Yet another boiler...

Or there's a NOS one for an extra tenner ...

You could probably get a recon pump. It's a fairly easy DIY swap on most Vaillant boilers.

Alternatively if you talk to Vaillant direct, they might off a fixed price service / fix for a couple of hundred. Might be cost effective in this case.

OOI, what colour is the label on the pump?

(the older white or silver ones were rebadged Wilo pumps and quite well known for going t*ts up (after a few weeks of rattling/knocking). The newer black label Grundfos made ones are much better)

I guess it is a case of how much you want to spend... I suppose there is some attraction to an all new system before someone decides to make it difficult to buy gas boilers - but we are probably a few years away from that.

Go for a new boiler. At 23 years old your one could become a money pit in costly repairs in the future.

I changed our Trianco Eurostar which was 22 y.o and haven't regretted it.

The new condensing boiler (Worcester Bosch) has a 5 yr warranty and is more economical.

In general I'm pleased with my Viessmann system boiler about 12 years old now. But. I bought it new from Ebay at a much better discount than I could get locally, and self installed. Not sure I'd have paid the extra if a pro installation. At a rough guess I saved 2/3 of the cost of a pro installation by DIY.

It's had two faults. The first more or less from new. Turned out to be the ionization sensor. Replacement, a modified type, and fine since. Second one was a hose to the heat exchanger split. Oddly not shown in the service manual - that shows copper to the heat exchanger. I'd guess the hose added to further reduce noise and vibration etc. It is a very quiet unit.

And a refurb PCB is £26 (new £65).

IMHO I wouldn't see a new boiler as an 'investment' 'while you can still get them', because there's no guarantees that gas will remain as a cheap as it has been. Assuming it's not woefully inefficient, better to keep the old one going as long as it can and see how things look in a few years.

Theo

IF - and its a big IF - the government employs someone who can Do Sums, they are honest, the government is honest, and really want what's best for the nation then everything that can be, will be nuclear powered via the grid

Your next boiler wont even be a heat pump. Just an immersion heater and probably a heat bank to allow overnight rates to be used.

The Natural Philosopher brought next idea :

'Too cheap to meter' eh?

But the person you pay to install it will buy this part, at this price and charge you the full retail price :-(

Except that heat pumps do multiply the heat-out vs energy-in equation. They just need to come down in price, a lot. We've been through the 'too cheep to meter' con-trick way in the past.

Had someone with that recently. Boiler failed, replacement PCB £350, couldn't be sure it would work, recommended new boiler at £3k. I did some digging around, found ebay replacement PCB for £30 (refurb) or £70 (new, supposedly better designed aftermarket). Service technician was happy to fit my sourced part for their hourly rate: 2 hours at £99ph. A bit of a ripoff (actually took half an hour) but resulted in a working boiler for £270 against £3k.

(I would have DIYed except I couldn't be there. And I would have had to get someone in to do safety checks afterwards anyway)

Theo

I discovered my Viessmann had those small round soldered in PCB fuses on every output. But only one user replaceable fuse on the PCB. Can't imagine the average boiler servicing type carrying spare fuses and a soldering iron, so likely new PCB time if one fails (due likely to another fault)

To take advantage of a heat pump the insulation in an average UK home needs to be be substantially improved and possibly the configuration of the CH system needs to changed to include larger radiators or under-floor heating.

Once the insulation has been improved less fuel (of any kind) will be needed to heat a house. Gas still may be cheaper option for the next 20 years, or the life of a boiler.

So your boiler has proved itself reliable and is still reliable. And you're considering changing it for an unknown individual of a much less reliable make for 10x the price.

Thanks, but that's a bit rough. How important is the exact part no? Mine is: VP5-ZE 15 59866505

Do I need the whole thing or just the body? A lot of what I've found seems to have the terminal box on the side rather than the top.

It's black, Grundfos badged Vaillant; part nos. on another reply.

There are thre, somewhat conflicting factors here: After 23 years it could be replace the part, then need a PCP, then the fan goes, then the expansion vessel, then a rad. or 3... Being a bit 'careful' with money tempts me to DIM. At 75 and not in the best of health and also having enough savings for 20 years+, I might as well spend some on awhat would be pretty well a new system.

That's why I suggested it - I feel the same.

Let's hope that those issues are fixed now. I don't like the soldered-in fuses - bloody daft!