iDeal Condensing Combination Boiler

[AdamD]

Does anyone have one of these?

We've just had a new heating system installed by the government to replace our ageing/broken storage heaters

So far, we've had 3 parts in it replaced and we're just waiting for it to go wrong again
It's only been installed for about 1 month!

We've had the control panel, pump and ignition system replaced so far

[Paul]

When my parents had a new combi boiler put in a number of years ago they had numerous parts failures within the first 2 months. Since then though they have only had 2 parts fail in 5 years. Not that brand combi boiler but to be honest you can get these problems with any system.

[AdamD]

Yea, it's gone wrong again today, this time, the error code says it's the dry thermostat or PCV

Bah
This will be the 4th part that's gone wrong.

[Rob]

I'd be making a forceful compliant to the manufacturer that it's not fit for purpose and they should replace the whole thing.

It's no good having something that might burn less fuel, if there are substantially greater manufacturing and maintenance energy costs due to replacing bits every few days. These things can get too advanced for their own good.

[AdamD]

I agree

I did goto the IDeal website, but it comes up with server not found, doh

Going to ask the engineer when he shows up tomorrow
Right now, it's FREEZING here, we have no form of heating whatsoever

[AdamD]

Well the boiler started working again last night

The engineer who came around today claims it's overheating and therefore, shutting down
He claims that because we have a few radiators turned to a low setting via their thermostats and one turned off completely, the boiler overheats?

Eh that doesn't make any sense to me, hehe

[Rob]

hmm, do you have a room thermostat anywhere? Some systems installed in the '90s didn't and relied totally on the thermostatic radiator valves. As a result radiators could be saying no heat, yet the boiler programmer keeps saying heat, so the boiler cooks itself.

Modern condensing boilers work best and most efficiently by running at temperature for reasonable time. They ideally should be installed in purpose designed heating systems so that the radiators and stuff is all sized to the boiler. Adding these boilers to an old system often doesn't get this optimal balance. Yet another reason that the requirement for these things doesn't always add up

[AdamD]

Yea we do, I mean it's a brand new system, the thermostat on the wall is wireless and everything

The thermostat is set to 20C

Just seems odd how it didn't work all day long, surely it wouldn't need a whole day to cool down? heh

[bonzoe]

I thought that modern boilers had something like a bypass to allow for when radiator thermostats close, mine does. The boiler should have it's own thermostat, so how can it overheat??

[Rob]

I doubt the boiler itself is overheating in a dangerous way. A thermostat somewhere will be tripping out to prevent that. But if it's a safety cut out type thing it may take a lot longer than a room stat to reset

[Alien]

Originally Posted by AdamD

Does anyone have one of these?

Yup.

Originally Posted by AdamD

We've just had a new heating system installed by the government to replace our ageing/broken storage heaters

Mine was put in by the council before I moved in... coming up on 4 years ago now.

Originally Posted by AdamD

So far, we've had 3 parts in it replaced and we're just waiting for it to go wrong again
It's only been installed for about 1 month!

We've had the control panel, pump and ignition system replaced so far

If your control panel has the twiddly knobs for adjusting water & heating temps, be careful when turning them, especially the heating 1. I think what happens is the repeated heating & cooling stresses the plastic, so it's possible to snap the shaft on the knob without realising it, even if you turn it as gently as possible.

I've been told by engineers that the knobs are just there for aesthetics & they don't actually do anything, but that's a lie. They do affect heating/water temps, it's just not very quick to react. I think the reason they say they don't do anything is to stop people touching them as they know they break easily.

BTW, apparently it could be worse - there's a brand whose name I forget, I think it starts with an M - apparently they're owned by Ferarri of all people! The funny thing is they're way worse [so I'm told] than Ideal boilers [was an independant engineer, not 1 who worked for Ideal, who told me, didn't much like either brand, but said the other 1 was worse].

Oh, if you're wireless thermostat is a Drayton, & after you've had it for a while [probably a year or more] & all of a sudden the heating turns on & stays on, check the thermostat's display - chances are the batteries need replacing [luckily they're just ordinary AAs (4 of them) ].

[Chrysalis]

my sister has one and nothing gone wrong yet, had it for about 9 months.