Of interest to plumbers, C/H engineers ?

[Galaxy66]

I have had the same c/heating pump for the solid fuel boiler for about 30 years, but taking into consideration it's age and being mindful of how the boiler could overheat if it ever failed, I decided to change it at great cost for a more updated one that also adjusted the speed according to the temperature of the water........it has lasted just 18 months!!! and after Googling the fault apparently it is full of electronics and is the circuit board that has failed.
I am great believer in the saying "If it ain't broke why fix it"......... I should have heeded my own advice!!. It is getting replaced with what was previously fitted, a simple 3 speed pump, no electronics or microchips to fail !!

The pump that failed was a Grunfoss ALPHA2 L.

 

[srichards]

This why a lot of this energy saving is complete nonsense. Having to replace something with a brand new one every few years uses far more!

This is why I keep my older boiler running. Far less electronic crap to go wrong

 

[DorsetDude]

Being the eternal cynic I am and with warranties usually only good for a year or two at most, it makes you wonder if they are releasing units that deliberately break after 3 or 4 years. So you then have to buy spares or a new unit - bringing more money to the business.
Just wait, there'll come a time when machinery breaks down one day out of warranty so you have to buy a new one and society will have forgotten that it wasnt always that way.

 

[Galaxy66]

This why a lot of this energy saving is complete nonsense. Having to replace something with a brand new one every few years uses far more!

This is why I keep my older boiler running. Far less electronic crap to go wrong

I'm with you there ! I have a dual system with a propane gas boiler (secondary to the solid fuel) that can run the same system. The boiler was fitted in 1980's and is running at well below the efficiency of a modern boiler, but the last time I had a plumber in he advised me not to change it as it will run forever with little going wrong as it does not have any electronics to fail. It is so simple to service that I do it myself and in all that time have only ever needed to replace the odd thermo-coupling costing about a fiver.

 

[h14nha]

As a maintenance engineer/combustion engineer I see every day where a company has come in and sold a complex system to a client promising to save them a fortune. If there's any problems they then charge a small fortune for a site visit to rectify the issue.
Result -
5 years down the line, the client can't control the system and is looking for me to by pass the controls to give them the ability to alter settings on the hoof.
I had this conversation yesterday with the local council facilities manager. Last weekend whilst I was in doing out of hours maintenance, the office block I was in was either heating an empty room, or cooling empty rooms. The "smart" lighting system was keeping empty room lit 24/7 too. The computer program was telling him the system was off ? ? ?
I get asked all the time where British Gas have been in to do a boiler service and told the customer they need a new boiler. I ask "did they leave the boiler on ?" If the answer is yes then the would have written you a certificate saying the boiler is safe for another year. Go figure that out..........

 

[Mr Bump]

I think like all things there are good and bad stuff, i replaced our boiler an old Chaffetraux pice of junk that was 10 years old with a new Vailant ecotec pro28 about 5 years ago, best thing i did, bills for our old house are ok and its silky smooth and quiet.