Ferroli Optimax HE31C

Ferroli destroyed their reputation when they unleashed this poorly designed boiler.

They should have recalled the boiler and refunded everyone in full and then given them a written apology and compensation.

The entire design team should resign and go back to engineering school after producing the worst boiler ever thrown together.

It leaks if you look at it, the electronics are out of an old Aerofloat passenger plane. The service engineers hate it because it is so difficult to work on.

Replacing the circulating pump is a major task which disturbs all the other connections and results in more leaks.

There must have been a full half hour of testing during production minus tea-breaks.

Shame on you Ferroli you deserve to go bust.

This boiler gets 1 star for the paint on the cover which is also a night mare to refit

G Cartin Birmingham.

Useless product and useless customer service. Avoid these people at all costs.

We had our Ferroli Optimax HE31C boiler fitted when we moved into our newly refurbished home. We were happy but our joy was short lived when we had to call out an engineer within the first year for our brand new boiler. The engineer called out carried out a repair. However this was short lived as over the next 2 year we had to have the service engineers out a number of time. They eventually sent out theirsenior engineer a very helpful gentleman who replaced the heat exchanger plus other things. The faults were remedied for a time but the boiler leaked. The guarantee was void as i had not serviced the boiler despite having the thing rebuilt by their engineer. Since the the boiler has leaked been repaired leaked again until 2 days ago when our basement flooded. 5 years after purchasing a brand new Ferroli boiler numerous costly repairs i am scrapping it and have now purchased an Ideal boiler which i hope will serve me better. I would never recommend this boiler to anyone. I'm vague on details as came across the review page (too late) while laid awake looking at Ferroli reviews. Mr Davis Leeds

Worst boiler ever. I moved into my house in Nov 2014. In 9 months I have had new flue, complete new fan, motherboard, tank seal, washer for a leak and new electrodes and still an A1 fault which means no ignition therefore no heating or hot water. Please look at the other reviews also. Total rubbish avoid ferroli all together. New boiler now being installed with severn year manufacturers warranty.

This is a letter of complaint sent to Ferroli toady - speaks for itself

Further to my recent e-mail and telephone calls concerning the continued below standard performance of the Ferroli Optimax HE Plus 31C boiler installed at my mother-in-law’s address I am now writing to state that unless the boiler can be put back into guaranteed long term, fully functional service at the time of your engineer’s proposed visit on Thursday 12 March 2015 I will, on behalf of my mother-in-law, be taking action to seek compensation/new boiler replacement through the small claims court.

If you check through your records you will see numerous call-outs when the boiler has failed.

The first problem, evident only a few months after installation was the start of what is now a continual loss of internal pressure. This means that every week I have to check and re-pressurize the boiler with cold water otherwise there is no hot water or central heating.

Two years ago the filling loop valves and associated pipework had to be replaced as the valves failed to let in any cold water, so my mother-in-law was left with no heating or hot water until this was done. The engineer told me that this was a recognised problem with the original valves, but no attention was paid to the continual loss of pressure.

On two further occasions I have called out engineers to address the pressure drop problem. On each occasion I was told, “The problem could be could be this”, or “The problem could be that” or “Just try it and see what happens”. THE PROBLEM HAS NOT YET BEEN RESOLVED IN OVER TWO YEARS!!!

The more recent issue of the severe boiler leak has been a major problem. Apparently a PLASTIC pipe split open. This caused flooding of the room in which the boiler is installed to the extent that water was gushing from under the back door and down the path. This meant isolating the cold water at the rising main, leaving the property with no running water at all. How a 90 year old lady is meant to cope in a cold house with no running water I have no idea, so she had to stay with my wife and I for 2 days.

Only after a very hard telephone conversation did I manage to get some action, but not a same day response.

The engineer repaired the major leak, but as he stated, as soon as one leak was fixed another appeared. The boiler was switched on, but unfortunately not trialled for any length of time as the engineer was clearly well behind his arranged schedule. By the evening the hot water failed.

A further hard telephone call with Ferroli did get the engineer back the following afternoon. He replaced the diverter valve and the system appeared to work when he left. He did state that Ferroli boilers were of poor construction, (Hmmm! From a Ferroli appointed engineer!!).

