AGA A50 Boiler wont fire up.

[Freddie19]

Hi all,

I cant get my boiler to fire up. Its a pretty old AGA A50 gas boiler and I'm beginning to think
I've got the only one in the country as I cant find any info anywhere!
I'm sure I know what the fault is.
It has two solenoids. one is the pilot and the other the main gas.
The pilot solenoid has failed, I've measured the coil with my meter and it is open circuit.
I've compared it with the main one and that reads 11K ohms.

The trouble is I cant find anywhere that has these soleniods.

The solenoids are:
SPERRYN CLASS 2
G1412/22
3/8
240v DC

Here's a shot of the two blue solenoids.

If I cant find a solenoid I'm wondering if I can get the solenoid coil rewound?
Anyone know where?
But I'm hoping some one out there will recognize these, surely someone else must have one of these old Aga boilers?

Any help greatly appreciated.
Freddie19.

 

[Agile]

Have you contacted the manufacturers in case they have an old valve in their museum?

http://www.deltafluidproducts.co.uk/sperryn/

However, anyone in their right mind would have replaced such an old boiler with a modern condensing unit and reduced their gas bills by about 30%.

I am sure that if it was mine I would have fixed it but as the spares are no longer available then I am not permitted to do that commercially.

There is still the vestige of a company in Coventry which was at the forefront of making RF and IF coils in the 1950s. They and any of the 100s of solenoid winding companies in the UK would probably be able to rewind it but the price would probably have to be about £200 for a quantity of 1 !

Its Repanco name is still faintly on the original red brick industrial building but they have moved to an industrial estate now.

Still a well known name to vintage radio enthusiasts! Here is a page from the last century with a Repanco RF coil!

Tony

 

[Freddie19]

Hey Tony, thanks for your reply but
do I detect a hint of sarcasym?

I know its an old boiler but its never let me down before
and all I'm after is some advice!

You are right, a new boiler is probably more efficient but this old girl has served me well up to now
so I dont really want to pension her off for the sake of a faulty solenoid!

Anyone else with any help would be appreciated!

Thanks,
Freddie19.

 

[mickyg]

have you tried the manufacturers?
I used to work on a number of AGA ranges for which i still hold my acs cert for. However I have never seen this solenoid in your picture! I used to get some parts from some tiny company somewhere in norfolk, but I can't for the life of me remember the name, and certainly don't have the number any more, sorry!
I think you will really struggle with this one, I used to have problems getting parts even for the some of the most common ranges. I don't bother with them anymore as the time consumed sourcing parts is often fruitless.

 

[Freddie19]

Thanks for your reply mickyg,

I'm wondering if I can replace the solenoid coil with one from another solenoid?
If I can find a 240 DC coil with a resistance of 11K ohms I think that would work.
The coil on my solenoid is easily removed, its under the blue cover and just held onto a shaft by a circlip!


What do you think?
Anyone know where you can buy solenoid coils?


Freddie19.

 

[namsag]

Have a look at the rs components web site they sell just about everything.It may take a bit of searching though.
Is that an original part to that boiler used to have a few around may way installed 1972 ish but cant remember solenoids looking like that

 

[Agile]

The operation of the solenoid is determined principally by the inductance.

I would therefore not recommend using any old solenoid!

have you contacted the manufacturers as I advised?

Tony

 

[Freddie19]

Have a look at the rs components web site they sell just about everything.It may take a bit of searching though.
Is that an original part to that boiler used to have a few around may way installed 1972 ish but cant remember solenoids looking like that

Hi namsag,

I've had a look on the RS website, cant find anything there!
They are the original parts on my boiler.
I do remember one of the solenoids being replaced years ago,
just wish I'd got a spare one then!




Hi Tony,

I have contacted the manufacturers, both Aga and Sperryn, but they dont do spares anymore!

Anyone else got any suggestions?



Freddie19.

 

[Freddie19]

They and any of the 100s of solenoid winding companies in the UK would probably be able to rewind it but the price would probably have to be about £200 for a quantity of 1 !

Tony

Well I managed to find a company to rewind my faulty pilot solenoid coil.
Happily the quote was a fair bit less than the £200 Agile reckoned it would be!

In the mean time I've managed to get the boiler working by removing the spring loaded valve from the pilot solenoid.
This means there is no restriction to the gas flow so the pilot will light.

On my Aga boiler there is no permanent pilot light, it only lights when the boiler thermostat calls for heat.

Now I understand this is probably not recommended but I am only using it sparingly
and switching off the gas supply when the boiler is not in use.

At least this way I've managed to get some hot water and heating until I get my new solenoid coil.


Freddie19.

 

[Agile]

In the mean time I've managed to get the boiler working by removing the spring loaded valve from the pilot solenoid.
This means there is no restriction to the gas flow so the pilot will light.

On my Aga boiler there is no permanent pilot light, it only lights when the boiler thermostat calls for heat.

Now I understand this is probably not recommended but I am only using it sparingly

Freddie19.

That is the kind of potentially dangerous activity that we try to prevent DIYers from doing!

I really dont understand why you dont want to replace it with a modern efficient boiler!

Tony

 

[kevplumb]

cos he dosent want to

 

[Freddie19]

That is the kind of potentially dangerous activity that we try to prevent DIYers from doing!

I really dont understand why you dont want to replace it with a modern efficient boiler!

Tony

As I said its only a stop gap measure just to get it working until my new coil arrives.
I am being very careful and switching the gas off when not in use!

I did not say I didn't want to replace it with a modern boiler but now is not a good time
so its easier to spend £40 to repair the solenoid than the hundreds or thousands of pounds
it would cost for a new boiler/ heating system!


Freddie19.

 

[kevplumb]

stick with it fella a big lump of cast iron will outlive all thei fancy ****e

 

[Freddie19]

stick with it fella a big lump of cast iron will outlive all thei fancy s***te

Well said that man!


Freddie19.