What We Will Do During Your Boiler Service
As Gas Safe Registered engineers we will carefully remove the boiler's external case and perform a close visual inspection of the internal joints and equipment, and so that we can access the gas and combustion test points inside the boiler.
We will visually inspect the internal casing to ensure the casing seal is satisfactory, so that fumes from the boiler will not enter the house.
We will check that the fumes from the boiler are being safely taken away and we will check that the flue terminal is safe and secure.
Where the boiler has an inspection quartz glass we will assess the flame for satisfactory combustion.
We will test the boiler working pressure to ensure that the gas supply is sufficient to meet the boilers manufacturers minimum specification requirements.
Gas working pressure needs to be checked when we service the boiler, when this has been done we will carefully check that there are no gas leaks on the test points.
Manufacturers of older boilers often specify the burner pressure, we test this and sometimes adjust the gas valve to get the correct pressure. If it is not adjustable you may need a boiler repair.
If we suspect a gas leak, or if your boiler is old we may decide to test the gas valve for leakage.
Combustion seals are important to ensure that fumes are not leaking from your boiler. If we suspect that combustion fumes are entering the outer case or into the room we may classify the boiler as dangerous.
Predicting bearing failure is very challenging, however engineers develop a knowledge of bearing noises and when these noises suggest worn bearings it is useful to know that they are vulnerable in advance of failure. In some instances the fan condition may be so poor we recommend replacement immediately, in other circumstances we may indicate just worn or sounds ok. Bearing noise can and does start at any time, and we are not able to lubricate combustion fans.
Our operating area is a hard water area, and hard water especially on older systems has strong potential to block the boilers main heat exchanger over time. If this is detected on a boiler service we will normally suggest additional chemicals and consideration be given to convert the system to a sealed system.
Hardened or perished hoses may need to be replaced, if we think the hoses are vulnerable we will advise you that this has been detected.
Maintenance of your system should be performed regularly. If you have a sealed system corrosion inhibitor can be difficult to add, for open and sealed system we will offer inhibitor if it is considered appropriate, our recommended intervals are every 3 years on sealed systems and every 2 years on open vented systems.
We will require your agreement prior to adding inhibitors before this is done because it is chargeable. See optional extras on our rates page.
We will carefully replace the boiler case and avoid damage to clips and plastic parts, and avoid trapping wires or hoses.
The Gas Council number is used by the industry to find and identify the correct parts for your boiler, we record this for all appliances where we can so that if parts are ever needed we can ensure that the supplied parts are correct for the boiler.
We will issue you a boiler service report, in the form of a check list showing what has been inspected and checked. If readings are diverging from manufacturers specifications we will highlight these and recommend what actions need to be taken.
System Boilers
The system expansion vessel is a critical component of all sealed systems. Depleted air charge as the expansion vessel gets older risks the system either leaking via vent, or when the boiler has a pressure inhibit the boiler may not operate.
When an air vessel is old or depleted it is sometimes satisfactory to recharge the vessel. However doing so involves operating valves and draining the boiler which can in turn lead to leaks. The vessel may not be strong enough to take a recharge and if we consider the condition to be poor we may decide to replace the vessel.
Combination Boilers
We will use our engineering judgement to assess the condition of the secondary heat exchanger.
We will use our judgement to assess the condition of the diverter valve, this assessment will be limited to inspection therefore will only provide an approximation of the condition of the diverter valve.
Condensing Boilers
We will run your boiler at maximum output and check the combustion readings to ensure that the appliance is safe and running efficiently, poor readings can tell us if there are problems with the fan, gas valve, gas pipework, combustion chamber, or electrodes.
This is not always practicable, but when it is we will also look at low rate combustion performance which can flag issues with connections, filters and dirt in the gas valve.
Modern condensing boilers all have a condensate trap, this can become blocked and if this happens it will stop your boiler running and can on some boilers do serious damage to the internal components of the combustion chamber, serious enough that the boiler may need to be replaced. Inspection of the condensate trap is intended to identify if the trap is getting blocked before any failure happens and if necessary we will clean the trap. The objective is to reduce the risk of the boiler not working or being water damaged.
3 Year Boiler Service And System Maintenance
Every 3 years boilers and the system should be given additional attention to clean system filters, replenish corrosion inhibitors and recharge expansion vessels.
To do this we need to partially drain your system, open the system filter canister and remove dirt and debris from the system, this work is performed in addition to the servicing items above.
5 Year Boiler Strip Down Service And System Maintenance
Every 5 years boilers will normally have worn electrodes, and typically issues with automatic air vents or sensor drift may have occurred. On a 5 year service we strip and clean the boiler's heat exchanger, we replace the boiler's electrodes and electrode combustion seals and will replace passive parts and sensors we consider are defective.
A 5 year strip down boiler service includes a 3 Year boiler service as above.
- Customer in Hampton
Which.co.uk
