Rayburn Repairs Rip Off

[Y Fan Wen]

Does anyone know, on a Rayburn Royal, fairly old, is the front of the flue box removable for cleaning purposes?
It is on the Aga but I don't know if it is on the Rayburn or just glued tight with clinker.

 

[roscoe erf]

Does anyone know, on a Rayburn Royal, fairly old, is the front of the flue box removable for cleaning purposes?
It is on the Aga but I don't know if it is on the Rayburn or just glued tight with clinker.

mine is removable just use the ash pan handle its shaped to lever it up

 

[Northdowns Martin]

Does anyone know, on a Rayburn Royal, fairly old, is the front of the flue box removable for cleaning purposes?
It is on the Aga but I don't know if it is on the Rayburn or just glued tight with clinker.

 

[Y Fan Wen]

Certainly looks as though it is. Now, how much force am I brave enough to use?

 

[Northdowns Martin]

Unless it’s been glued on there are 2 lugs that secure cover, should just lift upwards

 

[Y Fan Wen]

Unless it’s been glued on there are 2 lugs that secure cover, should just lift upwards

Yes, but in my tentative tries, it is immovable. I guess putting some tension on by tapping a wedge underneath and then a tap with a mallet at the top might work.

 

[mike barnes]

Hi Folks, this is my first post here and it seems as though I've come to the right place. Many Rayburn users. They do seem like Marmite, you either love them or hate them. I brought a new SFW 200 less than 4 years ago. With an asking price of over £5k, you should expect a superbly made cooker that works. Sadly, that wasn't the case with us, and seems to be a common problem, judging by what's on this thread . What is even more infuriating is that Rayburn do not respond to any attempts to contact them. They are a lovely looking cooker, but poorly made, and with either no, or very expensive back up. One of the things that's becoming very apparent on our cooker is corrosion on the inside. Like most people I think, we let ours go out in Spring and relight in Autumn. Following the instructions, the vents are all open to allow ventilation, there's a rain cap on the cowl of the lined chimney. But the black paint on the top is starting to lift because of corrosion! Can any kind person here offer any advice as to how to keep the inside dry in what is after all, a wet summer. ( thank you previous poster on the sledge hammer advice, but I won't be doing that just yet!!)

 

[Oliveau]

I have a 13 year old oil fired Rayburn 480K (CF) in a farmhouse.
It was installed by the local dealer and serviced and maintained every year by the same approved dealer.

It has had to have a number of small repairs recently and these people know how to charge and Rayburn parts are expensive. Looking back the average costs per year of maintenance and parts is running at over £300.00 per year.
Recently the programmer went wrong and I was told the heat deflector plate and ceramics needed replacing, a total cost of over £600.00.

When the engineer came to do the work he discovered a crack in the firebox side bottom and said he would have to come back and quote for the repairs. Charged £75.00 for the pleasure of doing nothing except tell me it was going to cost more.
The new quote was £870.00 for parts plus an eye watering £1700.00 for labour. When I queried this labour rate I was told this has been reduced to £100.00 per hour!! It might take them less than 2 days so the labour cost might be lower.

I have tried to get other Rayburn repairers to quote for the work but they will not put in anything against this other company. The whole thing feels like a cartel where they are jacking up the prices.

To add insult to injury when I complained about all the money I was paying out the Dealer said that it was getting to the end of its life at 13 years old and suggested to look at replacement. The old Rayburns I have had in properties have done over 50 years and I would expect a piece of equipment that has been correctly maintained to last well over 30 years. They cost over £12k today!!

Any suggestions would be appreciated.
I have written to Rayburn expressing my dissatisfaction.

That is ridiculous concerning lifespan! We had one of the first 480K's in 1994, and they were known to have problems, but when we sold the house in 2004 it had only needed regular servicing - Spillers of Chard.

 

[AndyBushmilks]

I have a 13 year old oil fired Rayburn 480K (CF) in a farmhouse.
It was installed by the local dealer and serviced and maintained every year by the same approved dealer.

