combi boiler warning

[true grit]

My brother got a boiler fitted 6 months ago and it packed in, called fitter out under guarantee, was told the waste pipe froze causing major damage to boiler voiding guarantee.

No hot water and a grand worse off.

[Meat-Head]

voiding guarantee.

Rumor has it only for condesning boilsers that freeze
read the instructions, see if it meantions that.

Ring consumerdirect.co.uk - in theorey it's not 'fit for purpose'

would play on the fact your a DK Vetren AND it is desgined to heat cold buildings, therefore must be cold, so why put a pipe outside to freeze?

[cactikid]

i bet they have a 1inch pipe maybe 1 1/2 inch going over a flat roof which will freeze as in no drain off angle same as mine and toxic water runs through it.think i may have a bad seal,need to get the experts out to service it.

[mast]

Think there was something on watchdog about this a while back. I think the companies had to put right.

[happy_highlander]

My brother got a boiler fitted 6 months ago and it packed in, called fitter out under guarantee, was told the waste pipe froze causing major damage to boiler voiding guarantee.

No hot water and a grand worse off.

They are covered by the tradesman mate. If a condenser pipe freezes it is because it has been run outside in standard 22mm overflow pipe. The minimum requirement for an external condenser pipe is 32mm/ inch and a quarter same as a wash hand basin. So it is poor installation and the tradesman that fitted it wouldn't have a leg to stand on.

[hypersonic]

condensate pipe

The condensate pipe from a modern combi boiler should not be run outside the house. The condensate flow is quite low in quantity & it will freeze very quickly, particularly overnight when the flow is at its lowest ~ the pipe should be connected to the waste pipes within the house ~ Complain to the guy who installed the boiler tell him the condensate pipe is not fit for purpose.

[smirnoff_rules]

The condensate pipe from a modern combi boiler should not be run outside the house. The condensate flow is quite low in quantity & it will freeze very quickly, particularly overnight when the flow is at its lowest ~ the pipe should be connected to the waste pipes within the house ~ Complain to the guy who installed the boiler tell him the condensate pipe is not fit for purpose.

cant it just be well lagged ?

[Meat-Head]

cant it just be well lagged ?

there is an uncornfirmed rumor going around, in cold places, they have heating wires, to stop the shit freezing!

[Grizz]

they have heating wires, to stop the shit freezing!

is this something to do with an "Alaskan Pipeline"?

[flyingpig]

Meathead - that is called Trace Heating... You can also use someting called condensulate to stop your condensing pipe from freezing. Other ways to avoid the problem are to terminate the condensate pipe into your internal waste, or fit a pump which pumps it out quicker to avoid freezing.

It is a common problem on any condensing boiler wether that be a combi or heat only type boiler. In fact, British Gas, are going to start charging as part of their 3 star all inclusive service if it is the condensing pipe that has frozen and cause the problem..

[Meat-Head]

is this something to do with an "Alaskan Pipeline"?

Where did you find that info! More to the point, who thought of that in the first place!

[griff]

Get him to check the boiler condense instructions to see if the fitter has done what they say ? If it's going into a downpipe he should have fitted a air break. Unless the boiler manufacturer states to run the condense in 32m u can run it in 22m but has to be lagged and a fall greater the 2.5 degrees

[jips]

The cowboys that installed my combi, put it in an internal cupboard where the old tank was which is bad enough as the noise is very loud when it kicks in first thing in the morning.
2 years after fitting it, I had an issue with it not working, only to find the outside condensate pipe was frozen solid. Thankfully I caught it in time, and cue a ladder and kettle to get it going again. They had used 22mm pipe for the drop from first floor to ground level vertically.
Bought some of that pipe lagging from a well known DIY shop, and lagged her up. Since then no issues thankfully, even though it went to minus 13 recently.

Only other thing I had to do was replace the diaphragm. Plumber was going to quote ?150ish to do it. ?9.99 from a helpful man on ebay to ensure I had the right bit, and 10 mins of my time.
I don't trust plumbers any more. Especially the company that did my boiler!!!!