Boiler Repairs

There are a few tips on what to check first before you get a gas safe engineer out to your property, even if you don't fix the boiler you can provide more information to the company before booking. 

1. Have you tried to reset your boiler? Sometimes you will have a one off fault - for example gas works are being done on your road and the gas pressure drops - this could cause your boiler to go into fault mode and until reset may not then come back on. All boilers will be reset differently - you can pop onto Youtube and take a look on how to reset your boiler make.
2. What is the pressure on the boiler? Your pressure should be between 1.2-1.8 bar anything below 1 bar - 0.7 bar may cause your boiler to go into fault mode and not work, or cause lower water temperature. If you know how to top up your boiler you can then do this and reset the boiler, but we always recommend to get an engineer out in case your water pressure drop is related to an existing fault causing it.
3. Check your controls/thermostat (if you have them) if you have a wireless thermostat it may of unpaired to your receiver unit which will be wired into the boiler. You should be able to tell this by a red light showing on the receiver, you also can try to change your batteries.
4. If you have a top up gas meter ensure you have enough money on your meter - if not top this up and then reset your boiler.

Ry does not charge a call out charge - this used to be a charge in the industry for travel time to get to a property. However we do have a minimum of up to one hours charge fee.

This is because within this hour our engineer will attempt to fix or diagnose your boiler, however if they can't they will at least provide you with the next advised step to get to a solution and why they feel this is the correct step. They use their skill and time to do so and so we do have to charge for this time. As a company if we are paying the engineer for the work - we will need to charge the customer to ensure we stay in business.

Some one man bands may say they do not charge for this first visit if they can't fix it, however they normally will but just include it on the cost to repair. Rather than charging separately. Often we find we are very competitive on costs, and your well informed at each stage rather than receiving one unexpected invoice.

As a company we work with fairness and discretion. For example on a job by job basis this may slightly alter. If we come out to your property and within 15 minutes tell you, there is no repairing it you need a new boiler. We will provide you a cost for a new boiler, if you then book this in we normally waive the cost of the initial diagnostic. But if we say spent an hour trying to repair it which failed and then recommended it we may need to still charge for this time.

Boilers are machinery - and a bit like our bodies. If there is a symptom or issue - you may have to  treat or "eliminate" one potential problem before establishing the route of the problem. As components can have a knock on effect on each-other.

We always advise clients that if the boiler issue is intermittent - unless we see the fault occurring to test at the time. Its very hard to be sure of the cause, and provide a very certain diagnostic. Therefore its best to not reset a boiler - or if it starts working and its not very frequent keep a track of when its happening until it may be more frequent, before booking in.

Ry Group have fantastic and experienced engineers - along with a great office team who provide clarity and communication at each stage - we are proud to say due to having efficient van stocks and knowledge we have a

As you can imagine we cannot give a cost to find, or fix an issue without knowing whats causing the issue.

Therefore all we can do is be transparent with our costs and charge for the time on site for an experienced qualified breakdown engineer to carry out fault finding.

We would normally book in the diary initially 1 hours on site - however you will only be charged for the time spent for the works - and if longer is required more time will be authorised - or we may need to book it back.

We charge a minimum of one hours charge and per 30 minute increments there after which you can find here on our prices page.

We may fix and find the fault in 30 minutes, or we may advise it requires a part which we can fit on the day if you authorise the costs given to you. Or if we cannot get hold of the parts on the day or its not cost effective to travel and get the parts - depending on where they are in stock and where your based. Once the engineer leaves we will send you through a quotation and return with the parts required. This keeps it efficient and saves you spending unnecessarily.

If we feel that due to the boilers age, condition and or previous history a repair may not be cost effective. We will provide you with an option to replace and an option to attempt a repair. Normally with an average system - we deem repairs over £450 to be on the boundary of this depending on age and history.

If you are an account customer you may have preferential rates due to volume so why not check out our account customer pages for

Landlords here 

Commercial here

or

Managing agents here 

If you have a fault code showing up on your boiler display - you can also type it into google with the boiler manufacturers name to narrow down a potential cause.

COMBINATION BOILERS

Pressure rising

Common causes that can be fixed on the visit:

1. Expansion vessel requires  recharging causing the PRV to disperse and able to be resealed
2. The filling loop being left open

Common causes that require parts or more investigation:

1. The expansion vessel being faulty requiring replacement

Low water pressure - check your boiler pressure guage as it should be over 1.2 bar on most combination boilers otherwise it may go into error mode.

Common causes that can be fixed on the visit:

1. Air in the system from bleeding radiators or not using the system so natural depletion
2. Expansion vessel requires  recharging causing the PRV to disperse and able to be resealed
3. A small leak on the boiler or radiator which can be repaired
4. The filling loop being closed off, or requiring a replacement

Common causes that require parts or more investigation:

1. The expansion vessel being faulty requiring replacement
2. The PRV (or pressure reducing valve letting by) needing a replacement
3. A boiler part that is leaking such as a pump - that requires replacement
4. A leak on pipework that is not visible that requires tracing and or some leak sealant to monitor

No Heating but hot water

Common causes that can be fixed on the visit:

1. Thermostat issues with time set up, batteries or re-syncing
2. Pump has seized and can be lubricated

Common causes that require parts or more investigation:

1. New pump required
2. Potential blockage on the heating supply
3. Diverter valve issue

No Hot Water but Heating

Common causes that can be fixed on the visit:

1. Thermostat issues with time set up, batteries or re-syncing
2. Not a boiler issue but its a component such as a shower as it is only in one outlet

Common causes that require parts or more investigation:

1. Low water pressure switch
2. Potential blockage on the water supply or frozen pipes
3. Diverter valve issue

No Hot Water or Heating 

Common causes that can be fixed on the visit:

1. No Gas supply to the boiler from the meter
2. Electrodes that can be cleaned or resolved causing a firing fault
3. Over heating and locking out but the plate heat exchanger can be cleaned, or the pump lubricated.

Common causes that require parts or more investigation:

1. Printed Circuit Board Fault
2. Electrical supply issue
3. Gas Supply Issue
4. Pump Issue
5. Fan Issue

CONVENTIONAL OR SYSTEM BOILERS 

Many of the above will still apply - however conventional and system boilers do not have an inbuilt pump or diverter valve.

One of the most common issues we see (on top of the above) are Zone Valve issues you can see our pump and zone valve page here 

These work like a diverter valve but external to the system and act as a gateway for hot water and heating.

You may notice your heating coming on all the time when you run your hot water - and or you may have no hot water but heating or the other way round