Get your Vaillant boiler serviced regularly by a Gas Safe Registered Vaillant engineer near you to keep it healthy and avoid expensive breakdowns during winter.
Vaillant Ecotec Boilers need regular maintenance and servicing to keep them performing at their best, yet many homeowners neglect their heating systems until they eventually break.
This page details everything you need to know regarding Vaillant Ecotec Boiler Servicing. Including, how often you should get your boiler serviced, what happens when your boiler is serviced and the typical cost involved to get your Vaillant boiler serviced.
How often should your Vaillant Combi boiler be serviced?
What happens when your Vaillant Combi boiler is serviced?
The cost to get your Vaillant boiler serviced
“Free” boiler servicing and is it any good?
Good things to look out for when you get your Vaillant boiler serviced
Areas where I service and repair Vaillant ecotec boilers
Vaillant Ecotec Combi Boiler Servicing Info
Your Vaillant Ecotec Combi boiler, like all gas boilers requires regular maintenance and servicing, to confirm its safe and continued operation.
The first question is how often should your Vaillant Combi boiler be serviced?
This is an easy one. As per the Gas Safe Register’s guidelines you should get any gas boiler serviced every twelve months. If you’re a landlord this is a legal obligation.
The second question is what happens when your Vaillant Combi boiler is serviced?
The definition of a boiler “service” seems to vary a bit depending on who you speak to.
In my opinion there are two types of boiler “service”.
One type of Vaillant ecotec service is more like a very basic safety check, which is not very in depth, doesn’t take much time, usually costs the least or not very much, and doesn’t offer very much value to the customer overall.
I don’t usually recommend this type of service because there is not much value in it in my opinion.
The services I offer provide value, hence I don’t really offer the “cheap basic safety check” type of service, as most of the time its a worthless service which has very little value. This type of service is the boiler equivalent of a car M.O.T.
This type of service doesn’t check any of the components that actually keep the boiler running, its purely a basic safety check.
The second type of Vaillant boiler service
The second type of Vaillant ecotec boiler service is the type of service I offer. It is also a safety check to make surely the boiler is working safely, but goes far beyond that in terms of servicing serviceable components on the boiler, and checking for parts that are obviously failing or likely to fail in the near future.
This type of service is basically preventative maintenance. Whats the point of getting your boiler serviced if one doesn’t check the vital parts that actually keep the boiler running?
So when I service a Vaillant boiler(or any boiler in fact), my two main questions are; is the boiler working safely? Secondly, is this boiler likely to keep working safely or at all within the next 12 to 18 months.
Obviously a boiler that is working well but is dangerous is not acceptable. A boiler that is working safely but will probably break before its next service is no good.
Does a thorough boiler service guarantee your boiler will not break until its next service? No of course not, but a boiler which gets a through service and and failing components replaced mitigates the risk of the boiler potentially failing maybe when you need it the most.
So here is a list of some of the things I would check on a Vaillant ecotec boiler.
All the flue seals – Checking them for failure which results in flue gasses or condensation leaking from them.
The expansion vessel – Checking that the diaphragm inside this component has the right pressure or if it has failed, are there any leaks coming from the seam? You can only check the vessel pressure by letting the pressure out of the boiler.
The pressure sensor – Is it a current up to date sensor? does it read zero pressure or close to zero when the boiler has no pressure? Does the pressure sensor register a healthy pressure rise when the pump runs?
The pump – Does it sound healthy, is it making any noise? Does the pressure sensor register a healthy pressure rise when the pump runs? Is it an old problematic WILO pump, or one of the new Grundfos pumps? If unsure about the health of the pump a screwdriver test to see how easy it is to stop the pump can be done.
The G10 burner door seal(s) – Any signs of leaks, how long has it been since it was last replaced? Is there any evidence of it having been replaced. Is it definitely an upgraded G10 burner doo seal or is it an older seal which is definitely going to fail, assuming it hasn’t already?
Note: Vaillant recommends that you replace the G10 gasket every five years at minimum.
Checking the common places Vaillant ecotec boilers like to leak from – The flexible rubber tubes on the flow and return pipes inside the boiler(older models only).
The corrugate plastic condensate pipe – It is not uncommon for the pipe which goes between the heat exchanger and the condensate trap to fail. This starts off as a small drip which gets gradually bigger.
Condensation flowing through this pipe is only produced when the boiler is running, but is corrosive which causes a lot of damage if left.
The auto air vent At the back of the pump, is a de-aerator which likes to leak(very common to leak from here).
The diverter valve – Also a very common place for these boilers to leak from, adding some silicone grease to the pin helps keep them move as they like to seize up as well.
Plate to plate heat exchanger seals – It is not uncommon for these to leak slightly and unnoticabley unless you know where to look. This almost always gets worst to the point where you will have lots of water dripping from your boiler.
What I charge for a Vaillant ecotec boiler service
The cost of a comprehensive Vaillant ecotec boiler service varies as it is not a one size fits all price, it varies depending on a few factors.
Some of the factors I look at include the area where a customer lives, where the boiler is situated in the property, and the model of ecotec and the availability and flexibility of a customer.
So a comprehensive service usually costs somewhere between £70 and £120 plus parts. So for a full strip down and replacement of the G10 burner gasket on a Vaillant ecotec combination boiler, which will take around two hours, is going to cost around £145 incl VAT(I’m not VAT registered).
For the average comprehensive full strip down of a Vaillant ecotec combination boiler that doesn’t need the G10 gasket changing, I typically charge somewhere between £70 – £80.
