I’m having a sucky day. No, actually, that’s an understatement. I’m having a “Karma’s a bitch” day.
This morning, for no apparent reason, the boiler died. We tried what we could to find out whether some fuse had blown out somewhere, but nope, all looked normal, but the boiler doesn’t fire on as it should. No hot water. No heating.
Great, it’s the fifth time something’s wrong with that damn boiler since it was installed a year and a half ago! Spoke to the Heateam people, and the soonest we can get an engineer is Friday. Well, good thing it’s not mid-winter anymore, unh? So we’ve got a little tiny heater to take the edge off the cold this evening, and I’ll be washing my hair in the sink later.
Talking about calling Baxi’s Heateam (yeah, I think it should be Heatteam too, with two T’s but they’re somewhat illiterate), the only two songs I heard while on hold were “Light my fire” – oh the irony, it hurts – and “Mack the Knife” – good reflection of how I felt.
Hopefully today’s the peak of Karma kicking me in the proverbial nuts and it’ll get better as of tomorrow… I need that luck badly tomorrow.
that canadian girl 
Responses
Hey Vero,
Try these guys, if you call them early they normally come out same day. http://www.cambridgeplumbers.co.uk/
They service our boiler every year, and are really good.
Good Luck!
Liz x
We’ve had a helluva time with our boiler this winter and finally discovered what the problem was: the vent is on the wall of the building outside and while it is shielded from things falling into it, it’s not shielded from the wind blowing into it and knocking out the pilot light. So when the wind blows directly at the kitchen window, it knocks out the pilot light and the boiler cuts out. Might want to check which way the wind is blowing. It might save you the 9 visits from the repair technician it took us to diagnose the problem! Stay warm.
La flamme pilot?…hum..bonne idée de vérifier si elle allume?? Ici, O Canada, la plupart des fournaises au gaz naturel ont un allumeur électronique ..pas de flamme toujours allumée..
Bonne chance..Est-ce que ça veut dire pas d’eau chaude pour laver? Hey bring the BBQ inside said the Newfie!
JF – we also have an electronic ignition, so no pilot light. The problem was the circuit board… which had some how melted itself.
Heat team swapped it out and it works fine!
we had an issue on a windy morning where the pilot kept being blown out somehow and i had to relight it about 5 or 6 times throughout the day.
it’s only happened the once out of the entire 2 years of owning the home, so as far as we could figure the wind was blowing at just the right speed in just the right direction to somehow come down the chimney and vent into the basement.
i’ll tell you though that i can sympathize. taking 1 cold shower before work is too many….
Our Baxi boiler has conked out 4 times in the past 13 months. Each time it’s the circuit board. Each time Heateam takes at least 4 days to get an engineer out. I thinks it’s now about time Heateam replaced this new boiler with another new boiler – preferably NOT a Baxi.
Hope you’re warm now – I’m still waiting!
Our Baxi boiler hasn’t worked properly since installed at Christmas. From leaking pumps to nearly blowing off the wall countless times. Each arranged visit from the “Engineer” has been cancelled because of sickness. No wonder the staff are always sick, because Baxi’s customer service stinks. Our problem ? Baxi refused to fit simple plastic insulating washers on their ignition systems. The result,delayed ignition hence a build up of gas which when ignited, nearly blows the thing off the wall. So one new washer, one changed ignition system ( without the compulsory washer) and one cancelled visit later, STILL LEAVES US IN FEAR OF A MAJOR EXPLOSION !!! Trading standards here I come !!
Hi
I have just bought a second hand Baxi Solo 3 pfl 30/80 boiler for 100 pounds, do u thunk I am mad!
