Boiler recalls

[Tim Downie]

It looks like my 3 year old Vaillant ecoMAX pro boiler might be due some expensive repairs due to failure of a seal (between the burner and heat exchanger). It's clearly been leaking for a while and the heat has damaged various bits.

The man who fitted it tells me that Vaillant have since changed the material that the seal is made from (from silicone to graphite apparently) which suggests a recognised problem.

Given that the failure mode of this seal is potentially dangerous (& expensive) I would have thought that a product recall would have been in order. Does this ever happen in the CH boiler industry? Do I have any chance of claiming any recompence even though it is out of warranty?

Three year's life doesn't strike me as being "fit for purpose". Any suggestions?

Tim

[Stuart Noble]

They obviously know about the problem but you may have to go through a few hoops to get it fixed. I'd book a call-out from Vaillant (hopefully there is an all-inclusive charge) and argue the toss afterwards. They won't respond to anything without an engineer's report anyway, and at least you get all the bits replaced at the same time

[David]

Yes Vaillant have changed the material of the seal, the ecoTEC models had the same problem and there was a product recall, the ecoMAX models also have the same problem but Vaillant don't admit it and never done a recall, your best bet would be to call Vaillant and argue with them. I remember reading a about someone who had a Vaillant boiler with a seal fault, Vaillant said the boiler was beyond economical repair and replaced the whole boiler!?

[Cod Roe]

When was the product recall? I have an ecoTEC Pro 28 R1, which is around a year old, is this likely to have had the mod at manufacture?

Thanks

[David]

Yes most likely, the recall was for earlier 2005 models IIRC, call Vaillant just to be sure AND when it's serviced the seals have to be replaced if the engineer opens the burner.