My Vaillant boiler gets a free boiler “service” with my home care plan, is this any good?
To be completely honest, in my opinion, the “free annual boiler service” that the likes of British Gas and Homeserve and many others offer, is most of the time pretty much worthless.
I have been told by several customers that British Gas don’t even take the front cover off a boiler when they come to service it.
The best story I heard from a customer is that they didn’t even come into the house to look at the boiler! They just stuck their flue gas analyser into the flue outside to take some readings! If this is true British Gas, is this a joke?!
At best you’re getting a little gas safety check to make sure your boiler is working safely. Often you don’t even get this basic level of check.
At worst your boiler may develop faults which don’t get picked up on until much, much later, at which point your boiler is beyond economical repair or requires a very expensive repair.
Vaillant Ecotec boilers are very prone to what I have just described. They often leak internally via failed condensate pipes which can drip away inside the boiler, with no obvious leaks external to the boiler. this condensation is corrosive as it is slightly acidic and slowly destroys the boiler.
I know this because I have been to, and continue to come across many Vaillant boilers like this, after customers have cancelled their homecare plans or whatever, or decided to call someone else when their home insurance etc let them down when they need them.
Good things to look out for when you get your Vaillant boiler serviced
This advice is given assuming your boiler is a Vaillant ecotec model, which uses a premix burner, which has been in production since 2005 onwards.
On the most basic level, whoever services your boiler needs to have a Flue Gas Analyser(FGA) which has been calibrated within the last twelve months. The safe and continued operation of any boiler with a concentric flue and premix burner, can only be checked correctly with the aid of an FGA.
I have been to jobs where customers have reported “engineers” having turned previously up to “service” their boiler without one of these. If someone turns up to service your boiler and they only have one tool with them, it needs to be an FGA.
It’s usually a good sign when an engineer turns up and they have a bucket and some of kind pump. This means they will probably be doing something productive and worthwhile like checking the expansion vessel(s) on the boiler or heating system. expansion vessels being vital to the correct, continued operation of any modern boiler or heating system.
The burner door seal(s) on the Vaillant ecotec models needs to be changed every five years at minimum, as per the manufacturers recommendations. You can ask your engineer about this. If they don’t know what you’re talking about then that should be a bit of a warning sign – don’t expect them to know too much about the rest of your Vaillant boiler.
Please note that once one opens the burner door on a Vaillant ecotec you damage the burner door seal and need to replace the seal. Not replacing the seal once you open the burner door means you’re at risk of the seal failing later on.
I mention this because I have come across quite a few Vaillant boilers in the past, that have had the burner door opened for servicing without replacing the seal. On some boilers that use the same heat exchanger design like the Baxi Duo-Tec for example, you can open and close the burner door without replacing the gasket, but not on Vaillant ecotec boilers.
Here is a link to a page regarding the G10 burner gasket failure.
Ideally your engineer should give your some kind of paperwork, or an email detailing what they have done to your boiler and what they have checked – especially on a boiler repair. I like to provide detailed notes of what I have done and any parts that I have replaced on a boiler service or repair.
This works both ways as you can mitigate any risk of ambiguity regarding what parts etc have been replaced, or exactly what’s been done, which in turn reduces the risk on any misunderstanding later on, which in turn increases customer satisfaction.
They need to take the front cover off the boiler! Ive been led to beleive that British Gas in particular don’t even take the front cover off when they “service” a boiler. They rely on the Flue Gas Analyser readings to tell them if everything is ok.
Assuming this is true, it is beyond a joke. Its like taking your car for a service and the mechanics not even lifting the bonnet! (Maybe if its an EV like a Tesla!)
Areas where I can service your Vaillant ecoTEC boiler
I am located in Elsecar, Barnsley, South Yorkshire. I cover a large part of South Yorkshire including most of Sheffield, Rotherham and Barnsley. I also cover a small part of Doncaster.
Sheffield:
I cover most of Sheffield including central Sheffield, Chapeltown, Ecclesfield, Grenoside, High Green, Oughtibridge, Thurgoland, Wortley, Aston, Aughton, Swallownest, Todwick, Hillsborough and Stannington.
Rotherham:
I cover the whole area of Rotherham including central Rotherham, Brinsworth, Catcliffe, Canklow, Masbrough, Treeton, Whiston, Greasbrough, Kimberworth, Thorpe Hesley, Rawmarsh, Wentworth, Bolton-on-Dearne, Goldthorpe, Thurnscoe, Wath-on-Dearne, Mexborough, Swinton, Kilnhurst, Hooton Roberts, Ravenfield, Thrybergh, Bramley, Hellaby, Maltby, Thurcroft, Wickersley and Braithwell.
Barnsley:
I cover most of Barnsley including central Barnsley, Birdwell, Stairfoot, Worsborough, Kendray, Ardsley, Athersley, Monk Bretton, Lundwood, Royston, Brierley, Cudworth, Cortonwood, Great Houghton, Shafton, South Hiendley, Brampton, Darfield, Wombwell, Hemingfield, Elsecar, Hoyland, Jump, Barugh Green, Cawthorne, Darton, Dodworth, Gawber, Mapplewell, Pogmoor, Staincross, Wilthorpe, Worsbrough, Thurnscoe and Tankersley.
Doncaster:
I cover a small part of Doncaster including central Adwick, Conisborough, Edlington, Warmsworth and Mexborough.