BAXI SOLO PFL 30/80 BOILER WITH PUMP! WILL I NEED A ADITIONAL WATER TANK WITH THIS BOILER
best of like with your boiler. had the same problem with my pilot light its ok now,have had the same baxi boiler for 25 years
Having fitted Baxi boilers occasionaly for the last 10 years I have just realised what a useless bunch of plebs they realy are. This is the last one I fit, non existent service back-up and when they do come thay can’t make the correct diagnosis. 2 enginners 3 calls and one more cancelled. The last one arriuved to find the appliance working but left when it packed up. The customers baby will be here next week, probably before the engineer
Sorry to hear all this negative feedback. I’m a service teck in the hvac idustry. I think this is one of the greatest products in the past century! It’s the stupid, uneducated tech’s that I blame for all your grief. This is an incredibly reliable product if installed right and serviced by a knowledgable person. I personaly help most contractors in my city fix their boiler problems and have to laugh at all the crazy things they tell me are causing the failures. In ALL cases installer neglagence and ignorance has caused the failures. I have yet to see a manufacturers defect be the CAUSE of the complaint. Naturally the teck will blame the product. It’s better than admitting they have no clue as to what they are doing. I recommend taking some time to identify an expert in the installation and repair of your heating equiptment. And by the way, They aren’t experts if they charge less than $150.00 per hour. Yor best technical support is from a knowlagable installer, not the manufacture. Good luck everyone.
My Heateam Engineer has just left. I have been without hot water for 5 days and without heating for one day. The heating and hot water are back on but not sure for how long. The boiler is still banging and thumping and pressure needle jumping about.
He will be back with another engineer (not sure when) to take the boiler off the wall (big job apparantly)and replace the pressure release valve which no longer works. I had another massive device fitted by a private heating engineer who charged me a kings randsom for it. It looks like a gas bottle with a pipe in it. It is only 7 months since a heateam engineer spent half a day diagnosing problem then waited 3 days to return with no heating and hot water. Spent another half day said he had renewed umpteen parts so practicaly a new boiler now.
I have the same problem again……..
I have tried to find heating engineers locally but they have no idea and still charge a fortune. I have paid for a new boiler three times over and it is still letting me down.
Anyone any suggestions as I am at my wits end.
My life is now taken over with boiler watch………
Julie
Argh – Baxi hell. I too am suffering from an awful Baxi boiler – installed, I think, four years ago, and we’ve only ever had a few months at a time when it’s been working properly – most of the time it’s had some fault or another, now for example the hot water supply is totally unpredictable – you never know whether it’s going to be hot, col, or most likely lukewarm!
Was installed by an engineer who is also a mate and has replaced lots of parts for free, and usually not charged for his time, but that also means we don’t have receipts so we’d be stuffed if we wanted to chase Baxi through the courts.
All the best!
Jerry
New thermistors, new pressure valves, new circuit border, new diverter valve …..
Can’t help with any positive suggestions but I totally sympathise with your notion of boiler watch – repressurising the system is a daily occurrence whenever I want to do the washing up!
the best boiler to fit is the one that is installed correctly, gas pressure, fit for property type etc. if you have a combi boiler fitted, make sure that you have an electric shower as back-up. combi’s are ok, but have a limited life expectancy.(7 yrs)ish
Oh yeah…Baxi from hell….had one installed by no-nothing people; repaired by know-a-bit; finally found good guys. The Baxi went out last night but they were here to repair (weekend rates) within the hour. PUMP went out — again.
Boiler installed (sort-of) in fall 2003, repaired 2004, pump changed in March 2006 and pump again!!!!!
Yeah, I blame the know-nothings, but I blame Marathon even more for not standing behind the installation of the product. If they trained people properly and were responsible, none of this could happen.
Yeah, it saves on gas…but at what cost in repairs and parts? I am all set to start an online, newspaper, write-to everyone stink….I am fed up with people being so busy selling that they don’t care about the consumer!
Add us to the listwith Baxi boilers from hell. Our heating/plumbing suppler talked us into not one but two Baxi boilers….so that if one failed the other would cut in. We live in northern Canada where it’s winter 8 months of the year. These two boilers have NEVER operated properly. I’ve paid out 1,500.00 CDN dollars this winter alone for valves, circuit boards, sensors, relief valves, electrodes and God only knows what else cause there’s only part nbrs, no description. I”m so PO’d at the company that installed them! Did I mention that these two boilers cost us $15,000. to have them installed? I must look like the biggest friggin idiot alive to have got sucked into buying these boilers. We’ve frozen our butts off for so many nights now that I’ve lost count. When I get enough money saved up I will be replacing these boilers with something reliable.
