Ferroli Optimax HE38C

Fitted 6 years ago leaked since fitting had engineers out numerous times to fix leaks NOT. Offered 1 year extra warranty leak still present. Not worth the trouble. Back up service prompt but unable to fix the problem one star given just because it won't let you leave blank.

Has leaked since the first year.

Cheap plastic, badly made and 5 year guarantee is not worth the paper it's written on.

Replacing after 5 troubled years. Do yourself a favor and pay the extra £400 for a Worcester

I am a gas safe installer and we installed 20 Ferroli combi boilers and every one we fitted broke down within 12 months of the installation some of them have broken down 4 times Ferroli have tarnished my reputation as a good installer Ferroli will do anything possible to get out of the 5 year guarantee saying things like your the benchmark book is not filled in correctly or you should have had the boiler service before it was due or on the exact date it was installed no later what is filling in a book got to do with leaking O rings/leaking heat exchangers/faulty pcb/broken pumps the list goes on and on what a terrible company to deal with.

Every time it gets serviced it leaks, buying a Ferroli boiler was a terrible mistake. If you buy one of these expect many years of hassle. Mine is only 3 years old and I am already thinking about replacing it. A total waste of time, money and energy. Avoid these like the plague and don't trust any plumber who wants to install one.

Had a BRAND NEW Optimax HE 38C Plus professionally installed and commissioned by a Gas Safe registered engineer on 20/12/2011.

On the 16/01/2012 Pump Failure ( 1 month old system )

The five year warranty ( Ferroli take every step to void your warranty )

Ferrolli send out an engineer who inform us that before they can replace the faulty part that they need to take a sample of water from the central heating to ascertain if the fault is because of flux / sludge dirty water in the system, this is their standard procedure before replacing any parts.

I would like to add, prior to the installation we had a Power-flush to clean or pipes and had inhibitor and cleanser applied.

So after a few days Ferolli instruct the engineer to replace the part. when the engineer opened the boiler I could not believe the amount of plastic parts inside the system ( The pump is made of cheap plastic )

On the 22/05/2012 Heat Exchange Failure ( corroded with a hole )

Again, after 4 months the boiler breaks down. Same procedure, engineer calls out and takes sample of water away and blames it on our pipes and dirty water in the system. After several emails and calls we had the ALUMINIUM heat exchanger replaced.

Think hard before buying a Ferroli, a waste of money and not reliable.

Our Optimax HE38C boiler works well when it is working but after three years into it's five year warranty and during the worst of the 2012 winter the main burner seal failed and the escaping gases burnt the wiring harness beyond reuse. Ferroli said that the "wiring harness couldn't fail as was therefore not available as a spare". We waited five weeks and then only managed to get a replacement wiring harness after one of the Ferroli senior engineers got involved and I suspect robbed a harness from a new boiler.

Now in May 2013, with an unusually cold spring, the burner seal failed again, this time burning the sound deadening material on the inside of the case and causing a strong burning smell. The Ferroli agent who came the day after reporting the fault wouldn't replace the burner seal but instead insisted on replacing the whole burner unit. Unfortunately this is out of stock and after three weeks we are still waiting in the cold for the parts.

We have had had other failures over the four years we have had this boiler. The diverter valve has been replaced three times after the boiler has become stuck in CH or hot water mode but this part has not been a problem and has always been fitted during the first visit after a call out.

We have also had problems with the timer reported on some forums about other boilers in the Ferroli range. For some reason the heating turns off when the timer calls for it to turn on and vice versa. We have lived with this niggle and have reset the timer by turning the boiler off at the mains for long enough for the timer to lose it's memory and then setting it up all over again. The timer worked well over this last winter period but went wrong again when we started to use the "advance" feature on the timer. Perhaps there is a clue in there somewhere.