It has had to have a number of small repairs recently and these people know how to charge and Rayburn parts are expensive. Looking back the average costs per year of maintenance and parts is running at over £300.00 per year.
Recently the programmer went wrong and I was told the heat deflector plate and ceramics needed replacing, a total cost of over £600.00.

When the engineer came to do the work he discovered a crack in the firebox side bottom and said he would have to come back and quote for the repairs. Charged £75.00 for the pleasure of doing nothing except tell me it was going to cost more.
The new quote was £870.00 for parts plus an eye watering £1700.00 for labour. When I queried this labour rate I was told this has been reduced to £100.00 per hour!! It might take them less than 2 days so the labour cost might be lower.

I have tried to get other Rayburn repairers to quote for the work but they will not put in anything against this other company. The whole thing feels like a cartel where they are jacking up the prices.

To add insult to injury when I complained about all the money I was paying out the Dealer said that it was getting to the end of its life at 13 years old and suggested to look at replacement. The old Rayburns I have had in properties have done over 50 years and I would expect a piece of equipment that has been correctly maintained to last well over 30 years. They cost over £12k today!!

Any suggestions would be appreciated.
I have written to Rayburn expressing my dissatisfaction.

I had a Rayburn which was in the house when I bought it and was a nightmare!!! Engineers came to ‘fix’ it when wouldn’t work (which was regular) and charged the earth! Eventually I took it out and replaced with an electric oven and oil boiler put outside!!! Never again would I have a Rayburn!!!

 

[J Godfrey]

Hi Folks, this is my first post here and it seems as though I've come to the right place. Many Rayburn users. They do seem like Marmite, you either love them or hate them. I brought a new SFW 200 less than 4 years ago. With an asking price of over £5k, you should expect a superbly made cooker that works. Sadly, that wasn't the case with us, and seems to be a common problem, judging by what's on this thread . What is even more infuriating is that Rayburn do not respond to any attempts to contact them. They are a lovely looking cooker, but poorly made, and with either no, or very expensive back up. One of the things that's becoming very apparent on our cooker is corrosion on the inside. Like most people I think, we let ours go out in Spring and relight in Autumn. Following the instructions, the vents are all open to allow ventilation, there's a rain cap on the cowl of the lined chimney. But the black paint on the top is starting to lift because of corrosion! Can any kind person here offer any advice as to how to keep the inside dry in what is after all, a wet summer. ( thank you previous poster on the sledge hammer advice, but I won't be doing that just yet!!)

The issue with rust, is more importantly internal to the boiler
If the boiler has a free flow of air and not warm, it Will Be Cold and there will be condensation on the steel.
Vent the flue yes, but not through the boiler, I've replaced the jacket in a 480K purely because it rusted, the boiler flue also rusted clean through (meaning if I hadn't spotted it - chimney sweep and service guys both missed it, it was going to be 'an issuss than half the pipe left where it met the chimney.

Inside the boiler, the condensation mainly on the bottom of the boiler jacket in addition to the corrosive nature of the soot rotted the bars holding the baffles and then where the bats joined the jacket, it holed.
However the condensation also turned the ceramic insulation in the burner chamber to mush, holding the condensation there and rotted the bottom of the chamber too.

Do not let damp air from an air brick directly beside the boiler straight through it.
The air brick is better placed away from the unit so it at the least gets the chance to be drier before it hits the steel.

This boiler took its air immediately beside the boiler from outside, but in shaded north corner on a thatched property.
Thatch has no gutters or downpipes, so any rain saturates the ground and that air is what went through the boiler.

Plan your system, and think logically, this one has been a mare, it is still there but no longer used for heating as it's sprung another leak.

So wall hung Veissmann 300w does the heating, uses 30% less oil has better controls and the Rayburn can be 'used' for effect just with the oven, looking at electric hob conversion, too

 

[Lazy Sod]

Electric Everhot. Ours has been in 10 years, zero maintenance costs.

 

[PostHarvest]

Way back - I managed the fixed equipment department of a machinery dealership. At that time, the RRP of a set of Rayburn wicks was £65. I bought them from the company that supplied Rayburn for less than £2. My dad bought a new Rayburn to replace an ancient one. It was a complete disaster.

