Range Tribune HE 150ltr issue

[Makeitstop]

Hi all,

 

Anyone got any idea on a suitable (or smart choice) replacement for one of these heaps of utter shite?

 

My daughter lives in a new build (Redrow, 6 years old) and has a Range Tribune HE TI150PT4. It appears to have caused a loss of pressure almost everywhere through the house. The main bath tap is barely a trickle, and some other faucets are on a stop too, with extremely limited flow throughout. It would seem from searching online that this is a known problem with this cylinder, and, that some internal part can disintegrate, causing a blocking of the system. 

 

She has spoken to kingspan on it and they have asked for every bit of service record, which she doesn't seem able to get her hands on, even though it has been  serviced. She has no idea what to do to get kingspan to engage now, and so is considering a replacement.

 

Anyone have any ideas on a suitable swapout for this, to a good, reliable and solid performing cylinder?

 

Any opinions would be appreciated. 

 

Thanks all.

Edited February 27, 2022 by Makeitstop

[MJNewton]

Is she in a hard water area? If so, might it be limescale blocking the inlet? These type of cylinder are designed to minimise turbulence when being filled (from the cold mains) which invariably relies on some form of diffuser which can be prone to blocking. If you can get some descaler inside with, say, a 1/3 tank fill of water that might suffice. The immersion heater hole would be the best form of access I expect. It’d need a good flush afterwards.

 

If you did decide to get rid of it I might be interested in buying some of the external components as spares for mine.

Edited February 27, 2022 by MJNewton

[MJNewton]

To add: Is it just the hot flow that has reduced to a trickle or outlets connected to the balanced cold too?

[Makeitstop]

Nope, not hard water area. And yes, it's just hot outlets, going down to a trickle and virtually nothing at all in some. Its garbage.

 

Cold is fine with excellent pressure.

 

[MJNewton]

Ah okay. I wonder what it could be? You mentioned other reported cases - what was the cause in those?

[PeterW]

Kingspan won’t pay out on the warranty so she could take it up with NHBC or the warranty provider but needs to have the service record. TBH they are a bit crap as a cylinder, and it may also be the pre-plumbed one too..?
 

I would start by checking cylinder pressure - open the blow offs on the control block and the PRTV and see if you get the same pressure / flow. That will give an idea if it is flow related through the Control block. Next attach a hose to the drain valve on the inlet to the tank - same check, open it to see what flow / pressure you get as it should be full 3bar or same as cold. 
 

If these are all good then the blockage could be in the pipework from the tank to the outlets - has the pressure and flow got worse over time ..? That could be a pig to find, and short of removing the tank and  back pressurizing the hot system to check for issues it’s going to take some serious diagnosis. 
 

Depending on where you are then the Telford and Joules pre plumbed units are good but they are going to set you back £1500 fitted. 

 

 

[Makeitstop]

Thanks for the replies.

 

She's getting a few quotes to replace it. One at £1800 to fit a ThermaQ evocyl 150 dual zone, which on the face of it looks a little pricey.

 

Well see how it goes, but youd expect more than 6 years from such a product surely.

[MJNewton]

Yes, I’d expect it to last longer. Ours is 15 years old and never had an issue (touch wood!). Has it been properly diagnosed as to what the problem actually is? With such an expensive item I wouldn’t give up without knowing exactly what’s wrong (and that it’s terminal).

[Nickfromwales]

10 hours ago, Makeitstop said:

Well see how it goes, but youd expect more than 6 years from such a product surely.

Telford stainless will have a lifetime warranty. Speak to Trevor at cylinders2go and mention my username and the forum for best prices.

No annual service / inspection ( G3 ) = no warranty regardless of supplier.

 

An ideal solution for providing mains pressure hot water for domestic applications.

• Mains pressure hot water for powerful showers
• Good flow rate ideal for homes with multiple bathrooms and fast filling of baths
• Suitable for use with gas or oil boilers
• Fast reheat times for quick availability of hot water
• Economical to run with minimal maintenance and no hidden costs
• 50mm CFC and HCFC-free foam lagging for low heat loss
• Manufactured from ‘Duplex’ stainless steel for superior corrosion resistance
• 25-year guarantee on basic vessel subject to T&C's*

*T&Cs apply. 25-year anti-corrosion guarantee on inner container. See product brochure for more information.

