Potterton Performa 30HE Boiler Repair in South Killingholme, Immingham (Beyond Economical Repair)

Appliance Details

• Job Type: Boiler Repair
• Manufacturer: Potterton
• Model: Performa 30HE
• GC Number: 47-393-13

Findings & Diagnostics

Reported/Observed Symptom:
Diagnostic Call-out: Potterton Performa 30HE Repair in South Killingholme.
Customer stated they were needing to top up the central heating system pressure every couple of days.

Fault Code: None

Diagnosis/Notes:
During testing, immediately noticed the boiler pressure was increasing under load. Once the central heating system started to warm, pressure quickly went from 0.9 bar to 2.2 bar.
Isolated and drained boiler. Checked expansion vessel and measured 0 bar / was flat. Recharged expansion vessel and refilled boiler.

The central heating was already warm, but boiler seemed to maintain 1.2 bar as system got up to temperature.

Flue gas analysed boiler during testing process and carbon monoxide levels were >1000ppm. Flue appeared to be in OK condition.

First immediate step was cleaning burner and heat exchanger. Retested and carbon monoxide level had dropped to ~700ppm (still above the legal limit). Spoke to Potterton / Baxi technical support and we agreed it was probably beyond economical repair. Due to ongoing labour costs and the limited availability + cost of parts, it'd probably be better replacing with a newer, more economical boiler.

This boiler is ~20 years old with no system filter installed. Both the plate heat exchanger / main HEx will probably have heavy magnetite particle deposits. The pump will be past its prime. My raw unfiltered advise is this Potterton Performa 30HE is system of ageing components and it's time to replace / don't waste any more money on repairs.

Resolution

• Outcome: Beyond Economical Repair
• Status: Beyond Economical Repair (BER)

Additional Comments

Only charged the customer for the initial call-out. Whilst we fixed the reported fault, upon discovering the elevated CO levels and subsequent service of the boiler, I didn't feel it was appropriate to further charge for cleaning the burner or heat exchanger.

This Potterton Performa 30HE Repair in South Killingholme was a tricky decision. Some people own classic cars, but they cost of fortune in maintenance. To save money, lots of these classic car owners perform their own repairs. Obviously that's not an option with gas appliances, you need a qualified Gas Safe engineer with calibrated test equipment to perform any repairs.

Running an older, unreliable boiler isn't a "labour of love" for most our customers. They want honest, unfiltered advise. Unfortunately this boiler has reached the point in life where it's just "showing its age" and it's probably time for something new.

Most modern condensing combination boilers come with multi-year warranties and the customers replacement model should be >20% more efficient than their previous ~20 year old model.

In the long term, with governments adding "Green Boiler Levies" (new taxes) every few years onto the wholesale price of all gas boilers, prices are probably going to continue increasing and therefore a replacement boiler is probably the right decision for this customer.