 

[Timbo]

Electric Everhot. Ours has been in 10 years, zero maintenance costs.

Appreciate the zero maintenance costs, but You're eyes will be watering running it after the electricity price rises.

 

[tepapa]

Appreciate the zero maintenance costs, but You're eyes will be watering running it after the electricity price rises.

I'm looking to instal solar panels to run ours.

 

[J Godfrey]

Appreciate the zero maintenance costs, but You're eyes will be watering running it after the electricity price rises.

If you have solar voltaic, it will power it on clear days.
Our solar thermal (in Denmark) produces loads of hot water every month of the year, when there is an excess, it diverts it into the floors, in the summer, the excess excess cooks the slab in the firewood shed which means it can be on the shady side of the house.
The secret is to overdo solar to the point it supplies what you want in winter (I sized for hot water only in six hours), then you need to have enough methods of getting rid of the excess in high summer - and remember heat transfer will be very low so you need a big place to shunt the heat or it's a waste.

 

[Doing it for the kids]

Appreciate the zero maintenance costs, but You're eyes will be watering running it after the electricity price rises.

It’s really not that bad.

Installed 2 a few years back, a def wife winner.

When they AGAs give up everhot will replace those too.

They can fit them in half an hr, 2 3 pin plugs, bigger ovens, bigger hobs, precise controls and grill, oh and much cheaper.

 

[J Godfrey]

It’s really not that bad.

Installed 2 a few years back, a def wife winner.

When they AGAs give up everhot will replace those too.

They can fit them in half an hr, 2 3 pin plugs, bigger ovens, bigger hobs, precise controls and grill, oh and much cheaper.

Interested in these, https://www.hcconversions.co.uk/rayburn-electric-conversion , as the B word has made import export way too expensive for a whole new tange

 

[Lazy Sod]

I'm looking to install solar panels to run ours.

If you have solar voltaic, it will power it on clear days.
Our solar thermal (in Denmark) produces loads of hot water every month of the year, when there is an excess, it diverts it into the floors, in the summer, the excess excess cooks the slab in the firewood shed which means it can be on the shady side of the house.
The secret is to overdo solar to the point it supplies what you want in winter (I sized for hot water only in six hours), then you need to have enough methods of getting rid of the excess in high summer - and remember heat transfer will be very low so you need a big place to shunt the heat or it's a waste.

When I had the house refurbished in 2011/12, a new hot water cylinder was required. I had one fitted that had a second coil in it so that I could install a solar thermal panel on the roof if I wished.

A solar/thermal installer looked at my situation and thought that our hot water requirement, with just the two of us in the house, wouldn't justify the installation cost compared to just using the oil boiler. He did quote for solar electric panels, but I decided at the time not to do it. The cost then would have been a lot more than today.

I feel that I might revisit the subject soon, but as I'm 78 and Mrs LS 13 years younger, I do wonder if I would realise the full benefit.

 

[Steven 12]

That sounds rediculous.

I just bought the maintenance manual and do it all myself!

A question to Rayburn about what they expect life expectancy to be, would be interesting.
Then ask a few other manufacturers (Esse, Stanley etc)what they would expect annual servicing costs and life expectancy to be. Ask the manufacturer, not a vendor and then you may well have a case under the sales of goods act, where a product must last a reasonable time when maintained correctly, this varies from product to product, so for a budget item may only be a few months, but for a high quality product that is sold as an investment for the house, then it should be measured in decades!

Mention to the manufacturer (Rayburn) that the results of your research will be made freely available on the forum, Facebook etc!

Any chance someone could point me in the right direction for dealing the burner box fire door. Solid fuel. Seams I can see a flame between the door and the frame it's a Rayburn supreme about 35 years old, can change firebricks myself I precut myself far cheaper than Rayburn . I look forward to hearing advice .

 

[Timbo]

I look forward to hearing advice .

Scrap it and save yourself no end of woe & expense.