Boiler failed British Gas inspection - Powermax Boiler

[rosiewesti]

We have a powermax 185 open vent model, new 9 years ago, we have always had it serviced annually.
Over the years we have had replaced; Programmer, blending valve (due to hard water) We had installed last year a water softener on the advice of our plumber, which is great.
Friends of mine have gone onto the British Gas (BG)homecare plan - you pay a certain amount per month, and if anything goes wrong BG come out and fix within 24/48 hours. (3 out of 6 of these friends have never had their boilers serviced and they passed the inspection from BG)
We thought this was a good idea and registered in December 07, they said an engineer would call within 7 days and come to check the boiler to make sure its up to standard - they finally came this week cm 24.02.08

Boiler has been working fine, no problems as I told the engineer, but on checking it he said that the CO omissions should be 20 and that ours our 160, therefore the "Baffles" need replacing (8 of them) at a cost of �450.00 - labour will take 4 hours - I asked why none of the CO alarms have gone off (we have 2) and he said its still not high enough to set them off.

He also stated that even when the Baffles have been replaced it could be something else, but as its usually the baffles that cause this problem, they always replace them first.

I did ask him could he see that the baffles had slipped down and/or were worn away, he said no he could not see them and repeated the above to me.

He has now given me a written quote for ; gasket seal, gasket set, baffles x 8 and labour - but has not put a price down.
I really now do not know what to do, accept their advice and get the work done or should I get some estimates and/or boiler serviced and see what comes up. Boiler is not due for its annual service until May 08.

Sorry I have gone on a bit - any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks

[rosiewesti]

Hi8 all,
Just a quick update on the above situation.

We have had 2 yes 2! services on the boiler one from a local small firm and one today from a larger firm - surprise surprise - both have serviced the boiler and have found no problems! (1 mini service and 1 full service)
One did say that the boiler is not running 100% more like 85-90% from the readout he took , but that as all the normal routine maintenance has been done and its working ok - just continue on.

I asked at the end of each service if the baffles looked ok? they both said yes fine, one said they look in very good condition.
I am now writing to BG to see what their explanation is after their original visit.

By the way I got a letter from BG saying they could not take my boiler on as it was an unservicable one!
Will let you know the outcome.