Our Ideal Turbo2 (18) condensing CH boiler seems to have sprung a leak from its heat exchanger.
Any idea whether this is likely to be an economic repair? The only price I've found on the net for a new exchanger is over £1000 which sounds like good money after bad on a 15 yr old boiler.
Any suggestions for a replacement boiler of similar output (18KW)?
TIA
Tim
A follow-up question:
The existing boiler (which is only 12yr btw, I made a mistake) is in the loft, a postion I hate but at the time is seemed the easiest option. It was the only place with an outside wall reasonably near the HW tank.
Its predecessor was in the hall cupboard beside the tank but wasn't room sealed and flue options on a new room sealed boiler made it an unattractive option (the flue would have to be at least 1.5m long.) hence its location in the loft.
Have flue options improved over the years? If it were to go back in the cupboard it would need a vertical flue. I really don't want to put it back in the loft if it needs replacing.
TIA
TIm
TIm, firstly, early Ideal boilers were dogs, and generally still are. Best replace. I advise the Glow Worm condeners (Vaillants underneath) and will last more like 30 years. It can be just about a direct exchange. What is the problem about having the boiler in the loft? It is the ideal position, right out of the way. The Glow Worms are quiet too.
If you want the boiler back dowstairs then the likes of Keston do highly flexible flue systems using cheap plastic drain pipe from the merchants
Arent vertical flue and condensing incompatible?
NT
Apart from an early fan failure and gas valve fault (which were both fixed under warranty), it's been absolutely reliable. Of course a heat exchanger failure after 12 years isn't brilliant but having stripped it down a bit, I can see that it shouldn't be too hard to replace (if I can get a replacement cheaply enough).
The bolier was originally fitted as an 'open' system with a header tank just inches above the boiler. This didn't provide enough static head to prevent kettling in the boiler's youth although the kettling did settle down eventually. I converted it to a sealed system which was fine for a while but after a few years we started losing pressure very gradually and I could never find the leak (which with hindsight could have been the heat exchanger). I switched it back to open and the kettling didn't return and the header tank level didn't seem to drop so I left it that way.
To be honest, it's just a bugger to get at and I'd be happier having it more accessible.
Could be my best bet by the sound of it if the heat exchanger really is going to be too expensive.
loft.
Thanks for the advice.
Tim
Dunno, that's why I asked.
Tim
Arent vertical flue and condensing incompatible?
The Glow Worm HXi range of heating boilers (no pump, simple and modulating down to 5kW in some models), can have a one pipe combined feed and vent pipe (22mm). They say to refer to the BS doc for this which doesn't state a minimum. F&E tank must be 1 metre around above boiler using a two pipe vent system. Best use a one-pipe with a Tower 3 port air ejector on the flow which work brilliantly.
As it modulates quite low you may as well get a 30kW version (check gas pipe size) and fit a quick recovery coil cylinder (not Part L). This then will re-heat the cylinder pronto and then when doing CH modulate quite low. Also fit a Magnaclean on the return to the boiler (well worth it for boiler changes) and use Fernox cleaner and flush out beforehand.
Have a gas isolation valve in the airing cupboard, board the loft from hatch up to boiler, have a fixed shoot dopwn ladder and a rail aroundthe hatch if too close to the boiler (can be wood screwed to the rafters).
I would ditch the Ideal if the exchanger is leaking as the new one may do it again 5 years. The Glow Worm is a spiral tube stainless steel pre-mix burner job. V good. The Glow Worm is cheap enough too. They have a sealed system version and open vented
Doctor Drivel wrote: Another with
inc. carrier!
I can't remember now, but don't they have a system that uses palstic drainpipe like Keston?
No they aren't. In fact, vertical flues to the roof are very common in Germany. Even "Horizontal" flues are tilted upwards by a few degrees so that condensate runs back into the boiler rather than dripping fron the end of the flue.
Have a look at the boiler choice FAQ.
Thanks Ed. I think I'm pretty much stuck until Monday when I can get a price for a new heat exchanger. It looks quite doable from a DIY point of view and it all comes down to the price. If it's a non-starter pricewise I'll have to rethink.
Tim
There is an alternative flue adaptor which fits into the concentric flue socket on the top of the boiler and has two sockets for 50mm muPVC pipe. It would be interesting to use this for longer flue lengths because of the cost of the concentric flue pipe, but for shorter lengths it isn't worth it because of the cost of the adaptor.
A couple of Ideal's on ebay for spares, maybe worth checking the part number of the exchanger on yours (can't find the pdf on ideal's website, unfortunately!) and seeing if there's a compatible one on the cheap ones on EBay, or keep an eye on EBay for as long as you can hold-out.
I dare say if you can get a replacement for 1-5% the cost of a replacement then it's a bit more of an attractive solution whilst you plan long-term for a replacement.
Ouch! - just had a look on:
I can have a guess which catagory this places the repair idear!
Just been in touch with my local supplier. That's the bargain price! (Got quoted over £1500). :-(
I wonder if heat exchangers are repairable? Might as well pull the thing out and have I look I suppose.
Tim
Might as well install a modern, better designed more efficient boiler in, and then you will no future problems. Replace this heat ex and then the other bits will start to fail. You will find the ideal heat each is a one off job to make as production has ceased.
Some are sectional with seals between which can fail, or have removable side panels again with seals that can fail. Out of curiosity, I opened up the heat exchanger of an old Ideal Standard boiler which had been leaking, and it would have been very easy to fix the leak. However, it wasn't being removed due to the leak so there was no point (was being removed to switch to a small wall mounted boiler instead).
It sounds like you've got to the "nothing to lose" stage, where you might as well investigate.
Hole patched an system running fine. 3 hours and counting....
Tim
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