Ideal boiler repair

[mikep77uk]

My Ideal Isar has been a nightmare, having it's PCB replaced *six* times during the warranty period. I should have signed up for more cover of course but I felt that if it went again I would throw it out the bathroom window onto the concrete driveway below, then go out and buy a more reliable boiler...

Now I've had a nice new driveway installed, I don't want to dent it. The f***ing thing has failed again and I need a new pcb (it has to be that, there's no other electronics in the thing). Ideal want =A3170 to visit (and hopefully fix it) - I can easily change the PCB myself but who keeps them in stock (apart from Ideal themselves)? Or am I destined to pay the =A3170?

Mike.

[raden]

In message , [e-mail] writes

Well I recon boiler pcbs, but have not built a test set for the Isar yet

... www.keeptheheat ??

[John]

Now I've had a nice new driveway installed, I don't want to dent it. The f***ing thing has failed again and I need a new pcb (it has to be that, there's no other electronics in the thing). Ideal want £170 to visit (and hopefully fix it) - I can easily change the PCB myself but who keeps them in stock (apart from Ideal themselves)? Or am I destined to pay the £170?

Cue Geoff (Raden) from CET............................................

[Lurch]

On Fri, 21 Jan 2005 21:52:03 +0000 (UTC), "John" strung together this:

He was here half an hour ago John. ;-)

[IMM]

Now I've had a nice new driveway installed, I don't want to dent it. The f***ing thing has failed again and I need a new pcb (it has to be that, there's no other electronics in the thing). Ideal want £170 to visit (and hopefully fix it) - I can easily change the PCB myself but who keeps them in stock (apart from Ideal themselves)? Or am I destined to pay the £170?

Mike.

Get in touch with them. Send a letter to the MD. There is something radically wrong with this boiler for this to happen. Is it spikes from the power supply? If so they should have noticed after six pcb changes. The engineers are irresponsible, as they should have brought this boiler to the attention of the technical people at Ideal. Ideal engineers are generally crap in my experience of them.

[raden]

In message , [e-mail] writes

I would put it to them that the replaced pcb should itself have a 12 month warranty period

Also remind them that the goods should be fit for the purpose. There have been several threads in the past concerning white goods which should last a certain number of years irrespective of the manufacturers warranty

That said, I have dozens of ICOS / ISAR pcbs waiting for me to get a test set sorted to repair them. They are really crap

[IMM]

The pcb's or the boiler in general?

[raden]

In message , IMM writes

The PCBs or rather modules since they're contained in a plastic box

rarely pointed out in their advertising spiel, for some reason

[mikep77uk]

I should have added that the boiler has worked ok for about a year after the two years of problems, so it's unlikely that Ideal will replace it now.

Any chance you have a worker in that pile of pcbs? I looked on

but they don't seem to stock them...

[raden]

In message , [e-mail] writes

Quite possibly, but without being able to detect the flame (which for some reason, I seem to be having a problem), it's impossible to tell.

Given this uncharacteristically mild weather, I might be able to sort this out sooner rather than later

[Lobster]

Isn't it part of the consumer laws (or something) that if something is repaired or replaced under warranty, then the repair or replacement is only valid for the duration of the origonal warranty? So if I buy a widget with a standard 12-month warranty, and it fails after 360 days and I get it replaced, then I don't expect to get a further 12-month warranty out of it?

Different matter for a paid-for repair or replacement undertaken out of warranty.

David

[Andy Hall]

Nope. Warrranties are there as a convenience for the manufacturer and/or retailer only. Consumer law is based more on reasonableness. So if something has a warranty of a year, and could reasonably be expected to last longer, then you could pursue the issue in the court. If the product is a high end one, then it is more reasonable that it should last longer than a cheap one.

Really all that a warranty achieves is a simple set of rules for suppliers to use. Of course they also know that most consumers think that that's it - a year is up and that's your lot. It may not be.

Warranties are used as a marketing tool as well where the supplier thinks that it can be used to make an inferior product more attractive (e.g. cheap power tools), or by a high end manufacturer to put some space between them and their competition at low cost if they designed and manufactured the product right.

[mikep77uk]

Might be worth writing to the MD then, you reckon? I'll give it a go.

Meanwhile it's bloody cold today... :-(

Andy Hall wrote:

reasonableness.

court.

attractive

[mikep77uk]

I tried to be sneaky and called Ideal claiming to be a Corgi registered installer - Made no difference. Buggers still won't repair a pcb or send a new one, only send their engineer (at an unspecified time) to replace it while I'm not at home.

MJT Controls seem to sell them... for about =A3150 :-(

I took a good look at the pcb, checked there was mains going in to the transformer, measured a few diodes and transistors etc. but my eyesight is not up to dealing with surface mount stuff these days - Give me a power driver board from a pinball machine any day!

What do you recommend Geoff?

raden wrote:

them...

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Assuming both your eyes are nearly the same, get a pair of powerful ready made reading specs from Boots etc just for this sort of thing. Much more useful than a magnifying glass. I've found +5 added your normal distance prescription about right.

[Mike Faithfull]

CET in Watford might be worth a try ... website

[Lurch]

On Sat, 22 Jan 2005 16:26:49 -0000, "Mike Faithfull" strung together this:

Erm, you didn't read any of the other replies then? If you did you'd notice Mr CET Ltd. himself is a regular on this group and is on with assisting the OP.

[raden]

In message , [e-mail] writes

Please don't top post

I have just had 20 of them come in from a customer. My hand might be forced into sorting out this flame sensing problem in the coming week.

[raden]

In message , "Dave Plowman (News)" writes

But what are you expecting to see?

While big power components have the potential to go out spectacularly, those carrying signals are much better at dying in a more discrete manner

[raden]

Well, as someone who has confidence in what I send out, if something fails within 12 months, the replacement has a further 12 months warranty on it.

I suppose Ideal are more interested in profit than quality and service ... just like Potterton