My old boiler was a Baxi, but unfortunately after eighteen years of constant use it was time to get it replaced and I did. The new Baxi boiler I have is a Solo HE and it works a dream. I had it installed in October 2007 and the heating is on twenty four hours a day and the hot water is on timed, although sometimes I leave it on. I have noticed that my gas and electric bills have decreased in amount, while my water is piping hot as are my radiators. I love both my Baxi boilers and I am sorry to read of the trouble people are having. I believe it is important to have them inspected yearly for gas safety reasons, as with any boiler.
I’ve had the same Baxi boiler for 25 years without problems,
now, unfortunately, as the boiler turns off, the water pump still continues on.
Whether this is a fault with the boiler, or the timer, I have no idea.
If I need a new appliance, it will again be a Baxi.
Can anyone help us because our gas man is now puzzled. Pilot light wont stay on. We have had a new valve and it broke the same night again – the pilot came on then cut out again. Gas man out again, then after a week same problem. Now on our 3rd call out and gas man does not know what the problem is. Not our vent as no wind. No hot water or heating for 3rd week now. Pilot wont ignite at all now. Any ideas or clues to pass on to our gas man?
This is all crazey. Someone said the supply house should have to pay for there boiler first of all they just sell the boilers. It is not there fault the guy that put it in is a hack.
I have installed over 200 Baxi Lunas, I have loged over 200 hours of tranning on there products.
They make a great boiler, WE have had a few problems with them every problem was only a one time problem. It was our fault something we did wrong and we fixed it.
Its your job as homeowner to make sure you are hiring a person that puts in your system that knows what he is doing.
If you are calling 10 people and going with the cheap price good for you, you got what you paid for. if you want to pay $75 hour for service you are getting what you pay for. Like the other person said $150 per hour for a service call thats a pro. You need to pay for my endless hours of class time, that I pay to go to. If you buy a sports car for $150,000 do you want the cheap car garage that cost $40 hr to fix it or do you bring it to a pro that knows your car inside and out but charges $100 hr.
You need to start thinking about boilers the same way and stop blaming other people for your bad choices.
Baxi is as big as a company as it is for a reason.
I HAD MY FIRST BAXI 100HE FITTED AND IT BROKE WITHIN 2 MONTHS THEY TOOK IT AWAY AND REPLACED IT..THE SECOND ONE HAS HAD BEEN NOTHING BUT TROUBLE HAD A PCB TWO PRESSURE RELEIF VALVES.BOTH SENSORS ON THE PIPES REPLACED.THE SYSTEM HAS BEEN FLUSHED NUMEROUS TIMES.I HAD A VOKERA BEFORE THIS ONE AND WAS ADVISED TO FIT THIS ONE.THE ONLY FAULT I EVER HAD WITH THAT WAS A DRY JOINT ON THE PCB IN SEVEN YEARS.I HAVE HAD TWO BAXIS IN THREE WHEN I CAN AFFORD TO REPLACE IT WHAT MAKE MODEL WOULD ANY ONE SUGGEST I REPLACED IT WITH.
I had a baxi solo boiler fitted jsut over four years ago. Since then the water jacket has failed twice in the same place, the core plugs. Heat team are a total waste of space and I have now decided to get rid of the boiler because it is so unreliable.
I have installed most makes of boiler. Halstead seem to be one of the best. I have also installed a lot of the new Baxi Duotec combi boilers and the conventional Solo boilers. You can go for weeks years without problems on some boilers then you get a run of problems. Note most boilers are automatic ignition now; each sequence of the boiler leads to next stage. Ie no fan running no ignition. The rubber diaghrams will perforate on some boilers after five years. The thermisters which sense the water temperature by electrical resistance will corrode / split for no apparent reason, perhaps aggressive mains water. The best thing you can fit on your boiler is a magnetic filter which catches all the black dirt which will block up the heat exchanger. Inside most combination boilers are flat plate heat exchangers which cosist of many plates which have the heating water on one side and mains water on the other, heat has to transfer between the plates. Dirt in the system is the enemy and it is essential that you have corrosion inhihibiter and a filter is highly recommended. My advice is find an engineer who knows what he is doing, recommendation is best and who has a policy of :no fix no charge: Bonn chance madame.
