This is the result of not calling a CORGI registered engineer to check your back boiler after others have worked on or around the flue. The original problem started a year before I was called when wasps had made a nest in the chimney pot and were using the house as a practice flying area. After calling the local council  somebody showed up with a canister designed to poison the wasps. The home owner was then told to call a sweep to clean out the flue. Unfortunately, nobody told her to get the boiler checked to see if the fire was damaged or clogged. It was both!

A year later I was called in because the fire was making a lot of ‘odd’ noises. I saw the flame as pictured above. It should also be noted that the wiring around the fire was burnt and the central heating threaded joints were leaking. Without removing anything I suspected that the heat exchanger was cracked and it was most certainly so plugged up so bad that I couldn’t get a brush through to clean it.

The entire system was disconnect on the spot and the home owner was faced with a system replacement. Had they had the system checked after the flue was cleaned they would have discovered that soot, debris and hornets that had fallen into the heat exchanger and over a period of time caused it to block up fully.

Of course they were lucky – they could have gone to sleep and never woken up!

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