Ideal Europa 24 Combi-Boiler

[darbo1103]

I have the above boiler in my house and it has developed a leak in the diverter valve. I can buy the valve, but is it a tricky thing to fit? How do I start? I assume I will have to drain the whole system, but do I just shut off all the electric and turn off all the taps underneath the boiler. Will this allow me to only drain the boiler?

[Postdog]

Is this a gas boiler? Not being funny, but even the simplest job on gas equipment, has, I believe, to be done by a CORGI engineer - it's a safety thing

[Blackthorn]

Postdog is right in saying you should get a pro in to do the work, because Ideal boilers can be a pain, but he's wrong with the CORGI bit, you only have to get a CORGI registered person involved if the parts concerned are 'gas carrying.'
When you go to buy the part I would strongly recommend you take the boiler serial number with you, pay particular attention to any letters before the number if there are any.

[darbo1103]

Thanks for the answers guys. I understand what you are saying re the fitting of the part and being a pro to fit it. It is a gas boiler, however this part is nothing to do with the gas. It is the part which alters the water from the heating to the DHW when needed. It is easily accessible and by the look of it requires only 4 of 5 nuts to be unscrewed to remove. At the moment, I have no heating or hot water and no plumber until after Christmas, so it looks like I'm going to have to try it myself.

[BobnoBuilder]

Hi Darbo,
12 months ago I had exactly same problem with our Europa 24/28. The difficulty with fitting the diverter valve is that there are two grub screws that need tightening, one of which is very awkward to get to as it is at the rear of the valve. I got a man in to do it. It seems these boilers don't like this time of year cos mine has just packed up again. Looks like another cold Xmas.

[gucciman]

if you have no heating or no hot water then its not the diverter valve at fault (unless you mean you've had to switch the boiler off because the leaks so bad)

diverter valves can be a nitemare to change, they are often hidden behind other components making access with your spanners very difficult, the unions rust, and when you put it all back together you can be left with leaks all over the place.

if you do have a go at changing it then make sure you isolate the cold feed into the boiler, isolate the central heating flow and return and drain the boiler, otherwise you will get very wet. its also worth coating all the threaded joints with fernox lsx which is an anti-leak compound and coating any push fit o rings in silicon grease so they engage properly.

can't you get british gas in before xmas? im sure they've been advertising one off boiler repars for a fixed price which seemed quite reasonable for them

[Blackthorn]

Hi darbo, I know exactly what a diverter valve does and I'm not questioning your competence. All I'm trying to get across is that Ideal Boilers, particularly the Isar, Icos and Europa range are notorious in the trade for being b*gg*rs to repair, there may be two or three different variants of diverter valve, hence the need for a serial number. In the course of my work I meet literally hundreds of plumbers and heating engineers and many of them wouldn't touch a faulty Ideal boiler with a long stick.
gucciman is quite right, you could end up worse off than when you started, so it would pay to get a pro in to do the job and leave the headache to someone else.

[Steviegb]

I can only confirm what Blackthorn says. I work for BG and ideal combi`s are the worst boiler we come across (especially the europa/boxer range).If you order parts for one of these boilers you somehow feel real ill the next day and throw a sicky .

[darbo1103]

Thanks everyone for your answers. I have the new valve (part number 172422). I can't fathom out how to drain the boiler. I've shut off all the taps I can find (red taps, yellow taps and black taps), but I am a bit loathed to slacken anything off from the valve until I know how to drain the boiler. I understand what some of you are stating about the boiler, it is a c**ppy thing and I will be changing it in the near future to a more reliable one.

[darbo1103]

Managed to get it done!!! It took about an hour from start to finish and I also had the help of a nearby plumber. Everything is working fine (touch wood) and we have heating and warmth again.

[gucciman]

yeah and the worst thing about ideal boilers is that bloody warm front have started fitting them all over the place instead of vaillants.


and steve, they can't be worse than a ravenheat surely ! especially the one where you have to lie on your back like a a car mechanic to be able to get at the diverter valve.