THANKS FOR THE COMMENTS ,I HAVE SOLVED ONE PROBLEM I HAVE LIFTED THE THERMOSTAT AND JUST LEFT THE BOILER ON 24/7 IT HAS NOT MURMERED IT MAY NOT HELP GLOBAL WARMING BUT IT HAS HELPED MY RHUMATICS.THE MAGNETIC FILTER IS A GREAT IDEA SHOULD BE COMPULSERY ON EVERY SYSTEM.LONG LIVE BAXI.BY THE WAY RITA FROM CANADA A LOG BURNER SOUNDS A BETTER IDEA.BY THE WAY MY SON AND BEST FRIEND ARE GAS FITTERS ONE FITS BAXI THE OTHER WONT TOUCH THEM EACH TO THEIR OWN,, I KNOW WHAT I WONT BE BUYING NEXT…
I just moved into this new home 3 months with a baxi bolier, damn we have no heat for 3 days now, and it is like -30 with windchill. We have so many problem with the boiler, and it always has problem when it is the coldest day with extreme cold alert. The warranty manager seriously doesn’t seem to care, and the service contractor the manager sent needs to come 3 hours a way in a good day. I am about to loose it on these new home warranty guy.
We have been installing Baxi boilers for over 5 years and 90% of the problems everyone is talking about here has been created by the installation being incorrect. Meaning someone installed it improperly and this has caused 90% of the issues you are having. To do it right we train our technicians on the proper installation. Blaming Baxi is not the problem it is mostly the installer and we have the same issues here and we get called to make the installation proper so the system will run properly. What other company can you get a 10 year parts & labor warranty for less than $100 a year. This tells you something about the product.
why dont you pop off back to canada and have a whinge back there. did anyone invite you to come and live in england?
Indeed, what a nice man you are – I was invited to England, thank you very much. And then a Brit agreed to marry me.
Oh shucks, there goes your little argument!
As a brit, i feel i have to apologise for “a very nice man” and his comment, some people are just complete assholes who, once hidden away behind their keyboard, deem it fit to make awful comments, the kind of comments they wouldnt have the balls to say to your face were they to meet you. Ps my Baxi is playing up after just one year….
Will: Sorry to hear about the problematic Baxi boiler – having spoken to a few installers & plumbers, it sounds like Baxi boilers are particularly prone to early-life problems. Shame really, but hopefully it’ll get fixed!
As for “a very nice man”, don’t worry, I’m thick skinned 🙂
I too just got through 2 weeks without hot water and heat. My baxi is 8 years old and has had to be repaired repeatedly over the years. This time it was the igniter sensor and or the wiring and or one of the two circuit boards were at fault. No way to tell through testing!
With at least a week to get parts and of course the wrong parts were sent, The heating contractor who has been great through out the years, ended up replacing all of the above. Of course there is know way of knowing what exactly was faulty.
$1400 later I am still not happy with the performance of my Baxi and never have been. It is a faulty poorly designed overpriced unit. That was the last repair. Anything more and I will have to spend my entire year’s pension on a new furnace.
Baxi is crap and I can’t wait to warn the next person.
My Baxi Solo 3 boiler is 4 years old and has had 3 replacement pcb’s due to the fact that the pump runs all the time and does not switch off. I don’t believe this to be any kind of install problem – just unreliable pcb’s and components.
The boiler developed a fault 2 days ago and now needs a new fan £190 + so I am pretty pissed off. Things are not made like they used to be, when we moved in to our current property a Baxi Back Boiler was installed and this was 10 – 15 years old, economical no but reliable yes.
I am a computer engineer by trade and if the computer manufacturers can make system boards reliable why can’t Baxi?
Sorry me again, as a consumer what make and model of Boiler should I purchase? Baxi is one of the largest, most popular and well respected manufacturers and it is not as if I chose to purchase the cheapest make and model known to man.
