diverter valve needs to be replaced - should i do it or leave it to the plumber?

[wesley]

hi guys

i am having problem with the boiller and i hope you guys could give me some advice.

i got the combi boiler Ideal Isar HE30 installed by warmfront 3 years ago.

the problem is everytime i turn hot water tap downstairs or have a hot shower (upstairs). The upstairs radiators gets very hot, downstairs radiators remains cold (central heating is off)

Also i noticed the hot water from tap and shower are not hot as before.

had a plumber came round last week to have a look, said the diverter valve needs to be replaced. cost to replace is £339!!!!

is the price rip off or normal? i am thinking of doing it myself but i got a very basic knowledge with plumbing lol would be better to leave it to the plumber? the biggest problem is this plumber will charge me £66 for 'call out charge' if i wont have him to fix the problem.

what can i do?

thanks for reading

wesley

 

[wesley]

hi

thanks for the reply, will phone around for more quotes, yes the diverter valve is the problem. just been reading some threads here. it's very possible the valve cartridge is faulty. cost of the part is £28 to £30!

break down cost of the £339 quote i had is £204 for part, rest are labours. i have no idea why the part cost £204. all he said the diverter valve needs to be replaced.

been looking at the maunal for the boiler, there are 2 different parts of diverter valve. one is head, other is cartridge

thanks

 

[PlumbBobBob]

hi definitely a job for a gas safe engineer you cannot legally work on gas appliances. i cannot comment on price quoted as i am not gas safe and haven't seen job there will be other people on here better qualified than me to comment on this later.

 

[mkflow]

gain without seing it very difficult to give def price, if 100% sure valve would say 339 is well heavy.
depending on model valve can range from £90-140 plus Vat. plus labour of about £90

 

[Blake]

you can often just fit a new cartridge in the diverter valve as opposed to changing the whole unit. Approx £160 fitted from memory for the last one I did.

 

[wesley]

i think i'll leave it to the plumber, thanks for the advice

 

[fuzzy]

it is illegal to work on it unless you are competent

 

[Billy Bob Bob]

now everyone knows ideals are tat but a diverter should not have failed after 3 years i would look at the colour of the system water as well warmfront as well as eaga installations i have done work on have been stinking water wise,not de scaled properly

 

[GreenArmy]

Possibly, just possibly, the boiler might still be under warranty, give Ideal a call. Because the Ideal boilers are tat, their customer services are pretty good.