 

 

So the issue will likely be the control group gauze filter. Have you actually tried to work out what is causing the issue before pulling this out?

Edited March 1, 2022 by Nickfromwales

[PeterW]

On 27/02/2022 at 17:02, PeterW said:

start by checking cylinder pressure - open the blow offs on the control block and the PRTV and see if you get the same pressure / flow. That will give an idea if it is flow related through the Control block.

@Makeitstop this is what @Nickfromwales and myself are saying - check the system first before removing as it could be down to the control group filter which is easily serviceable. Has anyone done the basic checks on the cylinder first ..? 

[MJNewton]

Does the control group filter also apply to the balanced cold feed (which has been confirmed as having no issues)? 

[Makeitstop]

Hi guys,

 

Thanks for the input and advice, I'll pass this on and she can ask anyone she gets out to look into this.

 

This kind of stuff is not my area and I really don't know what I'm looking at. I'm sure if I studied it I could check stuff, but in truth, it's best left to those that already know and have experience. I am fairly clueless on this.

 

What I do know is that she has had some kind of clear...ish crystalized crap stuck in filters of taps, which one guy says comes from some internal part that breaks down. What that means, again, I don't know, but it appears to be an issue on these cylinders.

 

As has been said, it's not clever on something that is six years old. It's also irritating as hell because this is not a long term house and she would rather not be spending on replacing bits of kit like this, but it is how it is. I'll pass on all info here and we'll see what fitters that look into it say.

 

One guy suggested removing the boiler and cylinder and replacing with a combi. I did'nt think that was a great idea. It might be good for the fitter, but maybe not so for my daughter, when she has a perfectly functioning boiler of the same age.

 

 

Edited March 1, 2022 by Makeitstop

[Nickfromwales]

5 hours ago, Makeitstop said:

What I do know is that she has had some kind of clear...ish crystalized crap stuck in filters of taps, which one guy says comes from some internal part that breaks down. What that means, again, I don't know, but it appears to be an issue on these cylinders.

Stinks of hard water issues. 
I’ll tell you straight out, there is no “internal part” that would ‘break down’ in a stainless steel vessel. Zero. Zilch. Nil. Nada. 
If hard ( even non aggressive hard category ) water is left to drip dry at taps / shower heads etc then residue will become apparent there, just from the crud left over when the water evaporates away, so do not confuse these occurrences with there having to be some mystical crud source. 
Do a water test ( like your initial installer should have done ) and rule that out first as last. 
We cannot help trouble shoot this without a process of elimination. Start there please.  

 

6 hours ago, MJNewton said:

Does the control group filter also apply to the balanced cold feed (which has been confirmed as having no issues)? 

Valid point, but not if the plumber was a lazy arse and just fitted a secondary PRedV at the incoming main ( to balance the whole house at source ) to avoid running a lot of extra pipework to collect balanced cold at the control group. 
Even on new installs, but particularly with mass-produced homes, these corners still often get cut.

Ideally a decent plumber in for one days fault finding snd rectification should sort this out and offer up a plan for mitigation against recurring issues.

 

@Makeitstop

Get a plumber to remove the control group and link the cylinder ( temporarily ) to the incoming main. That would prove where the issue lays in an hour. NOTE: this temporary swap CANNOT be left in, not even short term. It is a serious safety item. Also this test should be done on a cold cylinder. 
 

 

Edited March 1, 2022 by Nickfromwales

[Makeitstop]

Hi Nick,

 

Thanks for this, I'll print this out and will pass onto whoever gets onto it. It'll be interesting to see what their response is.

 

[Nickfromwales]

4 minutes ago, Makeitstop said:

Hi Nick,

 

Thanks for this, I'll print this out and will pass onto whoever gets onto it. It'll be interesting to see what their response is.

 

May the force be with you……