We have also had nothing but problems with our Baxi starting (apart from the sonic boom it’s always had when it comes on) about six months after it was fitted. We bought the top of the range combi and noticed the hot often suddenly went cold, then hot, then cold etc, for no reason. Then noticed that the boiler was banging and clanging at the same time as the water temperature went up to 90+c then immediately down to 40c before going straight back up to 90+c. Had boiler experts come round several times. New (un-necessary) pump and lots of bills later and it’s just the same 18 months later. We now run hot water and run to the boiler to switch it off when we think it’s going to explode. Sometimes we get a shower without too much of a temperture roller coaster but not often. WE had decided to replace it the next time it gets worse but after reading this blog I’m going to have it done pronto. No wonder our installation plumber didn’t want to fill in the warranty card. He said “I’ll leave it blank so that you can fill it in yourself. That way you get longer that the 12 months!” Crooks. And the boiler “specialist” that couldn’t find anything wrong. But it always worked fine for three days after they came out. They know there’s a problem. AVOID BAXI is what I say.
All of these problems will have been caused by poor installation, i install 5 per week with no faults/ problems whatsoever, get a qualified and trained engineer.
everybody blames the boiler , however a lot of the problems are control related.
Give me a break, all of the new baxi boiler are of a very, very, very poor build quality. I live in a 5 year old housing estate, where all of the houses got baxi solo 60 boilers. Just about everybody has a tale of woe to tell. Mine, well the circ pump runs constantly. why? PCB fault says the engineer. The fans screeeches on start-up. Why? well it’s a cheap and flimsy piece of crap says the engineer, with too little clearance with the top of the gas chamber. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. Always works when the engineer is called out though. Nothing but clangs, bangs and grief with it. Never a Baxi again, time for a new and more relaibe make, ~If only I can find one.
George Campbell – funniest thing I have read for a long time, so you are telling me that poor PCB build quality and frequent failure is due to poor installation?
It is by design, Baxi would not make any money if they made the boilers using good quality components, they operate just like the car trade who make very little on new car sales but massive amounts on parts and servicing.
Gone and got myself an insurance scheme with British Gas, no more Baxi worries now, when the pump starts to runs all the time again (and it will) I give them a call and it’s all sorted.
We also have had nothing but trouble with our Baxi. The technician who came out blamed the installer. I was told that I should not have this type of heating system in my house, as our well water has too high a mineral content. I contacted the installer who of course is no longer in business, so small claims court will likely be a waste of time! I don’t have the cash to install a whole new system, so I have tepid showers or heat water on the stove to have a bath.
Baxi 100 HE Plus is anything but a smart move. Save yourself some time and throw your money down the drain, because buying a new Baxi will do just the same. Just like we have.
Several minor breakdowns resulting in heat sensors for poor hot water output.
Domestic hot water temperature is pathetic and only have a 2 bed bungalow. not had a bath for 2 years and use electric shower.
Booming noises as it fires up but can be quiet for several months and then starts up again causing irritating bangs and noises.
Year 2 around 3 weeks after the guarantee ran out the PCB packed up and cost over a hundred pounds plus instalation. Half way through year 4 the same warning lights are on, the boiler has stopped working yet again and looks like we need yet another PCB.
BAXI is what gives Britain a bad name!
I’ve have trouble with my Baxi boiler for a while now, it seems endless. I called out a company who managed to fix my problem and so far nothing else has gone wrong.
Cambridgeshire Boiler Repair
I have been installing Baxi boilers for years. In my opinion they are excellent and I have no worries recommending them to my customers. I have also fitted a duo tec combi in my own house and am very pleased with it.
When I worked as a service engineer for an insurance company I found Baxi boilers the easiest to service, fault find and replace components.
All manufacturers get bad press, some rightly so and some unfairly. Not many people take the time to say they are happy with their boiler.
Simon; you are dead right when you say that not many people say that they are happy with their boiler, or any other product for that matter, but my 80HE is dreaful, PCB and sensor failures after 13 months.