The following day the hot water failed again, the engineer returned and stated that basically he was “stumped” by the situation, but that he had ordered a new wiring loom? as water might have damaged some of the connections. He said that Ferroli would notify me when it would be fitted. However a conversation with Ferroli today reveals no such order has been placed.

That was Friday 6 March. Since then the hot water has only been operational spasmodically and failed altogether on Monday 9th March. This morning 10th March ALL the pressure in the boiler had gone, (yet again) meaning no hot water or central heating.

Re-pressurizing the boiler kicked it back into action as far as the heating was concerned, but the hot water was as cold as the rising main inlet water. No amount of re-starting the boiler would correct this.

When the central heating time switch turned off the heating at its normal 10.30 a.m., I managed to get ONE washing up bowl of hot water before it turned cold again and there it remains.

I would ask you if you consider it safe for an infirm 90 year old lady to be carrying kettles and bowls of hot water around the house in order to wash her hair and herself??

I contend that this boiler is unfit for purpose and needs to be replaced. Not one engineer that has been in attendance in the three years has been able to fix its problems. This is probably not their fault per se, but a fault of not having sufficient time or available parts with them. I do not see it fair practice that the customer has to trial attempted repairs to see if a fix is successful or not. I personally have no faith in Ferroli to repair this boiler in the long term. I will not see my mother-in-law, at 90 years old, suffer the upset and stress of its failure any longer.

I am given to understand that your engineer will be in attendance on Thursday 12th March. I would appreciate knowing at what time this will happen, as I do not live at the property and cannot be there all day. Can I suggest that he either brings with him sufficient spares to replace all the parts in this boiler or preferably bring a replacement boiler.

I would urge you to look at the costs so far, of engineer’s time and parts plus the proposed visit on Thursday. I would guess that it would be cheaper to swap out the boiler completely.

Please be assured that unless some definitive action is taken on your part to correct ALL of the faults with this boiler I will take action under the Sale of Goods Act to seek compensation or a replacement boiler.

The internet makes interesting reading and potential evidence of people’s similar experiences and exasperation with this model of boiler.

I await your response.

Hi,

When you have ferroli its start your hard time.

Specially when you don't have any knowledge with boiler.

There so unreliable ,wouldn't get on again,wish I looked into it more before buying,,,,,,,,wouldn't re comments anyone..

From the 1st day when the C/H return valve & filtered failed it has never worked correctly. Loses water pressure all the time so heating will not come on. After a year the C/H return valve failed yet again. At 4 years alarms A03 - A06 kept coming up and boiler had to be reset all the time. The boiler is now 4.5 years old and now required- new electrodes, burner unit and a heat ex-changer.

Do not phone service department as their chargers are just under £300:00p for a service and one repair which is only good for 30 days what a rip off.

If I had the money I would take it out and send it back to Ferroli.

This boiler was put in after our plumber told us how good these boiler where - he must have been in the pay of Ferroli.

Combination boilers are best avoided at all times and as a professional I would never install one. 6 years ago I had the misfortune to buy a house from a single mother who had been on benefits. They (the corrupt British state) had forced her to have a combi boiler installed 'to save her money'. It bankrupted her and she had to sell her house. The Ariston boiler she had installed failed totally within a year of me moving in. The plumber recommended Ferroli as a replacement 'because it had a 10 year guarantee'. The boiler routinely breaks down with an A42 fault code which is not in the manual. This has to be manually reset and is simply due to the mains water temperature in the UK being too low! Put another way, if you actually try to run a bath or shower, do some hand washing or washing up, the boiler stops working. The answer from Ferroli is that you should only use an electric washing machine or dishwasher! Each year shortly before the annual service is due there is a more substantial breakdown requiring a visit by a service engineer. Too much of a coincidence.

I inherited this boiler that had been fitted just over five years ago, in a house I bought. Hadn't heard of Ferroli, but thought a newish boiler would be a trouble free item that would last for years. How wrong I was! Looking through the previous owners receipt list, I was astounded on how many spare parts had been replaced under warranty. I'm a half-full person, so thought these components won't need replacing any time soon, but of course they started breaking down again, so the diverter valve was replaced for a second time, the pump likewise. The expansion tank needs replacing, there's a leak that is too expensive to repair, so a drip tray does the job. Have now ordered a replacement quality boiler, despite spending over £550 in the last five months on this heap of rubbish.