Our boiler packed up here last Thursday - pissing about a gallon of water out per 12 hours, via the electronic control board. We first noticed there was a fault when the Earth leakage CB kept tripping and wouldn't reset. I worked out which circuit was tripping the ELCB and disabled it. Then I stuck a bucket under the boiler to catch the leaking water and called the boiler service bloke. He came round Monday lunchtime. Apparantly it's FUBAR - condenser leaking water and because the circuit board in on the bottom, it 'floods' and shorts the mains out hence the CB tripping.
Its a BAXI 3 summut or other - about 17 years old. Estimate for repair is £750-£1000. Estimate to replace is £2700 like for like, or £3000 for a 'system' boiler whatever that is.
I believe a 'system' boiler is another name for a Combi?
I thought a system boiler is a non-combi that contains the circulating pump and pressure vessel.
Not that much use if your system already has the above elsewhere.
You could be right, Kevin, hence the question mark after my post.
Kevin is right - I think. We do have a header tank in the loft, but last winter for some reason the water in it was getting very (very!) hot. There is no lid on the tank, so it steams. Steam into a cold (in winter) loft results in condensation, which if left will probably cause damp. So something needs doing, just not sure what ATM.
It's a 1960's house, originally with a back boiler (behind the fireplace) and electric immersion heater. Gas central heating was added in the late 60's and the original boiler soldered on till about 2001. The header tank in the loft definately didn't get hot with that. That old boiler finally packed up and was replaced by the Baxi which we still have. Initially I don't remember the tank 'steaming' and I'm pretty sure I would have noticed - there is a lot of junk in the loft including the Christmas decorations which come down and go up once a year.
We had a small extension built about 3 years ago, and the Baxi was moved to accommodate the new kitchen layout. Then last winter I noticed the 'steaming' in the loft. Now the Baxi has packed up, but at least we still have the (50 year old!) immersion heater for hot water, and no urgent need to get the central heating working - at least for a month or two.
I like the sound of the System heater - it's not a combi so does heat a tank full of hot (tap) water, and doesn't require a header tank so that solves the 'steaming' loft issue at the same time. We have had multiple CH pumps pack u over the years due to the very hard water here, so having the pump integrated into the boiler is a bit of a concern.
I only posted my woes to try and put some context into the prices being touted to moggy though.