Baxi Boler 100 HE are h..ll on earth. it is 20 below in Northern England now and we live at 1200 feet above sea level. we were advised to have this baxi boiler because it is good for farm house, good for Baxi revenues, I think. it has brokend down 26 times, it now has had after warranty I hasten to add,, 2 new pilot lights, a fire burner box, both modifications versions, a new bottom casing because of heat escaping and buiring the metal, numerous heat sealers around its box and 2 new plastic water condensers. 2 new PCB boards costing 188 each, the list goes on! It is farce. we have tried to stay with it because it cost 1300 GBP plus fitting, but we are ready to throw it down our mountain. It is awful. I do agree with a heating engineer earlier who stated that plumbers do not know enough about them, and they sometimes create the issue. They alos do not tighten up screws which blows out the hear sealers again. I know more about this boiler than most engineers. But the disreputable point is that I paid Baxi 200 GBP to attend the site and they stated it was fine. we are now on day 8 of no heat and it is really getting us down
I am trying to get some restitution from Baxi, If anyone has any thoughts or advice, can you please let a comment, thanks
A video showing how to fix all Baxi Combi Boilers yourself. Simple fix that prevents any further problems with these horrendously unreliable products.
Hope you enjoy and please leave a comment about your experience with BAXI
BAXIs are from hell. 3 years and two Baxis in my apt that have NEVER worked. I doubt it is the techs. First the gas company couldn’t keep them running, then another plumber tried and tried and retired still not able to keep them from turning off, not get enough hot water, run for 2 mins then turn off, replaced the vents, the this, the that, thousands of dollars. The last plumber there said her found the problem and all was fixed. New tenant moved in, no heat and no hot water. I have had the same furnace in my house for 12 years and only one repair. Wish I had the money to throw these things in the trash and start over. Don’t. Almost to the point of tears.
Baxi boilers are only as good as the installation. With that being said, can a mechacnial device fail? Of course it can….
I have had a Baxi in my home for four winters and have had zero issues with it and have seen others in my neighborhood with similar experiences. The problem you have a bad experience and want to blame the product when maybe it’s something outside of the box. Always two sides to the story and if you’re having this amount of problems, get the factory rep out to reivew. Good luck all!
I was a technical rep for the north american distributor.I think the product is great.However having said that there are other considerations to look at.One is location two is power supply three is water conditionand four is fuel supply.If any of these is a problem it will affect the boiler operation.Are the service people checking these things also.Brown power will affect the board and sensors as will hard water.Short cycling will affect the board and sensors.The boilers are modulating this means the gas valve and flow rates must be set up properly,this will cause improper water temps,and short cycling that will cause boards to fail and other components.As with everything proper installation and maintinence is key.Thank you
Hi Terry, I live in the Ottawa ON area and had a Baxi Combo boiler installed recently and when it ignites sometimes it sounds like the whole half of the house is going to blow. Do you know anyone in the area that has worked on these so they can check the install. I get the feeling my installer doesn’t really care! Thanks
P.S. Is there something I can do to try and set it up???
I have also had some bad experiences with Baxi boilers and I definitely think I would not bother with another one. Vaillant all the way for me!
Had a Baxi Luna installed, Nothing but problems, Marathon reps could not fix it. I ended up putting in a new gas furnace and used the Baxi for my domestic hot water and floor heating, still had lots of problems that nobody could figure out. (Detailed info on request).
Had a Bradford White dual hot water heater installed. Works great, I now get HOT water immediately, and the floor heat works great too, we can also use our dishwasher now (required hot water, not warm).
NO PROBLEMS NOW AND GUESS WHAT. My gas bill is the same as when the Baxi was the main hot water and heating supply. No savings as they preached.
STAY AWAY FROM BAXI unless you don’t mind waiting 15 minutes for a warm shower, paying service people on a regular basis (every 6 months minimum), who think they know what they are doing (Baxi Trained !!!!) Annual cleaning and adjustments as required by the manufacturer $400.00.
Very costly lesson, don’t get sucked in by fast talking sales people on “On Demand hot water boilers”
They are not worth it. Stick to the good old hot water heater and high efficiency furnace.