We got our boiler on the recommendation of the installing plumber. He was a long standing employee of an otherwise excellent builder. The first boiler he tried to install wouldn't line up. It turned out this particular boiler had been dropped (before it had been delivered to us - there was no damage to the outside packaging) and Ferroli had to supply a replacement. Perhaps this should have been a warning.

I wouldn't recommend Ferroli boilers to anybody and will be looking to replace mine if major repairs are required after the warranty period ends.

The comment from the service department recently when i phoned up to report a fault and made a passing comment about this not being the first time tells it all

"You've only had a call out 3 times in 3 year" was the reply, well actually its 4 if you include the fact it was dead on arrival and then add the twice I've had to fix leaks myself, and the fact it doesnt work in the cold because the condesate outlet freezes, and the random error codes its been really reliable not....

This used to be mitigated by the fact it had a 5 year warranty and they quickly sent out an engineer and they fixed it..

phone them now though and its a different number and a long hold with a recorded message saying the warranty is only for manufacturing issues and we need your credit card details for anything else, then when you do get through they ask for all sorts of details they never asked for before and you just know your not going to be able to find, so obviously looking to get out of any warranty work.

so will i be relying on a bodged warranty fix or a big bill because they then decide its not warranty, no I'll get a trusted local engineer to fix it ( possibly the chap that fixed it under warranty last time as they no longer use that company!!) and start saving for a new non ferolli boiler

you have been warned, barge pole touch not..

INSTALLED ONE OF THESE USELESS EXCUSES FOR BOILERS IN A CUSTOMERS PROPERTY JUST OVER THREE YEARS AGO. BEEN NOTHING BUT TROUBLE FEROLLI BEEN OUT TO IT ABOUT FOUR TIMES , NOW THEY SAY THEY WONT HONOUR THE FIVE YEAR GUARANTEE NO LONGER. THE WIRING LOOM RECENTLY BURNT DUE TO THERE INFERIOR BURNER SEAL WHICH IS KNOWN TO BURN AWAY THATS WHY THEY HAVE RECOMMENDED A NEW BURNER SEAL AT EVERY SERVICE. NOW THE CUSTOMER HAS HAD TO PAY ME TO PUT IT ALL RIGHT AS FEROLLI HAS WIPED THERE HANDS OF IT. SOME CUSTOMER SERVICE THEY HAVE. SO PLEASE DO YOURSELVES A FAVOUR AND DONT GET INVOLVED WITH THIS COMPANY. I KNOW I WONT FALL FOR THIER 5 YEAR SO CALLED WARRANTY AGAIN.

This boiler has been nothing but trouble from the moment it was installed. During the warranty period went off completly i had just had a baby in december 2009 and had no heating or hot water. Ever since every couple of months theres always a prob with the pressure, constantly bleeding radiator i regret buying this item. The plumber saw us coming as he said it was top of the range...a load of rubbish! DO NOT BUY! You are better off goving your money away then setting up a monthly direct debit to give money away for a pile of rubbish as we ended up doing. Spending more.

WE INSTALLED A FERROLI OPTIMAX38C ON ENGINNNERS RECOMMENDATION SHOULD HAVE KNOWN SOMETHING WAS UP WHEN HE PRESSED FOR IMMEDIATE PAYMENT. WEHAD PROBLEMS WITH BOILER LEAKING WITHIN A WEEK ENGINEERS RESPONSE "IT WAS UNDER WARRANTY" AND PASSED US OVER TO FERROLI. THEIR ENGINNERS HAVE BEEN IN AND REPLACED "O" RINGS SEVERAL TIMES BOTH THEIR SERVICE SUPPLIERS AND THEIR OWN "IN HOUSE" ENGINEERS - STILL HAVING PROBLEMS AFTER 3 YEARS - ALWAYS A LONG WAIT ON THE HELPLINE. BOILER IS NOT FIT FOR PURPOSE BUT NO RESPONSE FROM FERROLI - I WOULD AVOID THIS COMPANY LIKE THE PLAGUE!!