Korean Job Discussion Forums

inthewild · Joined: 28 Mar 2004 Location: Korea

I've lived in this apartment for less than 4 weeks. The boiler didn't work on day 1, they got the AS man in and he 'fixed' it, it worked ok until today.

The boiler doesn't work again, same problem. No hot water, flashing red light...

Who pays? Is there some Korean law regarding this? Maybe asking for a link regarding it in Korean would be too much... thanks for any help!

joshua7choi · Joined: 05 Jun 2008 Location: Suwon

It's Josh who sractches your itch,

I feel sorry for your sitation that the apartment caused so much troubles.
I think you need to call a repairman from the boiler company and check to see why and what the problem of the boiler is in much detail.

(1) Because according to the law, the owner must pay only if the boiler was broken itself.

(2) If the broken boiler was caused by your fault it seems to be hard to get paid from the owner.

Idea

However, it depends on the owner who accepts the negotiation the payment for the boiler like 50 / 50, 60 / 40...
My suggestion for you is to find out problems of the boiler and try to negotiate with the owner with them for better payment.

I wish my little tip proves useful.

to get more free service => http://soteria.nehard.kr/index.php

redhed · Joined: 05 Nov 2008

I don't know if your boiler is actually broken, my boiler demonstrates the same symtoms about once a month. (more often when in winter when it's very cold) We were shown how to take a pot from the kitchen, go out to the boiler, and there is a small nipple/valve that you can push and drain away this high pressure stream of dirty, rust colored water. Then the blinking red light goes off, hot water returns, and all is well in the aparta. Don't know if this is your problem, but it's worth looking into....

inthewild · Joined: 28 Mar 2004 Location: Korea

Thank you guys.

I'll look into draining water... hopefully he just replaces this thing. Would suck to have to go drain water like that. Been here a while and never had to anything like that.

losing_touch · Joined: 26 Jun 2008 Location: Ulsan - I think!

A similar thing happened to me. Be thankful that it isn't happening to you in the middle of the winter. Both times it needed to be fixed, I didn't pay for it. I don't know who did, but it wasn't me!

marlow · Joined: 06 Feb 2005

If you aren't taking it with you when you go, you don't pay for it.

crossmr · Joined: 22 Nov 2008 Location: Hwayangdong, Seoul

on my boiler the flashing light means something isn't connected. Are you having any trouble with your gas? when I moved in the gas was locked because the previous person hadn't paid like 13,000. The gas company came and unlocked it and the light stopped flashing.

ryoga013 · Joined: 23 Nov 2008

your landlord will most likely try to con it off on you. Not to sound too negative, but that's the way it is around the world, but Koreans love to play "screw the foreigner" a lot in this situation. Regardless of what part you pay, etc, etc, get a receipt, ESPECIALLY if the A/s maintenance person tells you to pay them. Get their name before anything at all starts. Then, if they tell you a price, get a receipt. If they back down, get a Korean speaking friend to call their office and tell them what happened. It's been discussed on these forums before about getting cheated by the repair man. Just be warned.

VanIslander · Posted: Wed Jul 22, 2009 5:46 am Post subject:

rock, paper, scissors

Ruthdes · Joined: 16 Oct 2008 Location: Seoul

This used to happen in my old apartment. All I had to do was go to the unit and turn the switch off then on again. It seemed to reset the system and then it would work. Maybe you've tried this but if not, give it a go.

You didn't say whether your apartment is through your school. If so, make them deal with it. If it were me I would be doing everything possible to resist paying. It sounds like you didn't cause it. I would be trying to make sure the landlord was there to pay the bill when it happens so then I'm not trying to get my money back. When I moved into my old apartment, the gas wasn't hooked up. They got the gas man in that day to hook it up, then he tried to make me pay. I just kept pointing up and saying "landlord" till he went upstairs for his money.

bassexpander · Joined: 13 Sep 2007 Location: Someplace you'd rather be.

The emptying the water thing only makes a difference in floor heating -- it has nothing to do with water heating.

Turning the boiler off and on may help.

And no... you shouldn't pay if there is a problem with the boiler. Just tell the landlord to please get someone out to fix it again. Sometimes these problems must be troubleshooted after a few attempts to fix it don't work.

These things are important to get fixed, as they can automatically shut off if you have a gas leak. Check the gas to your stove. Make sure it's working. If you have no gas there, then you know the gas has been turned off for whatever reason.

By the way, this thread will teach you a lot about your floor heating/water heating system:

http://forums.eslcafe.com/korea/viewtopic.php?t=108518&highlight=ondol