1000 more expensive (gulp), I think his proposed system will suit us better.

Cheers

Jim

[Helen Deborah Vecht]

I have a Potterton Suprima, which functioned fine for three years.

Earlier this year, it started cutting out and needing to be reset rather frequently.

My normal plumber could not find any fault, but suggested I contact Potterton, so their engineers could have a look.

Potterton would not service anything unless I took out a policy with Domestic and General, which I did with some resentment.

The boiler continued to cut out.

The engineer visited twice, repositioning the heat sensor probe on his second visit.

The boiler still cut out.

Another engineer visited and decided to replace the printed circuit board. This had to be ordered and could not be replaced on the date he initially planned to do this as it took over a week to arrive.

The circuit board was replaced today.

Time will tell if the boiler continues to cut out...