Worst boiler to work on competition

[neily01]

always thought the worc cdi hw hex was a stuipid design. how ever well you drain the boiler when you pop off the hex (which is easy enough) you'll get a nice splash all over the pcb! dont worry the rubbish plastic cover will save us! stupid worc's.

 

[Billy Bob Bob]

is that the realy early condenser that had the ally hex?

no it was baxis stab at its first combi after dabbling with the genesis it was a SE boiler and a disaster from the word go the SIT control version would melt the boiler if it ran out of water it was so bad baxi had to buy ocean and its 240/280 combi and turn it into the 105

 

[diamondgas]

Remember the short lived Ideal minimiser? 😀 Boy they were shocking!!!

 

[neily01]

Remember the short lived Ideal minimiser? 😀 Boy they were shocking!!!

is that the one where you would attach a hose to the bottom and blow against the aps, always thought that cant be a great idea!

 

[villa_tom]

Remember the short lived Ideal minimiser? 😀 Boy they were shocking!!!

I think I serviced one of those yesterday. Is that the boiler with the silly little copper tube connected to the fan and you have to remove it along with the fan to clean the condense?

 

[stevetheplumber]

there were some realy rough combis made by english companies in the late eighties nineties the reason was the established english companies didnt forsee how fast the combis took over the market
in there rush to compete they made some awfull boilers then once the parts to make a combi became standised we had a spell where a new company would pop up each week it seemed, gems, euro combis, savios etc most fell by the wayside i think savio became biasi

 

[Billy Bob Bob]

there were some realy rough combis made by english companies in the late eighties nineties the reason was the established english companies didnt forsee how fast the combis took over the market
in there rush to compete they made some awfull boilers then once the parts to make a combi became standised we had a spell where a new company would pop up each week it seemed, gems, euro combis, savios etc most fell by the wayside i think savio became biasi

i went on a baxi course years ago with the old man,bermudas were the daddy,combis were a weird new fangled idea,i was just a kid and fancied the bird at reception,LOL we were told they would never take off:24::smilielol5:but as we know combis did baxi was losing market share,the genesis basically a chaff in disguise came first ,then they rushed out the Bahama disaster

 

[CJ87]

Changed a Worcester cdi BF diverter over yesterday!! I've done a few but yesterday's was a nightmare! Remember the first one I ever done I isolated flow and return valves turned them back on and they leaked everywhere learnt that the hard way.

Yesterday changed all the o rings over reassembled and the pig still decided to leak from the cold water inlet! Had to strip the whole thing back out again, soul destroying! eventually got it done, bit of fernox lsx gives you peace of mind 🙂

I'm only in my early twenties so won't have come across much of the older stuff as the experienced guys!
During my apprenticeship when on the servicing the lads used to hate hitting a black ash or an opus fire/bbu, always remember they were a big lump that hogged the dog hair haha.

 

[Gary71]

My first is the Alpha Ocean Style FF, if you went at one O-ring you would have to replace all the O-rings, changing the O-rings could take 30 minutes or 4+ hours depending how lucky you were, it would get so that your tears matched the drips from the O-rings, my second would be the servowarm boiler with the rad on the front because swinging the rad out always felt wrong.

 

[diamondgas]

I think I serviced one of those yesterday. Is that the boiler with the silly little copper tube connected to the fan and you have to remove it along with the fan to clean the condense?

Can't believe there's one still running 🙂

Yep it had a tube attached to the fan and the burners kept rotting, fan seal kept leaking, condensate was a mess and the ignitors too ... they slung the burner under the base of the hex... !!

 

[radswilldo]

For overall bad design, faults, fault diagnosis and being installer unfriendly, I think the Gledhill Gulfstream desrves a mention. Have only worked on the one; four years running, new fault/faults each year.

 

[Billy Bob Bob]

For overall bad design, faults, fault diagnosis and being installer unfriendly, I think the Gledhill Gulfstream desrves a mention. Have only worked on the one; four years running, new fault/faults each year.

and the gledhill boilermate should win some sort of award for being useless aS WELL

 

[stevetheplumber]

and the gledhill boilermate should win some sort of award for being useless aS WELL

unless you do what ive done and rip out all the electrics and run your own

 

[stevetheplumber]

I'm trying to remember that boiler I'm pretty sure they had a diaphragm APS? The y had a rubber boot on the back for connecting the flue I remember and the changeover sliding black lever on the front to change from hot water only to water and heating!!!

620 had the paddle type air switch and the later 623 had a normal diaphram type actually the paddle one was pretty near bullet proof

 

[mountainman]

Pretty much anything by Saunier Duval was a pain to repair IMO.

 

[doitmyself]

Remeha for installing.

Why? What problems have you had?

 

[Doodlebug]

As above, whats the worse part/boiler you've had to work on and why? (no detail into gas safety as it's in the wrong forum!)

personally for me, after today i'm voting Worcester CDI expansion vessel. Wasn't much left in it once I got the old one out, fan, heat ex, plate hex, pump, APS etc all removed.... nightmare! Normally fit an external in, but couldn't on this one.

I hate changing the plate heat exchanger or water storage tank on a Worcester Highflow, now that is a nightmare job. Did you know with the Worcester CDI expansion vessel, if you have enough clearance you can pop the side of the case off and re-revit back on? This is what Worcester engineers do. Another nightmare job has to be the condensing unit at the back of a Worcester CDI Extra.
have you noticed, all of the above are Worcester boilers, I fooking hate them pmsl

 

[Nostrum]

Pretty sure you have to angle grind a hole in the chassis to get it out the right hand side, couldn't imagine the customer being to pleased about the mess and noise!

It's that 3/4" union on the plate heat exchanger that winds me up, it always feels like it wants to cross thread, normally flapping around with it for 5 minutes, especially if you've only got 150mm clearances below from the worktop, one hand through the front trying to get it to line up, and the front facia panel swings down in the way..

I'm not a fan of worcesters at all, sometimes I think they do it deliberately so they get more work, couldn't imagine a more stressful job than working for worcester

 

[Dotty]

The 3 Buderus GB162's in a galvanising factory over here. They're only 3 years old but look 103, each one has been completely rebuilt at least once, 2 heat exchangers, all the connection boards, two wiring harnesses, the combustion fans fail about every other month, one flue has been replaced and so on. My heart sinks every time I'm asked to go to silverwood.

And why are they so much hard work? Because they supply hot water for the acid vats and are in a highly corrosive atmosphere. Tools develop a fine layer of corrosion within an hour. I hate the place because it actually makes you doubt yourself.

And I normally love the GB162! Just a case of the wrong boiler for the environment.

Had a phone call yesterday......

"Silverwood's just rung, they've a 3L 214 error message on boiler 1, its not working."

"Sigh...... I'll order a fan up for next week......"

 

[Billy Bob Bob]

I hate changing the plate heat exchanger or water storage tank on a Worcester Highflow, now that is a nightmare job. Did you know with the Worcester CDI expansion vessel, if you have enough clearance you can pop the side of the case off and re-revit back on? This is what Worcester engineers do. Another nightmare job has to be the condensing unit at the back of a Worcester CDI Extra.
have you noticed, all of the above are Worcester boilers, I fooking hate them pmsl

yep riveted many back together,though did once slip with a full of water EV and kill the gasvalve electrical connections