Boiler Noise

[Conrad]

Recently our Thorn Apollo copper boiler (30/50) - 23 years old - ha

started making noises. The best I can describe is to say sounds lik 'fluttering' just short of the banging which I know as 'kettling.' This builds up from none to noisy enough to be heard in other room than where it is located in the kitchen. In the early days we ha banging and adding Fernox solved it - but over the years has probabl become very dilute.

As we are covered by West Midlands Gas maintenance contract - I aske them to visit. The Gas Fitter/engineer said that it was due to a buil up of solids on the heat exchanger and that it would need to b replaced. For this to happen the system would have to be drained dow and on filling 500 ml of Fernox boiler noise silencer added, at th time it sounded logical. He said this is not covered under the contrac and that I would have to pay. He left me a quote of £564.83 - this seem an awful lot of money. This does not include a system flush - an radiators are uniformly hot anyway.

If this work is considered necessary I aim to get a quote from a independent Central Heating company - though expect I will have to pa for them to come out and assess the situation anyway.

However since I made the call for the visit the noise has been gettin less and was not at its worst when the engineer called. For the last days there has been absolutely no unusual sound whatsoever. This lead me to think that his diagnosis may be incorrect.

I would be grateful for any views, suggestions.

Conra

-- Conrad

[Andy R]

I had an old boiler with a similar prob. I cured it by adding a c/h cleaner and running it with that for a couple of weeks then a good flush out, draining the system (at least in part from the boiler itself to make sure that got a good flush through) then refilling and adding an inhibitor. Don't let anyone talk you into fitting a new boiler, it'll take forever to get the money back and never be as reliable as an old one.

Rgds

Andy R

[logized]

Is your service cover the British Gas "Central heating care" at 15.50 per month? - on their web site

they use the example of "replace heat exchanger" as an example of the savings you can make (zero cost) - so it should be covered - unless they are claiming the parts are not available, in which case they would be quoting for a new boiler and £564.83 seems cheap for BG prices? Maybe you could check the contract terms and make further enquiries - I think it is a bit unfair to charge for repairs when you are already paying a lot for a maintenance contract.

Dave

[Owain]

"Conrad" wrote | As we are covered by West Midlands Gas maintenance contract - | I asked them to visit. The Gas Fitter/engineer said that | it was due to a build up of solids on the heat exchanger and | that it would need to be replaced. For this to happen the | system would have to be drained down and on filling 500 ml | of Fernox boiler noise silencer added, at the time it sounded | logical. He said this is not covered under the contract and | that I would have to pay. He left me a quote of £564.83 - | this seems an awful lot of money.

Is that for the whole job parts and labour, or just for draining down and adding Fernox? With British Gas and variants one never knows just how far they're extracting the michael in their pricing.

At 23 years old, if the boiler *is* getting past it, it might be worth looking at a newer, more efficient, boiler. But not just now. Heating people will be at their busiest and priciest.

Owain

[Ed Sirett]

For this age of appliance you are probably looking to make a good medium term repair.

Firstly the sudden increase in kettling might be due to pump problems especially the pump cutting as the boiler warms up? (failing overrun thermostat?).

Secondly a tube of boiler noise silencer is about £30 and is injected directly into a radiator - really anyway it can be put directly into the circuit.

If I were in your position I would not be looking to spend more than £50 quid on the system given its age.

[Ed Sirett]

Yes there is an opening for a good will ombudsman to take them on on this one. Kettling that can be heard throughout the house must be approaching a 'fault' in at the opinion of at least one judge out there. ;-)

The £564.83 was for a clear out, a new boiler would be a tad more I think.

[Conrad]

You have helped me make a decision here,

1) to introduce an inhibitor - run the system and see the benefits solve the problem. 2) check out British Gas as to why they think my heat exchanger is no covered under my heating maintenance contract.

However before taking either step I wonder why I am currentl experiencing no problem whatsoever. And ask will the problem com back? Also where has it gone?!

Conra

-- Conrad

[Mike Dodd]

I'm also curious, as the symptoms and date coincide with my own experience this week with a 7 year Baxi Solo. Problem also disappeared (for the time being).